LAS VEGAS (AP) — Faced with its first true test of the season, No. 12 Texas Tech fell short and lost a top player to injury.

Jordan Bohannon had 20 points and six assists, Luka Garza added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Iowa held off the Red Raiders 72-61 on Thursday at the Las Vegas Invitational.

The Hawkeyes (5-1) will play in the championship game Friday night against San Diego State.

“I’m very proud of our defensive effort,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “We recognized the quality of our opponent. Texas Tech is a talented team, and incredibly well-coached. Anything short of that, we would have been carved up.”

Chris Clarke had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Texas Tech (5-1), which lost Big 12 leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey to a leg injury with 10:06 to play. He finished with seven points.

After the game, coach Chris Beard was unsure of Ramsey’s status for Friday’s consolation game against Creighton.

Joe Wieskamp had 16 points and six rebounds for the Hawkeyes, and CJ Fredrick scored 10. His 3-pointer off a broken play as the shot clock expired put Iowa ahead 64-59 with 1:29 left. He followed that up with two free throws with 1:07 remaining to just about put it away.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Plays for the Las Vegas Invitational title Friday against San Diego State. Pregame is set for 6:00pm, tip at 7:00pm. We plan on having coverage on KJAN following coverage of the football game.

Texas Tech: Also plays Friday vs. Creighton.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton brought plenty of flair at the helm of Iowa State’s attack, from flashing a hand sign to his ear like he was talking on the phone to another as though he was looking through binoculars after a nifty opencourt pass.

Of course, it was easy for the Cyclones to enjoy Thursday considering they were hitting from outside, playing in a flow and rolling to a huge scoring output.

Haliburton came within an assist of a triple-double while Iowa State posted a record scoring output for the Battle 4 Atlantis by beating Alabama 104-89 on Thursday.

“It’s great to make some shots,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm quipped.

Indeed, the offensive numbers looked great for the Cyclones (4-2), who shook free of their 3-point shooting struggles and fed off the flair of their sophomore point guard.

Haliburton finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while Rasir Bolton added 22 points.

Bolton, a Penn State transfer who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA, entered the game shooting just 2 of 20 from 3-point range to mirror those troubles.

But he made 5 of 7 on Thursday, while Iowa State made 15 of 29 shots from behind the arc in easily its best totals for made 3s and 3-point percentage this season.

“It feels like I’m back to normal,” Bolton said.

John Petty Jr. had 34 points and six 3-pointers to lead Alabama (2-4), posting the No. 2 point total in the tournament’s nine-year history. But the Crimson Tide did little to keep the Cyclones offense in check.

Iowa State’s 104 points broke the previous tournament record of 102 points by Michigan against Charlotte in November 2015.

UP NEXT

Alabama: The Crimson Tide will play in Friday’s seventh-place game against Southern Miss.

Iowa State: The Cyclones will play in Friday’s fifth-place game against No. 13 Seton Hall.

The 7:20-a.m. Sportscast with Ric Hanson.

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Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Iowa’s run of success against Nebraska has been predicated on its ground game. Recently it has not been working so well. The 19th-ranked Hawkeyes have rolled up more than 260 yards rushing in each of the last three meetings with Nebraska and have had a running back go for more than 100 four straight years. The Cornhuskers need a win to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2016.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Devon Dotson scored 31 points, Udoka Azubuike had seven of his 29 in overtime and No. 4 Kansas outlasted Dayton 90-84 to win its third Maui Invitational title. The Flyers and Jayhawks spent much of the afternoon trading leads and highlight-reel plays in a bleacher-shaking atmosphere inside the bandbox Lahaina Civic Center.

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — AJ Green scored 26 points, including Northern Iowa’s last 10 points, leading the Panthers to a 78-72 win over South Carolina in the third-place game at the Cancun Challenge. Trae Berhow had five 3-pointers and 15 points for the Panthers (7-1), who bounced back after a heart-breaking five-point loss to West Virginia a night earlier.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Haanif Cheatham scored a career-high 26 points, Dachon Burke Jr. added a career-best 19 and Nebraska got rolling with 61% shooting in the second half for a 74-67 victory over South Florida in the third-place game of the Cayman Islands Classic. Nebraska (4-3) shot 55% overall to conclude the tournament with two wins sandwiched around an 85-66 loss to George Mason.

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — AJ Green scored 26 points, including Northern Iowa’s last 10 points, leading the Panthers to a 78-72 win over South Carolina in the third-place game at the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday night. Trae Berhow had five 3-pointers and 15 points for the Panthers (7-1), who bounced back after a heart-breaking five-point loss to West Virginia a night earlier. A.J. Lawson had 20 points to lead the Gamecocks (4-3).

The Panthers lost to West Virginia in their opener, 60-55, squandering a 15-point lead in the last 10 minutes. They made just 3 of 20 3-pointers in the loss but bounced back to make 8 of 20 against the Gamecocks. Green was 10 of 10 from the foul line.
UP NEXT
Northern Iowa heads home to face Luther College on Monday.

Final Score: Iowa 69, Cincinnati 61

Game Notes:

• Sophomore Monika Czinano scored a career-high 16 points
• Ollinger led the Hawkeyes with 13 rebounds, recording a career high.
• Three Hawkeyes scored in double figures: Monika Czinano (16), Kathleen Doyle (13), and Amanda Ollinger (10)
• Freshman Gabbie Marshall made three 3-pointers in the second half — tying her season best.
• Doyle pulled in nine rebounds, tying her career best, and added six assists, leading the Hawkeyes in both.

Up Next: Iowa continues play at the Puerto Rico Clasico. The Hawkeyes will take on Towson (Nov. 28) and Washington (Nov. 30).

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — D.J. Wilkins had 18 points as Drake topped Murray State 63-53 in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Wednesday.

Anthony Murphy had 13 points for Drake (6-2). Tremell Murphy added 11 points. Roman Penn had six rebounds and six assists.

Liam Robbins, whose 11 points per game coming into the contest was second on the Bulldogs, shot only 20 percent in the game (1 of 5).

Tevin Brown had 15 points and six rebounds for the Racers (4-3). Anthony Smith added nine rebounds and KJ Williams had eight.

Drake matches up against Milwaukee at home on Tuesday. Murray State takes on Missouri State on the road on Tuesday.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) — Isaiah Livers had 17 points and Michigan shot 58% for the game to overcome a turnover-heavy performance and beat Iowa State 83-76 in Wednesday’s opening game at the Battle 4 Atlantis. The Wolverines (5-0) committed 22 turnovers, including several coming down the stretch as the Cyclones (3-2) tried to claw their way back from a 15-point deficit in the final 8 minutes.

David DeJulius had a career-high 14 points for Michigan, while Zavier Simpson finished with 10 points, a tournament-record 13 assists and seven rebounds. Iowa State pulled to within 80-74 in the final minute, but got no closer. Still, it wasn’t the first time Michigan has had trouble closing out a game with a big lead; the Wolverines let a 30-point margin slip all the way to five in the final minute against Appalachian State in the season opener.

The Cyclones converted those turnovers into 29 points but couldn’t keep up as the Wolverines’ offense kept knocking down shots. Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton entered the game as the nation’s assists leader, but this time the pass-first point guard carried the offense for the Cyclones with a career-high 25 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists.

The Cyclones are off to a bad start from 3-point range this season. They’ve made just 28 of 103 (27.2%) through their first four games, then got off to another bad start from outside in this one. Iowa State missed eight of its first 10 tries from behind the arc, and those were magnified as Michigan’s offense hummed right along. Iowa State trailed by 14 by the time they started knocking a few down midway through the second half. They made just 5 of 21 for the game.
UP NEXT
Iowa State: The Cyclones moved to the losers’ bracket to face the Alabama-North Carolina loser on Thursday.

ESTERO, Fla. (AP) — Senior Anthony Murphy had a career-high 17 points with seven rebounds and Drake narrowly defeated Northeastern 59-56 in the Gulf Coast Showcase on Tuesday.

Liam Robbins made two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Drake a 57-54 lead. Jason Strong answered at the other end with a basket in the paint, but Roman Penn sealed it at the line for the Bulldogs with a second left.

Penn finished with 15 points for Drake (5-2), which earned its fifth consecutive home victory. D.J. Wilkins added 11 points and Garrett Sturtz had nine rebounds.

Drake shot just 32% from the field but forced 19 turnovers, leading to 20 points.

Jordan Roland had 13 points for the Huskies (3-4). Bolden Brace added nine points and six rebounds.

Up Next

Drake now plays Murray State today at the Gulf Coast Showcase in a 12:30pm tipoff.

CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Miles McBride came off the bench to score 18 points and hand out five assists and West Virginia overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Northern Iowa 60-55 in the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday night.

The Mountaineers (5-0) trailed 42-27 after Northern Iowa’s Isaiah Brown buried a 3-pointer with 10:31 remaining in the second half. Jermaine Haley’s jumper and a 3-pointer from Sean McNeil pulled West Virginia with 46-40 with 6:47 left to play.

McBride hit a 3-pointer and a jumper to give the Mountaineers a 51-50 lead, but Trae Berhow hit from distance to put UNI up 53-51 with 2:21 to go. Derek Culver sank two free throws to pull West Virginia even at 53-all. Justin Dahl’s jumper with 1:27 left gave UNI a 55-53 lead, but the Panthers would go scoreless from there.

Emmitt Matthews Jr. made 1 of 2 free throws and his tip-in off a missed free throw put the Mountaineers on top for good with 16 seconds left.

Haley finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Culver hauled in 15 rebounds.

Brown topped UNI (6-1) with 15 points and he added six boards.

UP NEXT

Northern Iowa: The Panthers take on South Carolina in the third-place game of the Riviera Divison at 5:00pm on CBS Sports Network.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers will play Wichita State on Wednesday in the championship game of the Riviera Division of the Cancun Challenge.