Big night for Thompson in double overtime defeat

Florida Gulf Coast lost in double-overtime to South Florida Tuesday, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort by Bernard Thompson.

The Rockdale graduate scored a program-record 32 points and surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in the Eagles’ 68-66 defeat.

Thompson, a junior guard, came into the night just eight points short of 1,000, but surpassed that mark with a jumper 28 seconds into the second half. Thompson scored 25 points in the second half and the two overtime sessions, including a 3-pointer with one second left in the second overtime that got Gulf Coast to within 67-66.

Victor Rudd, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds for South Florida (7-2), hit a bucket with two minutes left in the second extra period that put the visiting Bulls up for good.

Thompson played all 50 minutes and hit 13 of his 23 field goal attempts to go along with seven rebounds. He became the fourth player in the program’s history to score 1,000 points.

Brett Comer added 17 points and Nate Hicks tied a school record with 19 rebounds for Gulf Coast, which fell to 5-5.

ACC/SEC Roundup

No. 11 Wichita State 72, Alabama 67

Cleanthony Early had a season-high 26 points as the Associated Press No. 11 Shockers continued the best start in school history.

Wichita State (11-0) was 25-of-27 from the free throw line, including Early making all 11 of his attempts, and out-rebounded the Crimson Tide 38-26.

Trevor Releford had 22 points and six assists to lead Alabama (5-5).

No. 16 Florida 77, No. 15 Memphis 75

Casey Prather scored the Gators’ final eight points in a victory in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

The Gators (8-2) came into the game in the top-20 nationally in scoring defense, but allowed its most points of the season, while Memphis (7-2) made half of its 54 field goal attempts. Joe Jackson had a lay up with 40 seconds remaining that got Memphis to within 75-73. Prather, who had a game-high 22 points, hit a pair of free throws 13 seconds later to get it back to a four-point game.

Jackson led five in double figures with 16 points.

Wake Forest 77, St. Bonaventure 62

The host Demon Deacons trailed by eight at halftime, but used a 13-2 second-half run to pull away.

Coron Williams hit consecutive 3-pointers and Travis McKie had six of his 16 points during the spurt that saw Wake (9-2) go from being down 51-50 to leading 63-53 with 5:43 left in the game.

Wake Forest shot 62 percent from the field in the second half after making only 35 percent of its shots in the opening 20 minutes. Codi Miller-McIntyre led the Demon Deacons with 20 points, while Devin Thomas added 18.

Andell Cumberbatch had 19 points for the Bonnies (7-4) in the first meeting between the schools since the regional semifinals of the 1961 NCAA Tournament.

Manhattan 86, South Carolina 68

George Beamon had 26 points and Michael Alvarado added 20 as the Jaspers moved to 6-0 in road games.

It was the first win for Manhattan (8-2) over an SEC team since a victory over Florida in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament, and Beamon was a big reason why.

Beamon, who came into the game 27th nationally in scoring, hit 8-of-13 field goal attempts and was 7-of-7 from the free throw line, part of a 34-of-39 night at the charity stripe for the Jaspers.

Meanwhile, South Carolina (2-4) made just 22-of-38 from the line. The Gamecocks got to within 58-53 on a three-point play by Michael Carrera at the 11:31 mark of the second half, but never got closer as the Jaspers’ 16-6 run put the game away.

Florida State 106, Charlotte 62

Aaron Thomas came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points and the Seminoles reached the 100-point mark for the first time in eight years.

Thomas had 22 of his points by halftime, with Florida State building a 52-30 cushion. The second half was even better for the Seminoles (7-3), who shot 62 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Six Seminoles reached double figures in scoring, including another reserve, Ian Miller, who chipped in with 18 points.

While it was the first 100-point game for Florida State since beating Campbell 108-73 in December, 2005, Charlotte, who got 16 points from Shawn Lester, suffered its worst loss since a 101-59 defeat at Duke in November, 2009.

Cincinnati 44, Pittsburgh 43

Titus Rubles’ put back with four seconds left was the difference in the Bearcats’ victory in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Cincinnati (8-2) led 42-39 with just over three minutes to play after a basket by Sean Kilpatrick. Talib Zanna hit two free throws to make it a one-point game with a minute and a half left and after a turnover by Kilpatrick, Cameron Wright’s lay up put Pittsburgh (10-1) up 43-42. Lamar Patterson had a chance to add to the lead, but missed two free throws with 20 seconds to play, then Rubles was the hero at the other end.

Both teams shot poorly, in particular the previously-unbeaten Panthers, who made just 31 percent of their shots against a Bearcats team that came in sixth in the country in average points allowed.

Zanna and Cincinnati’s Justin Jackson each had a game-high 12 points.

Vanderbilt 58, Austin Peay 56

Damian Jones had 12 points and Kyle Fuller scored all 10 of his points in the final six and a half minutes as the Commodores survived at home.

Vanderbilt (6-3) was playing for the first time since December 5 and shot just 37 percent from the field, including 4-of-20 on 3-pointers against an Austin Peay (5-6) team that came into the game 321st nationally allowing an average of nearly 80 points.

It was also the first time Vanderbilt played a team from the Ohio Valley Conference since Murray State pulled the upset in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Mississippi State 78, Florida A&M 65

Dre Applewhite had his first career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Bulldogs never trailed.

Craig Sword added 16 points for the Bulldogs (7-2), who led by as much as 26 points.

Florida A&M (2-8), which fell to 0-37 against the SEC since becoming a Division 1 program in 1979, was led by D’Andre Bullard’s 14 points.