Washington State men lose at Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Guglielmo “Willie” Caruso had game-high totals of 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Santa Clara to a 70-62 men’s basketball victory over Washington State on Tuesday night.

Caruso, a sophomore forward from Italy, made 8 of 10 shots from the field for the Broncos (3-0), who are off to their best start since going 5-0 in 2012.

Isaac Bonton scored 19 points and CJ Elleby added 10 before fouling out for WSU (1-1), which struggled offensively in coach Kyle Smith’s second game.

WSU was limited to 32.8% shooting, including 24.1% on three-pointers.

Santa Clara shot 47.2%.

Early in the second half, the Cougars were outscored 8-0 over a span of more than six minutes as they went 0 for 8 from the field and made four turnovers.

“We were down four and played like we were down 14,” Smith said. “That can happen on the road.”

Evansville shocks No. 1 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sam Cunliffe, a former standout at Rainier Beach High in Seattle, played a major role as Evansville knocked off top-ranked Kentucky 67-64.

Cunliffe, who played at Arizona State and Kansas before transferring to Evansville, scored 17 points — including two free throws with 6.8 seconds left.

The Purple Aces (2-0) are coached by Walter McCarty, who won a national title with Kentucky in 1996 before playing in the NBA. For the first time in program history, Evansville beat an AP-ranked team on the road.

Kentucky (2-1) was favored by 25½ points.

“Walter and their team deserved to win,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.

Tyrese Maxey’s layup with eight seconds left cut Evansville’s lead to 65-64, but Cunliffe made both ends of the one-and-one to close out scoring.

No. 14 Oregon beats No. 13 Memphis

PORTLAND – Shakur Juiston had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 14 Oregon held off No. 13 Memphis 82-74 in a Phil Knight Invitational game.

Payton Pritchard added 14 points and six assists as the Ducks collected their third straight victory to open the season.

James Wiseman had 14 points and 12 rebounds as controversy continued to swirl around the Tigers’ 7-foot-1 freshman phenom. Memphis (2-1) was led by Lester Quinones with 16 points.

Memphis issued a statement Friday saying Wiseman, likely an NBA draft-lottery pick next year, was going to be withheld while university officials worked to restore his eligibility. But the school also said it supports Wiseman challenging the NCAA and has let him play under a temporary restraining order obtained late Friday by his attorney.