Arizona takes the title

Somebody new almost had a claim to Best in the West.

Thanks to big plays from guards Mark Lyons and Nick Johnson, that unofficial title still belongs to No. 3 Arizona. The Wildcats held off No. 17 San Diego State 68-67 in a riveting championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic.

The DHC’s first matchup of ranked teams didn’t disappoint before a vocal Christmas crowd of about 3,500. Red-clad fans from both teams made for a festive vibe among the green seats of the Stan Sheriff Center. Alternating chants of "U of A!," "SD! SU!" and "I believe that we will win!" resonated around the arena’s lower bowl.

There was much more than a holiday tournament title on the line in this one. SDSU (11-2) defeated UA (12-0) last season and three years ago.

"No question, we knew this was an opportunity for us to play against a very good program. It means a lot to be able to beat them," UA coach Sean Miller said. "It took two hard plays, both on offense and defense, to secure the win, and we made both of them."

UA’s unbeaten start to the season was in jeopardy for the entire second half against a team with a matching 11-game winning streak and 11 straight wins against Pac-12 teams.

The teams grudgingly exchanged baskets and leads in the second half like gifts at a family reunion. Finally, SDSU guard Jamaal Franklin put his team up by a point with a free throw with 31.4 seconds left.

Coming out of a UA timeout, Lyons, the senior transfer from Xavier gunning for some holiday tournament redemption after a disappointing showing here last year, hesitated at the top of the arc, then drove down the left lane and got fouled with 13.1 seconds left. He made the first shot to tie the game at 67, then after a timeout, the second to go ahead.

"Our guys came ready to play. We were down, but we stuck together and we came out with the win," said Lyons, who was resolute despite an off shooting night (2-for-9). "That’s huge for our program and huge for the guys who have been here. They had a real chip on their shoulder coming into tonight’s game."

The Wildcats still needed a stop. SDSU put the ball in the hands of senior guard Chase Tapley (team-high 19 points), who curled around the left side and slid past his defender. Just as it seemed he had an open lane to the hoop, the 6-foot-3 Johnson flew in out of nowhere to swat Tapley just before the horn and preserve the win.

"When a guy needs to get bailed out or something like that, I use my athleticism for that," said Johnson, who scored 11. "I have an instinct to block shots, but it’s not my first thing to do."

Kevin Parrom added 17 points off the bench for the Wildcats on 7-for-11 shooting.

"We’ve got to have it hurt — it should hurt — it hurts for me and this is not my first loss," SDSU coach Steve Fisher said. "It hurts. It’s hard where you have a chance to win a championship, have a shot to beat an undefeated team and you don’t quite get it done and you think you’re going to do it right ’til the very last play of the game. It hurts. It hurts badly."

"It was big to us. We wanted to separate ourselves from what San Diego State has done," said tourney MVP Solomon Hill, the senior forward who had 21 points and six rebounds. "They have a certain number of Pac-12 teams that they’ve beaten, consecutively. We wanted to separate ourselves from that, just like we are with our record against the rest of the Pac-12. Especially with Pac-12 play coming up. Show people that we’re a different team than last year. We’re more focused. We’re more dedicated to the game. We want to win."

Indiana State 57, Miami 55 OT

Jake Odum banked in a 15-footer with eight-tenths of a second left in overtime to rally the Sycamores (7-4) to a win over the Hurricanes (8-3) in the third-place game.

Manny Arop and R.J. Mahurin scored 13 points apiece for Indiana State, which trailed by as many as nine points.

San Francisco 67, East Tennessee State 49

Cole Dickerson scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half and the Dons (6-6) defeated the Buccaneers (2-10) in the seventh-place game.