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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARADVERTISER.COM
Hawaii’s Junior Madut looked to make a move against Vanderbilt’s Rodney Chatman.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hawaii forward Kamaka Hepa tries to get around Vanderbilt forward Myles Stute.
Noel Coleman scored a career-high 31 points, but it wasn’t enough as Vanderbilt beat Hawaii 68-54 in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic tonight.
The Commodores’ more balanced effort included a team-high 21 points from Scotty Pippen Jr.
Vanderbilt (7-4) meets BYU (10-2) in a semifinal game Thursday at 5 p.m., followed at 7 by Hawaii against South Florida (4-6) in the consolation bracket of the eight-team tournament.
A total of 2,632 spectators attended the two-game evening session at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Coleman’s 31 is tied for 11th-most in a game in the history of the tournament. He made 12-of-19 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 on 3-pointers, and 1-of-2 free throws.
Hawaii (4-4) fell behind by as many as 19 in the first half, and would’ve been in a worse situation if Coleman didn’t heat up before intermission. He scored all but five of UH’s first-half points, after which Vanderbilt led 35-24.
The Rainbows stayed within striking distance for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but the Commodores never lost control.
>> PHOTOS: Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt
The Cougars beat the Bulls in a sluggish 54-39 game. Gideon George and Fousseyni Traore scored 11 points each off the bench to lead BYU, and Alex Barcello scored all 10 of his in the first half as the Cougars took a 31-22 lead into the locker room.
Javon Greene led South Florida with 10.
In the day games, Liberty beat Northern Iowa, 76-74 and Stanford beat Wyoming 66-63, setting up Thursday’s 11 a.m. semifinal game between the Flames and the Cardinal.
Darius McGhee led Liberty with 22 points, while Noah Carter scored 20 for the Panthers, who dropped to 4-6. The Flames are 8-4.
Stanford, which was led by Jaiden Delaire with 17 points, improved to 7-4 The Cowboys fell to 9-2, despite Ike Graham’s game-high 25 points.
The tournament wraps up with four games on Christmas.
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