LAHAINA, Hawaii — R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish scored 18 points each, and top-ranked Duke survived its stiffest challenge of the season, holding off No. 8 Auburn 78-72 Tuesday night to reach the Maui Invitational title game.

The Blue Devils (5-0) got off to another stellar start, looking as if they run another top-10 team out of the gym.

The Tigers (4-1) clawed back, trimming a 17-point deficit to 61-56 in the second half by fearlessly attacking Duke at both ends.

But every time Auburn tried to get closer, the Blue Devils answered with an alley-oop dunk or step-back jumper.

Duke will play No. 3 Gonzaga or Arizona on Wednesday night for a chance at an unprecedented sixth Maui Invitational title.

Marques Bolden anchored Duke’s defense, blocking seven shots while finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds. The Blue Devils blocked 11 shots overall.

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Jared Harper had 22 points and Bryce Brown 16 for Auburn.

(16) CLEMSON 64, GEORGIA 49: Marcquise Reed scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, Elijah Thomas had his second straight double-double and Clemson beat Georgia to advance to the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic.

Thomas finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Clemson (5-0), which is off to its best start since the 2013-14 season. Shelton Mitchell, who scored a season-high 22 on Monday, chipped in with 13 points and David Skara had three of the Tigers’ nine steals.

Coach Brad Brownell won his 154th game at Clemson, three away from passing Bill Foster for second in program history.

Derek Ogbeide led Georgia (3-2) with 11 points. Nicolas Claxton, who scored 22 points in an 80-68 win on Monday, was held to three points on 1-of-9 shooting – but he had nine rebounds and five blocks.

LIPSCOMB 73, (18) TCU 64: Garrison Mathews had 23 points, Kenny Cooper scored 17 with a couple of breakaway layups off steals and Lipscomb held on to upset No. 18 TCU at Fort Worth, Texas, giving the Bisons their first win over a Top 25 team.

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Lipscomb (4-1), the ASUN Conference preseason favorite, had been 0-13 against ranked teams since 2006. All of those losses were by double digits.

Alex Robinson had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for TCU (3-1), which lost a November game for the first time since 2015. The Horned Frogs’ 18-game winning streak during the month had been the second-longest among Division I programs, behind only Virginia’s 21 in a row.

(23) OHIO STATE 68, SAMFORD 50: Kaleb Wesson scored 17 points, Keyshawn Woods added 14 and Ohio State (5-0) shook off a sluggish first half to beat scrappy Samford (5-1) at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State seemed out of sync from the opening tip, as Coach Chris Holtmann benched four starters for being late to “game-day preparation,” according to the school.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

(20) TEXAS A&M 61, LITTLE ROCK 40: Aaliyah Wilson tied a career high with 20 points, N’Dea Jones had 12 points and 13 rebounds and Texas A&M (3-1) won at Little Rock (2-2).

Wilson scored eight points in the first quarter as the Aggies led 15-12 and she finished the half with 16 points, three steals and two blocks for a 27-20 lead. Texas A&M made six of its first seven shots after the break, building a 17-point lead.

Teal Battle and Ronjanae DeGray each scored 10 points for Little Rock. The Trojans were held without a field goal for two nine-minute stretches.

(23) MINNESOTA 84, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 42: Kenisha Bell scored 24 points, Taiye Bello grabbed 19 rebounds and Minnesota (4-0) beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-3) at Minneapolis.


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