Watson leads No. 18 Dayton to 81-53 win over Grambling State
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Ibi Watson scored a career-high 30 points in his first start, and No. 18 Dayton recovered from its second loss of the season by beating Grambling State 81-53 on Monday night.
The Flyers (10-2) were missing point guard Jalen Crutcher, who fell and hit his head during a 78-76 overtime loss to Colorado on Saturday. Dayton shuffled its guard rotation, and Watson made an immediate impact as a starter for the first time this season.
The junior had 15 points in the opening half, three shy of his career high. Watson scored 10 during a 17-2 run that put the Flyers ahead.
The Tigers (6-7) cut a 20-point deficit to 52-42 midway through the second half before Rodney Chatman hit a pair of 3-pointers and Watson had a four-point play that put the Flyers back in control. Chatman added 17 points.
Watson went 4 of 5 from beyond the arc while becoming the first Flyers player to score 30 points since Josh Cunningham had 32 against Rhode Island on Jan. 20, 2018.
Kelton Edwards had 13 points for Grambling State, which went 2 of 19 from beyond the arc.
No. 21 WASHINGTON 72, HAWAII 61
HONOLULU (AP) — Isaiah Stewart had 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 21 Washington over Hawaii in the Diamond Head Classic semifinals.
Quade Green added 11 points and seven assists for the Huskies (10-2), who will play Houston for the tournament title on Wednesday. Jaden McDaniels had nine points and 13 rebounds, and Nahziah Carter chipped in with 10 points.
Stewart made 13 of 21 shots from the field. He scored 16 points in the first half and finished with his fourth straight double-double.
Hawaii got within six on Zigmars Raimo’s basket in transition with 5:28 to play, but went scoreless for more than three minutes while the Huskies reeled off an eight-point run to stretch their lead to 59-45 with 2:04 remaining.
Justin Webster had 16 points and Raimo added 15 points with 15 rebounds to lead the Rainbow Warriors (8-4), who shot a season-low 28%.
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