AJ Staton-McCray capped a productive Maui Invitational by scoring 20 points as Seton Hall seized a big lead in the opening minutes and earned a wire-to-wire 75-61 victory over Washington State in the third-place game on Wednesday in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Staton-McCray shot 8 of 14 from the field with three 3-pointers to finish with 57 points in the three-day tournament for the Pirates (7-1), who earned two wins in the event and matched their win total from last season.
Mike Williams III added 13 points while Stephen Payne III and Tajuan Simpkins contributed 11 apiece for Seton Hall, which shot 56.6%. The Pirates produced most of their offense inside the 3-point line by outscoring the Cougars 50-28 inside the paint as they hit 18 of their 22 layups and dunks.
Rihards Vavers paced Washington State (3-5) with 17 points and six rebounds off the bench. Ace Glass III added 15 points, but he committed five of the Cougars’ 15 turnovers as he could never get in a rhythm due to foul trouble.
ND Okafor finished with 12 points as the Cougars shot 41.5% overall, but just 5 of 24 from 3-point range.
Seton Hall earned four steals and made 7 of 10 shots to take a 15-2 lead on a Williams basket with 15:58 left in the first half. The Pirates kept rolling and converted another turnover into a dunk by Simpkins with 8:19 left for a 25-11 lead.
Washington State began showing some life and got within 28-19 on a Okafor layup with 4:31 left. The Cougars used a 7-0 run to get as close as 33-27 with 1:53 left, but the Pirates restored a 37-27 lead by halftime.
The Cougars hung around early in the second as Glass’ pullup jumper by Glass got them within 43-36 with 17:14 left. But when Seton Hall’s Najai Hines capped off a personal 6-0 run with a layup at the 10:23 mark, that pushed the lead to 58-41.
Washington made another charge as Simon Hildebrandt’s 3-point play cut the deficit to 64-52 with 6:37 to go. Seton Hall regained a 16-point lead on Staton-McCray’s final basket with 5:51 left.
–Field Level Media
