PRESEASON NIT ROUNDUP : Good Things Come in 3s for Kentucky in Opener

Fourth-ranked Kentucky didn’t hold anything back Wednesday night in the opening round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament.

The Wildcats hit 16 of 32 three-pointers and scored 36 points off West Virginia’s 28 turnovers in a 106-80 victory before 22,360 in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.

“That’s as good as we can play right now,” said senior forward John Pelphrey, who hit three three-pointers in a row in a 12-2 run in the first half that gave Kentucky control of the game.

No. 23 Georgia Tech 93, James Madison 69--Freshman Travis Best scored 18 points and had nine assists and classmate James Forrest scored six of his 16 points in the opening minutes of the second half to help the Yellow Jackets pull away at Atlanta.

Colorado St. 80, Boise St. 67--Sophomore forward Aaron Atkinson scored 21 points and junior guard Keith Bonds added 15 for the Rams at Boise, Idaho.

Pittsburgh 72, Manhattan 61--The Panthers didn’t pull away from the stubborn Jaspers until late in the game, getting 14 points and 19 rebounds from Chris McNeal at Pittsburgh.

Sean Miller, with 10 points, was Pitt’s only other scorer in double figures.

Princeton 58, Monmouth, N.J. 47--Sophomore Chris Mooney scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Tigers at home.

Mooney had five of Princeton’s 11 three-pointers as the Tigers opened the season with their 28th consecutive victory at Jadwin Gym, the fourth-longest home-court winning streak in the country.

Texas 104, Washington 83--B.J. Tyler, a transfer from DePaul starting his first game for the Longhorns, had 28 points and 14 assists in Austin, Tex.

Dexter Cambridge bettered his career-high by three with 29 points for Texas.