Connecticut Comes Back to Beat Rhode Island in NIT

No. 12-ranked Connecticut (3-0) got 23 points from freshman guard Khalid El-Amin, 15 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore center Jake Voskuhl and plenty of defense, especially in the second half, to defeat No. 20 Rhode Island (1-1) 80-67 Wednesday night in a Preseason NIT game at Storrs, Conn.

“We made All-Americans out of Voskuhl and Khalid,” said Rhode Island Coach Jim Harrick. “It’s very difficult to bring a team in here and win.”

Connecticut will meet Florida State next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals. The Seminoles (3-0) bolted to a 25-9 lead on their way to a 66-55 victory over Utah State at Tallahassee, Fla.

Other Preseason NIT games:

No. 2 Kansas (3-0) roared to a 40-18 halftime and then held off two Western Kentucky rallies in the second half for a 75-62 victory at Lawrence, Kan. Raef LaFrentz had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Jayhawks. . . . Mike Batiste had career highs of 36 points and 20 rebounds in leading Arizona State (2-0) to a 107-88 victory over Wagner (0-2) in a first-round game at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Senior forward Bobby Brannen had career highs with 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead Cincinnati to 76-66 victory over Detroit Mercy at Cincinnati in the season opener.

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Antawn Jamison scored 26 points and Shammond Williams had 21 and 13 assists as No. 4 North Carolina (2-0) rode a dominating inside game to a 84-65 victory against Richmond (1-1) at Richmond, Va. . . . No. 10 Xavier of Ohio protected its highest ranking in 39 years by wearing down Toledo with a full-court press that forced 32 turnovers and set up a 95-76 victory at Cincinnati in the season opener for both teams. James Posey scored 24 points for Xavier. . . . Kenny Thomas muscled inside for 23 points and Royce Olney had a career-high 21--most from the outside--to lead No. 11 New Mexico (2-0) to an 80-79 win over New Mexico State (1-1) at Albuquerque. . . . Hanno Mottola scored 25 points and had nine rebounds to lead No. 16 Utah (2-0) to a 87-62 victory over Weber State (0-1) at Ogden, Utah.