Iowa City, Iowa ? Greg Brunner had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 14 Iowa to a 75-59 victory over Fairfield on Friday night in the opening round of the Hawkeye Challenge tournament.

Jeff Horner scored 12 points, Adam Haluska added 11 and the Hawkeyes shot 52 percent.

Iowa advanced to today’s championship game against Valparaiso, a 79-72 winner over Tulane.

Michael Van Schaick scored a career-best 17 points for Fairfield. Jonathan Han shot 4-for-9 from three-point range and finished with 15 points, and Michael Bell added 11.

The Hawkeyes (6-1) improved to 46-1 in their annual tournament, but it wasn’t as easy as the final score indicated, as Fairfield gave Iowa all it could handle.

The Stags (0-4), undersized but persistent, forced 20 Iowa turnovers, had nine steals and shot 42 percent from three-point range.

Three times in the final 91â2 minutes the Stags got within striking distance, but the Hawkeyes stopped each comeback attempt before pulling away in the final three minutes.

Iowa’s miscues and missed opportunities allowed the Stags to remain in contention early in the second half.

Fairfield came into the game shooting 38 percent, but found the mark in the game’s opening minutes, building a 13-7 lead on a pair of three-pointers from Bell and Van Schaick.

No. 3 Connecticut 113, Texas Southern 49

Storrs, Conn. – Connecticut opened its homestand at Gampel Pavilion in style.

Rudy Gay had 22 points and Josh Boone dominated inside with 12 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Huskies.

The Huskies’ point total was just three shy of the Gampel record, set in 2002 in a 116-78 victory over in-state rival Sacred Heart.

The sellout crowd of 10,167 had plenty to cheer about even before the game began. During pregame, UConn unveiled coach Jim Calhoun’s Hall of Fame banner.

Boone finished with 17 points and anchored an inside game that outrebounded the Tigers 56-28 and outscored the visitors 46-18 in the paint.

No. 19 G. Washington 75, Boston U. 62

Washington – No. 19 George Washington got its big man back Friday night and barely needed him, instead relying on the outside shooting of Maureece Rice and Carl Elliott.

Rice scored 17 points and made all three of his three-pointers, Elliott scored 13 and hit three of four from long range, and Mike Hall added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Colonials, who went 11-for-22 on three-pointers but had trouble putting away a winless team that dressed only nine players.