South Padre Island, Texas ? The Associated Press

South Padre Island, Texas – Missouri State’s Blake Ahearn said he wasn’t all that worried about facing No. 7 Wisconsin.

He played like it, too, hitting three of five shots from three-point range, making six of seven free throws, and scoring 25 points as the Bears shocked Wisconsin, 66-64, on Friday in the semifinals of the South Padre Island Invitational.

“It’s just another game,” Ahearn said. “We can’t worry about who’s on the front of that jersey over there. We’re a bunch guys from Springfield, Missouri, just coming out trying to play hard and play together.”

The Bears (4-0) led by as many as 19 in the first half, but they had to come back late in the game after Wisconsin (4-1) rallied.

“We felt like we played outstanding defense in the first half,” Missouri State coach Barry Hinson said. “In the second half, we knew that they would be getting hot. We just told our team that we were one step away from winning this game if we could get just one stop, one rebound.”

Missouri State will face Oklahoma State today in the title game.

The Badgers took a 62-57 on a three-point shot by Alando Tucker with 5:25 remaining.

But then Missouri State outscored the Badgers 9-2 the rest of the way. A jump shot by Nathan Bilyeu made it 65-62 before Wisconsin’s Tucker and Kammron Taylor each missed free throws in the final 1:14. A Bilyeu free throw with 1:05 left made it 66-63 for the Bears.

Taylor’s free throw with 46 seconds left cut the lead to 66-64.

Tucker led Wisconsin with 26 points and had a chance to win it. After a missed shot by the Bears, Tucker attempted a three-pointer from the left side just before the buzzer that bounced off the rim.

Missouri State shot 63 percent from the floor (14-of-22) in the first half and hit six of seven three-pointers to take a 45-32 lead by halftime. Overall, the Bears shot 45 percent (23 of 51).

Ahearn finished 8-of-13 from the field. Deven Mitchell added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears.

The Bears raced to a 7-0 start and their biggest lead came with 1:06 remaining before halftime, when Ahearn sank a pair of free throws to put Missouri State up, 45-26.

Wisconsin shot 34 percent (11-of-32) in the first half and 39 percent (22-of-56) for the game. The Badgers shot 13 percent (2-of-15) from three-point range.

“Missouri State is a good team,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan. “We just had too many missed shots. We definitely weren’t shooting that well. I think it was because both teams were playing so well defensively.”

Tucker was held to nine points in the first half on 4-of-10 shooting but made six of nine shots in the second half, including two of four from three-point range. Michael Flowers added 10 points for Wisconsin.

No. 2 North Carolina 101, No. 22 Tennessee 87

New York – Tyler Hansbrough bounced back from one of the worst games of his college career to score 27 points and lead North Carolina over Tennessee in the third-place game of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore had nine points – just his second game as a Tar Heel below double figures – on 2-for-5 shooting in the 82-74 loss to Gonzaga in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

On Friday, his teammates consistently got him the ball inside and Hansbrough, a third-team All-America and Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year last season, converted. He also picked up four offensive rebounds. He finished 8-for-18 from the field.

No. 3 Pittsburgh 88, Florida State 66

Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh went on a pivotal 13-0 run behind the outside shooting of Ronald Ramon and Antonio Graves not long after Florida State’s Al Thornton got into foul trouble in the first half, and the Panthers beat the previously unbeaten Seminoles.

Graves scored 15 points and Ramon came off the bench for 12, all on 3-pointers, as the Panthers (6-0) showed they don’t always have to lean on 7-foot star Aaron Gray to win.

No. 4 Ohio State 91, Youngstown State 57

Columbus, Ohio – Freshmen Daequan Cook and Mike Conley Jr. and backup center Matt Terwilliger led a first-half onslaught to power Ohio State past Youngstown State.

Terwilliger, a junior forward, scored 10 points in the first half to surpass his career high by a point. He also attempted his first collegiate 3-pointer and made it.

The Buckeyes (6-0) tuned up for a showdown Wednesday night against No. 2 North Carolina.

No. 16 Washington 90, Eastern Washington 83

Seattle – Justin Dentmon scored a career-high 23 points – 19 in the second half – and No. 16 Washington overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Eastern Washington.

Freshman Spencer Hawes and classmate Adrian Oliver added 14 points each for Washington (5-0). The Huskies had five players score in double figures – and needed every one of them to escape their first nonconference home loss since Dec. 3, 2003, to Gonzaga.

No. 25 Maryland 81, High Point 63

College Park, Md. – Ekene Ibekwe scored 16 points, James Gist and D.J. Strawberry each had 15, and Maryland pulled away in the second half.

Freshman Greivis Vasquez added 11 points for the Terrapins, who never trailed but led by only four points at halftime. Maryland went 6-for-12 from three-point range and outscored the Panthers 19-2 at the line in improving to 7-0 for the first time since 1998.