Die Allianz T-D-P » They havent been playing well as of late, but theyve

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- Baylor couldnt get Johnathan Motley going early, Manu Lecomte was fighting his shot and the 20th-ranked Bears found themselves trailing for one of the few times this season.Their response? Cut down on turnovers, frustrate VCU defensively and grind out the tough baskets, a formula that helped Baylor hold off the Rams 71-63 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.When youre shooting well and the games coming easy on the offensive end, its easy to have that carry over on the defensive end, Baylor coach Scott Drew said. It takes the mentally tough players when theyre not making shots they normally make to make sure it doesnt carry over and affect that on the defensive end.Motley scored 14 of his 19 points after halftime. Al Freeman scored 15 points, hitting three baskets during a critical second-half sequence for the Bears (4-0).In addition, Lecomte shook off a rough shooting game to finish with 16 points, including a hanging layup while being knocked to the ground for a three-point play to go with several key free throws in the final minute.You needed toughness to play in this type of game, Freeman said.JeQuan Lewis had 21 points for the Rams (3-1). They went without a basket for roughly 6 1/2 minutes during the second half.VCU used a late-half burst to lead 36-28 at the break and shot 58 percent in the opening half, but it cooled in the second half as the Bears defense tightened. VCU shot just 35 percent after halftime.I think we played really well for about 25 minutes, VCU coach Will Wade said. It got away from us the last 15 minutes.BIG PICTUREVCU: The Rams just couldnt find someone to step up and make a big basket as the empty possessions mounted during the critical second-half stretch. That included a run of six straight misses with a few turnovers during that field-goal drought.We have to play a full, complete game to be beat the best teams on our schedule, Wade said. We werent able to do that today.Baylor: Drew could at least feel good about his teams response after falling behind late in the opening half and then trailing through the first 9 minutes of the second half, especially with how it had just five second-half turnovers after committing 11 in the first 20 minutes. Baylor had led for 94 percent of game time through its first three games.I liked the way we fought back, Motley said.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Bears entered the AP Top 25 this week after upsetting Oregon at home last week. Baylor could only help its standing in the three-games-in-three-days event, especially with No. 10 Louisville and No. 24 Michigan State lurking in the bracket.LECOMTES DAYLecomte had made just 2 of 11 shots before that three-point play with 51.1 seconds left. He also went 10 of 11 from the line, including a 7-for-7 effort in the final minute.I was struggling shooting so my job was just to find the hot man ... and they did a great job finishing, he said.FREEMANS FINISHESFreeman, a 6-foot-3 junior from Charlotte, North Carolina, hit a driving shot then followed with a big 3-pointer off a crosscourt feed. His third big basket came when he drove by Jordan Burgess for a score to push the lead to 60-53 with 3:07 left.UP NEXTVCU: The Rams will play St. Johns, which lost to Michigan State, on Thursday on Day 2 of the three-day tournament.Baylor: The Bears will play No. 24 Michigan State in the semifinals on Thursday.---This story has been corrected to show the first name of Motley is Johnathan, not Jonathan.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 Clearance Basketball Jerseys Throwback . 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Throwback Glen Selbo Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Oregon and Connecticut were both in the Top 25 at the start of the season, but both could be out of the rankings next week.The Ducks reached their highest spot ever in the Associated Press poll at No. 4 on Nov. 15, but then lost to unranked Baylor and Georgetown.Were unranked now, Oregon coach Dana Altman said after a 65-61 loss to the Hoyas in the first round of the Maui Invitational on Monday. I dont know who the heck we think we are.The 13th-ranked Ducks bounced back to beat Tennessee 69-65 in overtime Tuesday to improve to 3-2.We are not playing very well, but we had to find a way to win the game, Altman said.Oregon will wrap up its week at the Lahaina Civic Center on Wednesday against Connecticut (2-3), which beat Chaminade 93-82 on Tuesday. The Huskies were ranked No. 16 in the preseason but fell out of the polls after losses to Northeastern and Wagner.I thought our guys played extremely well, UConn coach Kevin Ollie said after the win over Chaminade. They did not get down on themselves.Sophomore guard Jalen Adams nearly had a triple-double with 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds against Chaminade. He is averaging 29.5 points in two games during the tournament as he prepares to face the Ducks.We aare definitely looking forward to playing a Top 20 team, Adams said.dddddddddddd It is a good challenge to see where we are at. We think we can play with the best teams.Oregon and Connecticut were both disappointed after losing their opener in Maui, but the winner will go home with a two-game winning streak.Theyve got a good team, Ollie said of the Ducks. They havent been playing well as of late, but theyve got a lot of great guys. Weve got to come in and focus on our game plan.Oregon got all-conference forward Dillon Brooks back after he missed the first three games of the season following foot surgery. The 6-foot-7 junior led the Ducks with 17 points in the win over Tennessee.Im feeling great, Brooks said. My foot doesnt hurt at all. Im just ready for the next game and ready to get back and work with these guys and get better to get to that level that we need to be at.Altman would like to see his team get back to the level that took the Ducks to the Elite Eight last season.We obviously read too many press clippings and we are not playing anywhere near that level were capable of playing, he said. ' ' '