Awaiting final take as Texas A&M, Virginia Tech and Nebraska win opening games Thursday

Phil Collin “final take” on Thursday’s opening games at the 2016 Wooden Legacy in in the works.  In the other first round games:

Nebraska 80, Dayton 78 – The Cornhuskers made their first seven shots and led virtually the entire game but had perform an escape act in the waning seconds. Guard Glynn Watson Jr. hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds left just after Dayton had grabbed its only lead at 78-77 with 15.4 seconds left on a drive by guard Scoochie Smith. Trailing by one, Dayton’s final effort came up short when Smith drove but his shot was left short in the final two seconds. Watson led Nebraska (4-0) with 20 points and had five steals and forward Ed Morrow Jr. had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Tai Webster added 16 points for the Cornhuskers. Charles Cooke had 17 points to lead Dayton (2-2) but the Flyers shot only 38.1 percent for the game.

Texas A&M 95, Cal State Northridge 73 – What was a close game late in the first half turned into a runaway when the Aggies turned to a zone defense. Texas A&M held a two-point lead with 7:31 left in the opening period when the Aggies gained separation to take a 36-28 lead in the next three minutes, then they closed the half with a 17-0 run. Sophomore Forward D.J. Hogg, who entered the game averaging 12 points, scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half and A&M (3-1) advanced and will face Virginia Tech. The 53-point first half for A&M is a Wooden Legacy record. Hogg made 9 of 12 field goals and Admon Gilder scored 17 for the Aggies, who shot 53.1 percent from the field. Micheal Warren, in his second game of the season, scored 19 points and Tavrion Dawson added 14 for CSUN (2-3), who will meet New Mexico in the second round.

Virginia Tech 92, New Mexico 72 – Guard Justin Robinson had a game-high 22 points, dished out eight assists and had no turnovers in 40 minutes in an efficient offensive performance as the Hokies (4-0) remained undefeated. Robinson also went 9-for-10 at the free throw line for Virginia Tech, which made 19 of 20 foul shots and shot 50 percent from the field with its four-guard lineup. Ahmed Hill added 18 points and Zach LeDay came off the bench to score 16. Forward Tim Williams had 19 points and 11 rebounds for New Mexico (3-1) and guard Elijah Brown had 16 points for the Lobos, who fell behind by as many as 24 points in the second half.