Simmons, Woolridge help North Texas beat Portland 78-73

Nov 11, 2018, 05:47 am

HONOLULU -- Zachary Simmons had a career-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting and Ryan Woolridge scored 22 to help North Texas beat Portland 78-73 on Saturday night at the Rainbow Classic.

Woolridge made 8 of 12 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and added seven rebounds and eight assists.

Simmons' dunk capped an 11-0 spurt that gave North Texas (3-0) a 14-4 lead and the Pilots trailed the rest of the way. The Mean Green twice led by 12 in the second half before a 3-point play by Josh McSwiggan trimmed Portland's deficit to 65-62 with 4:37 to play but it would get no closer. Tope Arikawe answered with a layup and Woolridge hit a jumper to push the lead back to seven and it was a two-possession game the rest of the way.

JoJo Walker was 9-of-11 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and had 22 points for Portland. Marcus Shaver Jr. added 18 points.