College basketball: No. 2 Kansas holds off Wake Forest

Paradise Island, Bahamas • Winning ugly is nothing that Kansas coach Bill Self will complain about.

In fact, there's times he finds it downright satisfying.

Like Thursday, for instance, when Andrew Wiggins was slowed by the flu, when the second-ranked Jayhawks used reserves more than starters in the second half and when the hottest scorer on the court happened to be wearing a Wake Forest uniform. No problem — Self was all smiles afterward, because above all else, a win always beats the alternative.

Wiggins scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 5:53, and Kansas held off previously unbeaten Wake Forest 87-78 in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis. A pair of reserves, Frank Mason and Joel Embiid, combined for 23 more points for the Jayhawks (5-0), who will face Villanova in the semifinals on Friday night.

"I've always taken great pride in winning ugly," Self said. "I think it's good to win ugly. I'd rather win pretty, but there's nothing wrong with winning ugly. The thing about it that's frustrating to me, and I think these guys will probably agree, we've always been a team that won ugly by not allowing the other team to score."

That wasn't the case Thursday, at least not in the final 20 minutes. Well, the last 20:01, really. Kansas was up by 16 when Codi Miller-McIntyre got a layup to fall for Wake Forest just before the first half ended. Before that shot, Miller-McIntyre had only four points. He finished with a career-best 26, and has scored at least 20 in five of Wake Forest's six games this season.

No. 19 UCLA 105, Nevada 84 • In Las Vegas, Jordan Adams and Zach Lavine each scored 21 points to lead No. 19 UCLA over Nevada in the opening round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Five players scored in double figures for the Bruins (6-0), who quickly erased an early five-point deficit and built a double-digit lead less than 10 minutes into the game.

UCLA's lead got as high as 19 in the first half, when the Bruins shot 16 of 25 (64 percent) from the field and 17 of 18 at the free throw line. They finished at 60.7 percent from the floor, including 10 of 20 from 3-point range.

No. 23 Iowa 77, Xavier 74 (OT) • In Paradise Island, Bahamas, Roy Devyn Marble scored 30 points before leaving with a leg injury, and No. 23 Iowa rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat Xavier in overtime at the Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals.

The Hawkeyes (6-0) never led in regulation, but never trailed in overtime.

Zach McCabe scored 11 points, and Gabriel Olaseni had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Aaron White's 10-point night ended with a clutch tip-in with 1:40 left in overtime. —

Thursday's scores

• No. 2 Kansas 87, Wake Forest 78

• No. 5 Oklahoma State 97, Purdue 87

• No. 19 UCLA 105, Nevada 84

• No. 20 Creighton vs Arizona State, late

• No. 21 Memphis 87, Siena 60

• No. 23 Iowa 77, Xavier 74 (OT)

• No. 25 Marquette 86, Cal State Fullerton 66