Nolan Hickman led the offensive attack with 17 points as No. No. 6 Gonzaga defeated No. 8 Baylor 101-63 Monday in Spokane, Wash., in a marquee game on the opening night of the men’s college basketball season.
It was the Bulldogs’ biggest margin of victory against a Top 10 team, surpassing their previous mark of 20 points.
Graham Ike added 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Gonzaga to the 2021 NCAA title game as the Bears won 86-70. Braden Huff scored 14 points, Khalif Battle added 12 and Dusty Stromer scored 11 for the Bulldogs. Ryan Nembhard dished out a career-high 11 assists.
Miami transfer Norchad Omier led Baylor with 15 points and nine rebounds. Prized Bears VJ Edgecombe had just four points on 2-for-11 shooting from the field.
No. 1 Kansas 87, Howard 57
Zeke Mayo scored 19 points in his team’s debut to lead the Jayhawks to an easy victory over the Bison in Lawrence, Kan.
Mayo transferred to Kansas from South Dakota State and helped the Jayhawks win their 52nd consecutive home opener. Kansas also got Hunter Dickinson (16 points) and Flory Bidunga (13) in double figures.
Blake Harper led Howard with 16 points. Anwar Gill and Marcus Dockery each scored seven points for Buffalo.
No. 2 Alabama 110, UNC Asheville 54
Mark Sears scored 20 points in 24 minutes to help the Crimson Tide beat the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Clifford Omoruyi, a transfer from Rutgers, hit all six of his shots while recording 16 points and eight rebounds for Alabama. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. added 13 points, Mouhamed Dioubate and Aden Holloway had 11 each and Jarin Stevenson and Labaron Philon had 10.
Jordan Marsh scored 13 points, Toyaz Solomon added 11 and Kameron Taylor scored 10 for UNC Asheville.
No. 4 Houston 97, Jackson State 40
LJ Cryer scored 16 points and J’Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds as the Cougars started their season in style with a win over the visiting Tigers.
Mylik Wilson converted a late goal into 15 points and Milos Uzan had eight points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals as the Cougars won their season opener for the 16th straight season.
Jalen Tatum scored 14 points and Romelle Mansel added seven points and six rebounds for the Tigers. Jackson State went 15-17 overall last season and was picked to finish fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
No. 5 Iowa State 83, Mississippi Valley State 44
Keshon Gilbert scored 17 points, Tamin Lipsey added 16 and the Cyclones cruised to an easy win in Ames, Iowa, over the Delta Devils in both teams’ season opener.
Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic each finished with 10 points for Iowa State, which led by double digits for much of the game. Dishon Jackson had nine points and six rebounds.
Donovan Sanders scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Mississippi Valley State. Greg Moore scored 10 points, and Antonio Sisk had nine.
No. 7 Duke 96, Maine 62
Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half and Cooper Flagg poured in 18 points in his highly anticipated college debut as the Blue Devils opened the season with a win over the Black Bears in Durham, NC.
Duke began 2024-25 with high expectations as it began its third season under coach Jon Scheyer. Flagg, a Maine native who was the top player among college freshmen this year, was 6 of 15 from the field and had a career-high seven rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals.
Quion Burns had 15 points and Keelan Steele finished with 11 for Maine.
No. 9 North Carolina 90, Elon 76
All-American RJ Davis sank a big shot and the Tar Heels cruised to a win over Phoenix in Chapel Hill, NC.
The Tar Heels finished the game on a 21-5 run. They scored 11 straight points after trailing 71-69 with 6:48 left on a free throw from TJ Simpkins.
Elon trailed by 16 points in the first half and was down 69-57 with 10:58 left before going on a 14-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Nick Dorn. Dorn finished with 17 points, going 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Simpkins led Phoenix with 18 points off the bench.
No. 10 Arizona 93, Canisius 64
Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis combined for 46 points, 14 assists and just one turnover to lead the Wildcats to a season-clinching victory over the Golden Griffins in Tucson, Ariz.
Love finished with 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and nothing changed for Arizona. Bradley had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while Lewis had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Canisius played its first game under coach Jim Christian, who spent 19 years with previous stops at Kent State, TCU, Ohio and Boston College. The Golden Griffins were led by Paul McMillan IV with 20 points.
No. 12 Tennessee 80, Gardner-Webb 64
Chaz Lanier scored 18 points in his team debut to lead the Volunteers to a victory over the Runnin’ Bulldogs in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Volunteers never trailed and led by 27 percent in the second half. Lanier, from North Florida, made seven of his 12 field goal attempts.
Darryl Simmons II played well to finish with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting to lead Gardner-Webb.
UCF 64, No. 13 Texas A&M 61
Benny Williams scored his only go-ahead score with 45 seconds left and the Knights erased a nine-point deficit in the final five minutes to upset the Aggies in Orlando.
The Knights closed the game with a 14-2 run to stun the Aggies, who had led for most of the contest, and pushed the lead to 59-50 on Wade Taylor IV’s 3-pointer in the UCF logo with 4:52 left. UCF fans stormed the court after A&M missed three three-point attempts in the end zone of the game.
UCF’s Darius Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and dished out five assists. Pharrell Payne led the Aggies with 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.
No. 14 Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73
Fletcher Loyer scored 21 points and Braden Smith dished out 15 assists as the Boilermakers held off the Islanders in the second half for a season-clinching win in West Lafayette, Ind.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 15 points for Purdue, which also got 14 off the bench from Myles Colvin. Daniel Jacobsen, a 7-foot-4 freshman center filling in for the departed Zach Edey, had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Four players scored in double figures for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, led by Owen Dease’s 20 points. Garry Clark added 14, and Isaac Williams scored 12.
No. 18 Marquette 102, Stony Brook 62
Kam Jones poured in 32 points to lead the Golden Eagles to an easy victory over the Seawolves in Milwaukee.
Jones hit 14 of 16 shots to come away with two points before matching his career high. Marquette’s Chase Ross added a game-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
Joe Octave paced Stony Brook with 12 points, while Ben Wight had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Ohio State 80, No. 19 Texas 72
Bruce Thornton scored 20 points as the Buckeyes topped the Longhorns in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas.
Ohio State never trailed and led by seven points at halftime. Texas cut the deficit to three points with 7:34 to play, after which Ohio State produced a 10-1 run capped by a 3-pointer by Devin Royal, and the Buckeyes held on.
Micah Parrish added 17 points for Ohio State, while Royal had 16 and John Mobley Jr. scored 14 off the bench. Tre Johnson scored a game-high 29 points for the Longhorns, setting the team mark for most points scored by a freshman in his debut.
No. 20 Cincinnati 109, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54
Simas Lukosius led six players in double figures with 20 points and Dan Skillings Jr. added 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the host Bearcats knock off the Golden Lions.
Jizzle James also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists while Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell made his Cincinnati debut with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Dante Sawyer was the only Golden Lion in double figures, finishing with 11 points.
No. 21 Florida 98, South Florida 83
Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard combined for 54 points as the Gators battled past the Bulls in an emotional season opener at the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational.
Clayton had 29 points and Richard added 25 for Florida, which trailed by 13 points in the first half but outscored South Florida 59-43 after halftime.
Jamille Reynolds finished with 17 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who played just 11 days after coach Amir Abdur-Rahim died suddenly at the age of 43 during a check-up. The Gators wore warm shirts with Abdur-Rahim’s last name on the back.
No. 22 UCLA 85, Rider 50
Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points, Kobe Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds, and the Bruins cruised past the Broncs in Los Angeles.
The Bruins never trailed, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Their advantage did not drop below 19 points in the second half and stayed at 30 or more in the last 4:19 when Dylan Andrews’ 3-pointer marked the end of a seven-point burst from the UCLA guard. Finished with 14 points.
Rider got 15 points from TJ Weeks Jr., who shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range. The rest of the Rider lineup shot a combined 1 of 13 from beyond the arc.
No. 23 Kentucky 103, Wright State 62
Otega Oweh scored 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and Koby Brea scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats to a comfortable victory over the Raiders in Lexington, Ky., in the debut of new Kentucky coach Mark Pope.
Lamont Butler played well, scoring 14 points to lead the Wildcats with five assists. Amari Williams added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Wright State had impressive shooting in the first half, going 10-for-36 from the field and 3-for-17 from 3-point range. Brandon Noel paced the Raiders with 20 points and eight rebounds.
No. 24 Ole Miss 90, Long Island 60
Red-hot Jaylen Murray scored 24 points and the Rebels outlasted the Sharks in the season opener for both teams in Oxford, Nkosazana.
Murray made 7 of 10 field goal attempts, 5 of 8 3-pointers and 5 of 5 free throws. Jaemyn Brakefield added 12 points for the Rebels.
Malachi Davis, a transfer from Arizona State who was selected to the Preseason All-Northeast Conference team, and Brent Davis each scored 19 points to lead the Sharks.
–Field Level Media
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