Nolan Hickman scored 17 points and led a balanced attack as No. 6 Gonzaga defeated No. 8 Baylor 101-63 on Monday in Spokane, Wash., in the opening night game of the men’s college basketball season. It broke.
This was the Bulldogs’ largest margin of victory over a top-10 team, surpassing their previous 20-point margin of victory.
Gonzaga’s Graham Icke added 15 points and eight rebounds in a rematch of the 2021 NCAA title game, which the Bears won 86-70. Braden Huff had 14 points, Kalife Battle had 12 points and Dusty Stromer had 11 points for the Bulldogs. Ryan Nembhard had a game-high 11 assists.
Norchad Omie, a transfer from Miami, led Baylor with 15 points and nine rebounds. Prize Bears freshman VJ Edgecombe scored just four points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
1st Kansas 87, Howard 57
Zeke Mayo scored 19 points in his team debut to lead the Jayhawks to a comfortable victory over the Bison in Lawrence, Kansas.
Mayo transferred from South Dakota State to Kansas State and helped the Jayhawks win 52 straight home openers. Hunter Dickinson (16 points) and Florrie Vidunga (13 points) also scored in double figures for Kansas.
Blake Harper led Howard with 16 points. Anwar Gill and Marcus Dockery each scored seven points for the Bison.
2nd place Alabama 110, UNC Asheville 54
In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Mark Sears scored 20 points in 24 minutes to help the Crimson Tide defeat the Bulldogs.
Clifford Omoruyi, a transfer from Rutgers, made all six of his shots for Alabama, recording 16 points and eight rebounds. Latrell Lightsell Jr. had 13 points, Mohamed Diubate and Aiden Holloway each had 11 points, and Jalyn Stephenson and LaBaron Fillon each had 10 points.
For UNC Asheville, Jordan Marsh had 13 points, Toyaz Solomon had 11 points and Kameron Taylor had 10 points.
4th Houston 97, Jackson State 40
L.J. Cryer had 16 points and Jawan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds as the Cougars started the season in style with a win over the visiting Tigers.
Milik Wilson led a late scoring burst to 15 points, and Milos Uzan had eight points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals as the Cougars won their 16th straight season opener.
Jaylen Tatum had 14 points for the Tigers, and Romell Mansell added seven points and six rebounds. Jackson State went 15-17 overall before the season and was picked to finish fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
5. Iowa State 83, Mississippi Valley State 44
Keshon Gilbert scored 17 points and Tamin Lipsey added 16 points as the Cyclones easily defeated the Delta Devils in Ames, Iowa, in the season opener for both teams.
Iowa State held a double-digit lead for most of the game, with Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic each scoring 10 points. Dishon Jackson had nine points and six rebounds.
Donovan Sanders led Mississippi Valley State with 12 points and eight rebounds. Greg Moore had 10 points and Antonio Sisk had nine points.
7th Duke 96, Maine 62
The Blue Devils opened the season by defeating the Black Bears in Durham, North Carolina, with freshman Con Knuppel scoring 15 of his 22 points in the first half and Cooper Flagg scoring 18 points in his long-awaited collegiate debut.
Duke is in its third season under head coach John Scheyer and started the 2024-25 season with typically high expectations. Flagg, a Maine native and the top-rated college freshman this year, went 6-of-15 from the field and had a team-high seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
For Maine, Quion Barnes finished with 15 points and Keelan Steele had 11 points.
9th North Carolina 90, Elon 76
All-American RJ Davis hit two big shots and the Tar Heels defeated Phoenix in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The Tar Heels finished the game on a 21-5 run. After falling behind 71-69 on two free throws by TJ Simpkins with 6:48 remaining, they scored 11 straight points.
Elon trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed 69-57 with 10:58 left, but went on a 14-0 run that included two 3-pointers from Nick Doane. . Dorn scored 17 points on 5 of 10 3-point shots. 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 an opening-round victory over the Golden Griffins in Tucson, Arizona.
Love had 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and no turnovers for Arizona. Bradley had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, and Lewis had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Canisius played his first game under coach Jim Christian, who previously spent 19 years at Kent State, TCU, Ohio State 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 and led the Voluntese to a season-opening victory over the Running Bulldogs in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Volantes never trailed, holding a lead of as many as 27 players in the second half. Lanier, a transfer from North Florida, made 7 of 12 shot attempts.
Daryl Simmons II played well, scoring 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 the only points on a go-ahead dunk with 45 seconds left, and the Knights erased a nine-point deficit with five minutes left to upset the Aggies in Orlando.
The Knights closed out the game with a 14-2 run that surprised the Aggies, who had led most of the game, and cut the lead to 59-50 on Wade Taylor IV’s 3-pointer from the UCF logo with 4:52 left. pushed up. On the final possession of the game, UCF fans flooded the court after A&M missed three potential game-clinching 3-pointers.
UCF’s Darius Johnson had a game-high 24 points and five assists. Farrell Payne led the Aggies with 15 points and six rebounds.
No. 14 Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73
Fletcher Royer had 21 points and Braden Smith had 15 assists as the Boilermakers overcame the Islanders in the second half to win the opening game in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Trey Kaufman-Len added 15 points for Purdue, and Myles Colvin also had 14 points off the bench. Daniel Jacobsen, a 7-foot-4 freshman center who replaced the departed Zach Eady, contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi had four players score in double figures, led by Owen Dees with 20 points. Garry Clark scored 14 points and Isaac Williams added 12 points.
No. 18 Market 102, Stony Brook 62
Cam Jones scored 32 points to lead the Golden Eagles to an easy victory over the Seawolves in Milwaukee.
Jones knocked down 14 of 16 shots from the field, two points shy of his career high. Marquette’s Chase Ross added a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting.
Joe Octave tied Stony Brook with 12 points, and Ben Wight had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Ohio State 80, 19th Texas 72
Bruce Thornton scored 20 points as the Buckeyes defeated the Longhorns in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas.
Ohio State never trailed, entering halftime with a seven-point lead. Texas cut the deficit to three points with 7:34 remaining, then Ohio State went on a 10-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Devin Royal, and the Buckeyes held on.
For Ohio State, Micah Parrish scored 17 points, Royal added 16 points and John Mobley Jr. added 14 points off the bench. Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with a game-high 29 points, establishing a 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 dominate the Golden Lions.
Jizzle James also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, and Dillon Mitchell, a transfer from Texas, also made his Cincinnati debut with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Dante Sawyer was the only Golden Lion to score 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 rallied to defeat the Bulls in an emotional season opener at the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational.
Clayton added 29 points and Richard added 25 points for Florida, which trailed by 13 points in the first half, but defeated South Florida 59-43 after halftime.
Jamil Reynolds had 17 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who played just 11 days after head coach Amir Abdul-Rahim passed away suddenly at the age of 43 during a medical procedure. The Gators wore warm-up shirts with Abdul-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 easily defeated the visiting Los Angeles Bronx.
The Bruins never trailed and opened up a 6-0 lead. Their advantage never dipped below 19 points in the second half, and it remained above 30 points until the final 4:19, when Dylan Andrews’ 3-pointer ended a seven-point burst by the UCLA guard. He finished with 14 points.
Rider got 15 points from TJ Weeks Jr., who made 4 of 7 3-pointers. The rest of the Rider lineup combined for 1 of 13 shots from beyond the arc.
No. 23 Kentucky 103, Wright State University 62
Otega Oweh scored 21 points on 8-of-9 field goals and Coby Blair scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats to a comfortable victory over the Raiders in new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope’s debut in Lexington, Kentucky. led to.
Lamont Butler had a strong performance, scoring 14 points and leading the Wildcats with five assists. Amari Williams added 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Wright State had its worst shooting performance in the first half, going 10-of-36 from the field and 3-of-17 from 3-point range. Brandon Noel had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Raiders.
No. 24 Ole Miss 90, Long Island 60
In the season opener for both teams held in Oxford, Mississippi, the Rebels defeated the Sharks with Jalen Murray scoring 24 points.
Murray made 7 of 10 field goal attempts, 5 of 8 3-point attempts and 5 of 5 free throws. Jamin Brakefield added 12 points for the Rebels.
Malachi Davis and Brent Davis, a transfer from Arizona State University and selected to the preseason All-Northeast Conference team, led the Sharks with 19 points each.
–Field level media
