DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Star freshman Cooper Flagg had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his college debut, and No. 7 Duke beat Maine 96-62 on Monday night in the season opener for both teams.
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound Flagg — the nation’s top-ranked recruit and a preseason Associated Press All-American — made 6 of 15 shots and all six of his free throws. Fellow rookie Kon Knueppel powered the offense with 22 points and three 3-pointers for the Blue Devils (1-0), who shot 55.6% for the game.
Quion Burns scored 15 points for the Black Bears (0-1), which shot just 6 for 24 (25%) after halftime as Duke pulled away.
NO. 1 KANSAS 87, HOWARD 57
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Zeke Mayo, a grad transfer from South Dakota State, had 19 points in his Kansas debut and the top-ranked Jayhawks beat Howard.
Kansas led 46-19 at halftime and its biggest lead was 38 points.
The game was the second annual McClendon Classic, named in honor of Kansas graduate and Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame honoree John McClendon.
Kansas (1-0) used the game as a tune-up before a top-10 showdown with North Carolina on Friday night. The Jayhawks had 10 players score, with three in double-figures. Hunter Dickinson, who missed Kansas’ scrimmage and exhibition games, had 16 points and six rebounds, and Flory Bidunga added 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Blake Harper had 16 points to lead Howard.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 110, UNC ASHEVILLE 54
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mark Sears scored 20 points, and No. 2 Alabama beat UNC Asheville.
Sears led the Crimson Tide in scoring on 6-for-8 shooting and was 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Clifford Omoruyi did not miss a shot in his Alabama debut, and the Rutgers transfer scored 16 points on six shots to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks.
Five other players scored in double figures for the Crimson Tide: Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (13), Mouhamed Dioubate (11), Aden Holloway (11), Jarin Stevenson (10) and Labaron Philon (10).
Jordan Marsh led UNC Asheville with 13 points.
NO. 4 HOUSTON 97, JACKSON STATE 40
HOUSTON (AP) — L.J. Cryer scored 16 points, Mylik Wilson added 15 points off the bench, and No. 4 Houston opened its season with a win over Jackson State.
J’Wan Roberts had 14 points and six rebounds, Ramon Walker Jr. chipped in 10 points and Milos Uzan, a transfer from Oklahoma, had eight points, seven rebounds and 10 assists for Houston. The Cougars shot 58%, including 12 of 20 on 3-pointers.
The win was Houston’s 23rd straight home win, the longest active streak in the nation.
Jalen Tatum scored 14 points to lead Jackson State, which shot 28%.
NO. 5 IOWA STATE 83, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE 44
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Keshon Gilbert scored 17 points and Tamin Lipsey added 16 as No. 5 Iowa State routed Mississippi Valley State for its 28th straight home win.
Saint Mary’s transfer Joshua Jefferson added 10 points, six rebounds and four steals in his first game with the Cyclones.
Donovan Sanders had 12 points and Greg Moore added 10 for the Delta Devils, who won one game last season and are picked to finish last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The Cyclones led 44-21 at half, and the bulge grew to as many as 42 points in the last five minutes.
The Cyclones finished with 16 steals, with Lipsey and Gilbert making three apiece. Lipsey moved into eighth place on the ISU career chart with 172 steals in his 70 games.
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 90, ELON 76
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 24 points and keyed No. 9 North Carolina’s 11-0 run after falling behind in the second half in a victory over Elon.
Elliot Cadeau added 15 points and Seth Trimble had 12 points for the Tar Heels, who shot only 41.2% from the field. Jae’Lyn Withers had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
TJ Simpkins scored 18 points and Nick Dorn had 17 to lead Elon. Sam Sherry added 15 points and TK Simpkins had 14.
Elon used a 14-0 burst to take a 71-69 lead with less than 7 minutes to play. Davis hit a floater and then worked free for a corner 3-pointer as momentum shifted back to the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels took a 32-21 lead on Withers’ 3-pointer just under the eight-minute mark of the first half. North Carolina scored the final seven points of the first half for a 51-39 lead at the break, holding the Phoenix without a point in the last two minutes
N0. 12 TENNESSEE 80, GARDNER-WEBB 64
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Chaz Lanier scored 18 points and Jordan Gainey had 16 as No. 12 Tennessee beat Gardner-Webb.
Zakai Zeigler added 13 points and nine assists for the Volunteers, while Jahmai Mashack scored 10. Felix Okpara led the Vols’ rebounding with nine.
Darryl Simmons scored 22 points to lead the Bulldogs, and Anthony Selden and Jamaine Mann each had 13. Gardner-Webb outrebounded Tennessee 32-29, with Isaiah Richards leading the way with eight.
UCF 64, NO. 13 TEXAS A&M 61
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Darius Johnson scored 24 points and assisted on a go-ahead slam dunk with less than a minute remaining to lead UCF to a win over No. 13 Texas A&M.
Johnson had five assists, including the pass to Benny Williams that helped put the Knights ahead 62-61 with 45.5 seconds left. The Aggies didn’t score in the final 2:13.
UCF fans stormed the court after Texas A&M missed back-to-back 3-pointers to end the game.
Jordan Ivy-Curry added 16 points for UCF. Keyshawn Hall scored 10.
Pharrel Payne led the Aggies with 15 points and had six rebounds. Wade Taylor IV had 13 points and seven assists but made only 4 of his 15 shots.
NO. 14 PURDUE 90, TEXAS A&M CORPUS-CHRISTI 73
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 21 points to lead five players in double figures as No. 14 Purdue beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Also scoring in double figures were Trey Kaufman-Renn with 15 points, Myles Colvin with 14, Daniel Jacobsen with 13 and Braden Smith with 12. Kaufman-Renn had nine rebounds and Smith had 15 assists.
Owen Dease scored 20 for the Islanders. Garry Clark added 14 points.
The Boilermakers led 49-33 at halftime, but the Islanders got as close as three points in the second half before Purdue pulled away. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi shot 54% in the second half to get back into the game.
The Boilermakers shot 56% for the game compared to 45% for the Islanders.
NO. 18 MARQUETTE 102, STONY BROOK 62
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kam Jones scored 32 points while shooting 14 of 16 from the floor as No. 18 Marquette breezed to a victory over Stony Brook.
Jones was 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finished two points off his career high. Jones had 34 points in back-to-back games against DePaul and Xavier last season.
Chase Ross added a career-best 23 points and David Joplin scored 13.
Marquette is chasing its fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth as it attempts to replace 2024 Associated Press All-America second-team guard Tyler Kolek and Oso Ighodaro, who were both selected in the second round of the NBA draft.
Joe Octave scored 12 points and Ben Wight had 10 points and eight rebounds for Stony Brook.
NO. 20 CINCINNATI 109, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 54
CINCINNATI (AP) — Simas Lukosius scored 20 points, Dan Skillings Jr. added 17 and No. 20 Cincinnati beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Connor Hickman had 13 points and Jizzle James had 12 for the Bearcats, who had six players score in double figures.
Dante Sawyer led the Golden Lions with 11 points.
The Bearcats got off to a sluggish start but overwhelmed the Golden Lions with a 17-2 run to close the first half.
James beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to make it 55-32.
Cincinnati is ranked in the AP poll for the first time since 2018-19, the last time it reached the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 21 FLORIDA 98, SOUTH FLORIDA 83
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Walter Clayton Jr. scored 29 points, Will Richard added 25 and No. 21 Florida overcame a 13-point deficit to beat South Florida.
Still coping with the death of coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, the Bulls looked inspired while building a double-digit lead. They hit six of their first 15 shots from 3-point range and led 36-23 early.
Florida, meanwhile, missed 11 of its first 12 from behind the arc until Richard found the net. Richard’s eight-point spurt in a little more than a minute made it close. The Gators tightened up on defense in the second half and dominated inside. They used a 14-2 run to create some breathing room. Clayton and Richard played key roles in the decisive stretch.
Jamille Reynolds led the Bulls with 17 points and six boards.
NO. 23 KENTUCKY 103, WRIGHT STATE 62
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Otega Oweh scored 21 points, Koby Brea added 18 off the bench, and No. 23 Kentucky shot 60% to blow out Wright State in Mark Pope’s Wildcat debut.
Pope replaced John Calipari in April after the Hall of Famer left for Arkansas and revamped the roster with nine transfers. Oweh, an Oklahoma transfer, went 8 for 9 from the floor and made all three shots from deep.
Brea made all four of his 3-pointers for Kentucky, which shot 11 of 24 from behind the arc.
Lamont Butler shot 6 of 12 for 14 points while Amari Williams, who left Kentucky’s final exhibition game with an injury, scored 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.
Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor each had 11 for the Wildcats.
Brandon Noel had 20 points, Alex Huibregtse scored 16 and Solomon Callaghan added 15 for the Raiders, who shot just 35% from the field.
NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI 90, LONG ISLAND 60
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Jaylen Murray scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half, and No. 24 Mississippi beat Long Island.
Murray shot 7 for 10 from the field, including 5 for 8 on 3-pointers and 5 for 5 on free throws. The Rebels led 44-27 at halftime and increased the lead to 32 points in the second half.
Jaemyn Brakefield had 12 points and seven rebounds while Matthew Murrell and Dre Davis each scored 11 points for Mississippi.
Brent Davis and Malachi Davis each scored 19 points to lead Long Island.
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