AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Johni Broome had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Cardwell had 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 2 Auburn overcame a slow start to beat Monmouth 87-58 on Monday night.
After an eight-day break between games, Auburn (12-1) struggled early and trailed Monmouth (2-11) for nearly seven minutes in the first half. Chaney Johnson then scored eight of his 12 points in quick succession to help the Tigers take control.
By halftime, the Tigers led 46-28, and the rout was on.
Chad Baker-Mazara added 13 points for Auburn.
Abdi Bashir Jr. led Monmouth with 15 points, and Jaret Valencia added 13 for the Hawks.
NO. 3 IOWA State 79, COLORADO 69
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Curtis Jones scored 20 points, Keshon Gilbert had 14 and No. 3 Iowa State opened Big 12 Conference play with a win over Colorado.
The Cyclones (11-1) have won eight in a row, two over Colorado. They beat the Buffaloes 99-71 in the fifth-place game in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27.
Julian Hammond III had 21 points and RJ Smith scored 14 for Colorado, which returned to the Big 12 after 13 seasons in the Pac-12 Conference.
It was the Buffaloes’ first Big 12 game since beating Nebraska 67-57 in Boulder on March 5, 2011.
Colorado (9-3) rallied to get within 64-63 on two free throws by Trevor Baskin with 4:59 left, but Iowa State scored the next six points to lead 70-64. The Buffaloes went nearly three minutes without a point until Hammond’s layup with 15 seconds left, which allowed the Cyclones to pull away.
NO. 14 HOUSTON 60, OKLAHOMA STATE 47
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — J’Wan Roberts had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 14 Houston past Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.
L.J. Cryer added 18 points and Oklahoma transfer Milos Uzan contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (9-3), who began defense of their conference title by limited the Cowboys to 18 points in the first half on 6-of-27 shooting.
Brandon Newman led Oklahoma State (8-4) with 12 points off the bench and Robert Jennings added 10 as the Cowboys made just 14 of 54 (25.9%) shots from the field.
KANSAS STATE 70, NO. 16 CINCINNATI 67
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Coleman Hawkins had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Dug McDaniel added 17 points and Kansas State led No. 16 Cincinnati nearly wire-to-wire in a 70-67 victory Monday night to open the 20-game Big 12 conference grind.
David N’Guessan also had 13 points, and C.J. Jones made four free throws in the final 20 seconds, helping the Wildcats (7-5, 1-0) snap a three-game losing streak that had concluded their bitterly disappointing nonconference slate.
Kansas State led the Bearcats (10-2, 0-1) for all but 24 seconds, but was left clinging to a 65-63 lead after Aziz Bandaogo’s dunk with 27 seconds to go. Hawkins was fouled and made the first of two free throws with 23 seconds remaining, but Max Jones was there to tap the miss to C.J. Jones, who was fouled and made two free throws to extend the lead.
Bandaogo scored again with 8.9 seconds left, but C.J. Jones made the last of his two foul shots to put the game away.
Dan Skillings Jr. led Cincinnati with 18 points. Dillon Mitchell had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
NO. 17 MISSISSIPPI STATE 87, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 73
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Riley Kugel scored 22 points and Josh Hubbard added 16 to lead No. 17 Mississippi State to a victory over Bethune-Cookman.
Mississippi State (12-1) struggled to put away Bethune-Cookman (3-10) until reeling off a 16-4 run midway through the second half.
Kugel was 10 of 13 from the floor and had four rebounds before fouling out late. RJ Melendez and Claudell Harris each had 12 points for the Bulldogs, with Harris scoring all his points in the second half.
Trey Thomas and Brayon Freeman each scored 21 points for Bethune-Cookman, and Reggie Ward Jr. added 14. Thomas was ejected in the second half after getting called for his second technical foul.
Mississippi State jumped out to a 20-9 advantage but couldn’t shake the Wildcats in the first half. The margin was trimmed to 27-26 before the Bulldogs took a 52-45 halftime lead.
Bethune-Cookman shot 58% in the opening half and went 5 of 8 from 3-point range. The Wildcats were also 10 of 10 at the foul line.
NO. 18 MICHIGAN STATE 80, WESTERN MICHIGAN 62
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Jaden Akins scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half, helping No. 18 Michigan State build a double-digit lead to set up a win over Western Michigan.
The Spartans (11-2) have won six in a row and nine of 10.
The Broncos (3-9) were competitive in stretches of the game before falling behind by double digits midway through the second half.
Michigan State’s Carson Cooper scored a career-high 13 points.
Western Michigan’s Chansey Willis scored 12 points and Max Burton had 10.
The game marked the return of Dwayne Stephens, who was hired off Tom Izzo’s staff in 2022. Stephens was an assistant for the Hall of Fame coach for 19 seasons and played for the Spartans under the late Jud Heathcote.
NO. 19 GONZAGA 89 , PEPPERDINE 82
MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — Khalif Battle scored 21 points, Braden Huff added 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting and No. 19 Gonzaga beat Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams.
Huff converted a three-point play that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good 7:10 into the first half, and Gonzaga (10-4) led 50-32 at the intermission.
Freshman Jaxon Olvera scored a season-high 27 points on 12-of-20-shooting for Pepperdine (6-9). Moe Odum added 24 points and eight assists.
After Battle made a layup to open the scoring in the second half and push Gonzaga’s lead to 20 points, the Waves scored 22 of the next 26 points — including 13 points and three assists by Odum.
Gonzaga scored six in a row after that to keep Pepperdine at bay.
NO. 23 ARKANSAS 92, OAKLAND 62
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Adou Thiero and Boogie Fland each scored 22 points and No. 23 Arkansas put away Oakland in its final non-conference game.
Thiero made 8 of 12 shots and had six rebounds and six assists for the Razorbacks, who shot 60.3% overall. Fland, who had 21 points in the second half, hit five 3-pointers and finished with six assists, and Karter Knox scored in double figures for the third straight game with 17.
First-year Arkansas coach John Calipari improved to 2-1 in his career against the Golden Grizzlies, who upset Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament in Calipari’s final game with the Wildcats before accepting the Razorbacks job.
Arkansas (11-2) led 42-39 at halftime before scoring 50 second-half points on 63.3% shooting. Oakland shot 25.8% after halftime.
The Golden Grizzlies (4-10) received 18 points and nine rebounds from Tuburu Naivalurua and 17 points from Allen Mukeba.
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