A&M starts out slow but topples W. Va.
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Tyler Davis had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Admon Gilder scored 23 points and No. 25 Texas A&M overcame a sluggish start to dominate No. 11 West Virginia 88-65 early Saturday in the Armed Forces Classic.
D.J. Hogg added 19 points for the Aggies, who played without suspended forward Robert Williams and point guard J.J. Caldwell. Gilder also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
James “Beetle” Bolden led West Virginia with 19 points. Jevon Carter added 13 and Wes Harris scored 12.
The game was played in a hangar on the sprawling Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany and it marked the only matchup among ranked men’s teams on the opening day of the college basketball season.
NO. 1 DUKE 97, ELON 68
DURHAM, N.C. — Marvin Bagley had 25 points and 10 rebounds in his college debut, and No. 1 Duke opened another season of high expectations by routing Elon and moving Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski one victory from yet another career milestone.
NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 98, NORTH FLORIDA 66
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Miles Bridges started his sophomore season with 20 points and 10 rebounds, helping Michigan State win a tuneup for its highly anticipated game with No. 1 Duke on Tuesday night in Chicago.
NO. 3 ARIZONA 101, NORTHERN ARIZONA 67
TUCSON, Ariz. — Allonzo Trier scored a career-high 32 points for No. 3 Arizona as it beat its in-state rival.
NO. 4 KANSAS 92, TENNESSEE STATE 56
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Lagerald Vick scored 23 points, Svi Mykhailiuk added 15 and Kansas routed Tennessee State in its only tuneup before facing No. 5 Kentucky in the Champions Classic.
NO. 5 KENTUCKY 73, UTAH VALLEY 63
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Hamidou Diallo scored 13 second-half points, most of them during an 18-0 run, and No. 5 Kentucky shot 59 percent after halftime to rally past Utah Valley in the opener for both schools.
NO. 6 VILLANOVA 75, COLUMBIA 60
PHILADELPHIA — Eric Paschall scored 15 points and Jalen Brunson had 14 to lead Villanova.
Villanova, the 2016 national champions, won their 15th consecutive season opener and pulled away in the second half.
NO. 7 WICHITA STATE 109, MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY 57
WICHITA, Kan. — Senior Darral Willis scored 19 points to lead Wichita State.
Landry Shamet had 17 points, Shaquille Morris scored 16 and Conner Frankamp added 11 to give the Shockers four starters in double figures.
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 86, NORTHERN IOWA 69
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Luke Maye had a career-high 26 points to go with 10 rebounds in No. 9 North Carolina’s season-opening victory against Northern Iowa.
Freshman Garrison Brooks added 14 points for the reigning national champions, who opened the season without Final Four Most Outstanding Player Joel Berry II and Pittsburgh graduate transfer Cameron Johnson due to injuries.
NO. 10 SOUTHERN CAL 84, CAL STATE FULLERTON 42
LOS ANGELES — Chimezie Metu had 18 points and 10 rebounds as Southern California opened the season with its highest ranking since 1974-75.
NO. 12 CINCINNATI 107, SAVANNAH STATE 77
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — Cane Broome scored 17 points during his debut as Cincinnati’s point guard, and the 12th-ranked Bearcats pulled away to a victory over Savannah State.
NO. 13 MIAMI 77, GARDNER-WEBB 45
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Sophomore Bruce Brown had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career tirble-double and the third in school history as No. 13 Miami toppled Gardner-Webb.
NO. 15 MINNESOTA 92, SC UPSTATE 77
MINNEAPOLIS — Jordan Murphy scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Reggie Lynch added 15 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota beat South Carolina Upstate.
NO. 17 XAVIER 101, MOREHEAD STATE 49
CINCINNATI — Trevon Bluiett scored 21 of his 25 points during the first half, and the 17th-ranked Musketeers dominated from the opening tip-off for a victory over Morehead State.
NO. 18 GONZAGA 97, TEXAS SOUTHERN 69
SPOKANE, Wash. — Josh Perkins scored 20 points, hitting 6 three-pointers, as Gonzaga rolled over Texas Southern.
NO. 19 NORTHWESTERN 79, LOYOLA (MD.) 75
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Scottie Lindsey scored 26 points and Derek Pardon added 16 for Northwestern as it scraped by Loyola.
Northwestern (1-0) won despite blowing a 17-point lead in the second half. Loyola had two chances in the final 90 seconds but couldn’t tie the game.
NO. 20 PURDUE 115, SIU-EDWARDSVILLE 74
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Dakota Mathias scored 15 points in the first half for Purdue as it beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
NO. 23 SETON HALL 90, FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 68
NEWARK, N.J. — Desi Rodriguez scored 17 points, 13 in the first half, leading No. 23 Seton Hall to an easy victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the NIT Season Tip-Off first-round game.
MISSISSIPPI STATE 96, ALABAMA STATE 68
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Aric Holman scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Quinndary Weatherspoon added 17 points and Mississippi State beat Alabama State.
ALABAMA 82, MEMPHIS 70
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Dazon Ingram scored 20 points, and short-handed Alabama used long-range shooting to beat Memphis in their season opener at the Veterans Classic.
TENNESSEE 88, PRESBYTERIAN 53
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Admiral Schofield scored 22 points to match a career high as Tennessee went on a 28-0 run early in the game and breezed to a season-opening victory over Presbyterian.
GEORGIA 79, BRYANT 54
ATHENS, Ga. — Yante Maten scored 21 points, freshman Rayshaun Hammonds added 17 and Georgia rolled to an easy victory over Bryant in the season opener for each team.
LSU 99, ALCORN STATE 59
BATON ROUGE, La. — Freshman Tremont Waters scored 27 points to help LSU beat Alcorn State in the season opener for both teams.
AUBURN 102, NORFOLK STATE 74
AUBURN, Ala. — Bryce Brown scored a career-high 31 points and Auburn opened the season with a victory over Norfolk State in a matchup of teams missing two of their top players.
SOUTH CAROLINA 73, WOFFORD 52
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Maik Kotsar had 13 points and Frank Booker added 12 off three-pointers in a rout of Wofford — the Gamecocks’ 17th consecutive opening-game victory.