In cramped Gregory Gym, Texas tops Sam Houston St.

NO. 7 TEXAS 73, SAM HOUSTON STATE 57

AUSTIN, Texas — Marcus Carr scored a season-high 19 points and No. 7 Texas beat Sam Houston State 73-57 Monday night.

Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey each scored 14 points for Texas (5-1). Timmy Allen had 12 points and seven assists. Jones added four steals.

Savion Flagg, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, led Sam Houston (2-5) with 16 points.

New Texas Coach Chris Beard, who coached at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2015-16, is doing everything he can to pump energy into the Longhorns’ program. The latest: A trip to the past with only students invited to join the ride.

On Monday night, Texas returned to the cozy and cramped Gregory Gym in the heart of campus, a venue the Longhorns last played in nearly 50 years ago.

The Longhorns left Gregory Gym behind when the spacious but soon-to-be-demolished Frank Erwin Center opened in 1977. Beard made a one-game return to the 3,234seat Gregory Gym, with only students and some VIPs allowed to attend, as part of an homage to the program’s past and an invitation to join the party he’s trying to build for the future. This party started before the game, at a campus gathering arranged by Beard, who then accompanied students on a walk to the gym.

Sam Houston made a strong effort to spoil the party, using an 8-0 run to tie the game at 28-28 with 3:13 left in the first half. But Texas trumped that with a 10-0 spurt, with Carr scoring eight of those points.

Carr averaged 19.4 points last season for Minnesota before transferring to Texas.

He received first-team allBig Ten recognition. His previous high at Texas this season was 11.

NO. 9 KENTUCKY 85, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 57

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Oscar Tshiebwe had 20 points and 16 rebounds, TyTy Washington Jr. added 15 points and No. 9 Kentucky quickly overwhelmed Central Michigan.

The Wildcats (6-1) shot 60% in the first half before cooling off to finish 43% overall while dominating the rebuilding Chippewas (1-5) in most phases. They led 25-5 within seven minutes and maintained at least a 25-point cushion for much of the contest. Kentucky’s six wins have been by an average margin of 28.3 points.

Jermaine Jackson Jr. had 11 points, and Cameron Healy and Miroslav Stafl each added nine points for Central Michigan, which dropped its third consecutive game. It spoiled the Lexington return of first-year Chippewas coach Tony Barbee, who took over the program in April after seven seasons as a Kentucky assistant.

The Wildcats won the paint 36-26 and committed just six turnovers while scoring 23 points off 15 Chippewas mistakes.

TOP 25 WOMEN

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 79, NORTH CAROLINA A&T 42

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Aliyah Boston scored a career-high 29 points on 13-of13 shooting and powered No. 1 South Carolina to a victory over North Carolina A&T on Monday night.

The Gamecocks improved to 8-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season. And, they did it through their 6-foot5 All-American junior, who had 18 of South Carolina’s 27 consecutive points over a 10-minute stretch of the second and third quarters to put away the winless Aggies (0-6).

Boston added 14 rebounds, one off her season high, and three blocked shots during her 20 minutes of action. She also made both her foul shots, each finishing off a three-point play.

South Carolina was a unanimous No. 1 pick in the latest rankings released earlier Monday. But, except for Boston, the Gamecocks didn’t look the part early on against the Aggies.

North Carolina A&T drew within 1815 on Chanin Scott’s jumper with 8:11 left before half. That’s when Boston led a 22-0 surge to the break, scoring 11 points including her fourth three-pointer.

When Laeticia Amihere drove the basket for a layup with 1.4 seconds left, South Carolina was up 40-15.

Boston continued her dominant play after the break, scoring South Carolina’s first nine points of the third quarter. Her inside jumper with 6:50 left in the period broke her previous high of 28, set against Florida last New Year’s Eve.

North Carolina A&T is off to its worst start in Coach Tarrell Robinson’s 10 seasons. Scott had seven points to lead the Aggies, who shot 22% (14 of 63) from the field.

SWAC MEN

UAPB 75, ARKANSAS BAPTIST 70

PINE BLUFF — Trey Sampson had 21 points and pulled down six rebounds as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff made enough plays late in the second half to pick up its first victory of the season.

Brahm Harris had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Kylen Milton finished with 13 points, 7 steals and 3 rebounds for UAPB (1-7), which led 36-29 at halftime but had a tough time shaking Arkansas Baptist (0-4).

The Buffaloes trailed 52-44 after a Sampson dunk with 11:01 remaining but scored 14 of the next 20 points and surged ahead on a Patrick Greene three-pointer with 7:13 to go. Arkansas Baptist still led 63-62 with 5:04 showing before a three-pointer by UAPB’s Shawn Williams — his third of the game — started a quick 7-0 run that allowed the Golden Lions to retake the lead for good.

Brandon Brown had 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Williams finished with 10 points and six assists for UAPB, which shot 24 of 57 (42.1%) and had 19-3 advantage on second-chance points.

Trejon Ware scored 18 points to lead the Buffaloes, who were 24-of-58 shooting (41.4%). G’Quavious Lennox and Gabriel Johnson both hit five three-pointers to finish with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Isayah West followed with nine points and seven rebounds for Arkansas Baptist.

SWAC WOMEN

UAPB 96, ARKANSAS BAPTIST 27

PINE BLUFF — The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff ran out to a 32-point lead in the first quarter to capture its third consecutive victory Monday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena.

Twelve players scored at least four points for the Golden Lions (3-3), with Khadijah Brown and Bryana Langford leading the way with 14 points each. Zaay Green had 11 points and Maya Peat collected 10 points for UAPB, which led 37-5 after one quarter and 57-17 at halftime.

The Golden Lions continued to pile up the points in the second half, outscoring Arkansas Baptist (0-1) 43-10. UAPB shot 41 of 82 (50%), forced 27 turnovers and outrebounded the Buffaloes 63-24.

Anna Kassim had a team-high 10 points for Arkansas Baptist, which finished 11-of-53 (20.8%) shooting and was outscored 56-8 on points in the paint. The Buffaloes trailed 4-3 after Tasja Hughey drilled a three-pointer with 8:37 left in the first quarter before UAPB scored the next 26 points.