No. 20 Baylor rallies past Auburn
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Ja’Kobe Walker scored 15 of his 28 points in the second half to help No. 20 Baylor rally to an 88-82 season-opening win over Auburn on Tuesday night at the Sanford Pentagon.
Baylor used a 22-10 run over the final eight minutes of the game to overcome an eight-point deficit.
Trailing 72-66 with, the Bears started their spurt on Langston Love’s 3pointer. With just under three minutes to play, Baylor’s Yves Missi stole an Auburn inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor for a dunk that gave the Bears a 79-77 lead, their first since 24-23 midway through the first.
Denver Jones hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds left to cut Auburn’s deficit to three, but Baylor went 3-for-4 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
Over the final three minutes, Baylor’s RayJ Dennis scored seven of his 15 points, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 77.
Auburn freshman Aden Holloway scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Tigers.
Johni Broome, a firstteam All-SEC selection for Auburn also had a big second half, scoring nine of his 16 points after the break. Broome injured his shoulder in Auburn’s exhibition opener against AU Montgomery but played 25 minutes, adding 11 rebounds.
RICE 101, ST. THOMAS 57
Sam Alajiki scored 17 points as the Owls beat the visiting Celts in the season opener for both teams.
Alajiki finished 5-of-5 from 3-point range for the Owls. Max Fiedler scored 16 points and added 11 rebounds and six assists. Noah Shelby was 4-of-7 shooting, including 3for-4 from 3-point range, and went 3-for-3 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points.
Calvin Williams finished with 20 points for St. Thomas.
NO. 8 CREIGHTON 105 FLORIDA A&M 54
Trey Alexander scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half, and the Bluejays opened their season with a win over the visiting Rattlers.
The Bluejays, coming off an NCAA Elite Eight appearance, turned in a mostly polished performance against overmatched Florida A&M of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Creighton had turnovers on its first two possessions, and Baylor Scheierman hit the side of the backboard with a shot before Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth’s 3-pointer and Alexander’s layin started a 22-4 run.
Creighton was up by as many as 32 points in the first half and 56-27 at the break. All the Bluejays starters were done for the night eight minutes into the second half.
Women
TEXAS A&M-CC 79 ST. THOMAS 41
Nabaweeyah McGil had a team-high 13 points to go with nine rebounds and two blocked shots as the host Islanders dominated the Celts in the teams’ season opener.
Annukka Willstedt, Mireia Aguado and Torie Sevier added 10 points each for Texas A&MCorpus Christi.
Hayden Morin scored 11 points to lead St. Thomas, and Ravyn Ellis added 10 points off the bench.
TEXAS TECH 95 UT-RIO GRANDE VALLEY 53
Jasmine Shavers posted a career-high-tying 26 points with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal to lift the Lady Raiders to a season-opening rout of the Vaqueros in Lubbock.
Mele Kailahi and Arianna Sturdivant each scored 11 points to lead Texas-Rio Grande Valley.