Kansas still perfect with Big 12 openers

NO. 5 KANSAS 58, NO. 14 TEXAS TECH 57

LUBBOCK, Texas — Ochai Agbaji got wide open again to take an inbound pass and made the go- ahead layup with 13 seconds left to extend a three-decade streak for No. 5 Kansas.

Agbaji finished with 23 points, the last coming after the inbound pass from Marcus Garrett, in a 58-57 win over No. 14 Texas Tech on Thursday night, giving the Jayhawks a victory in their conference opener for the 30th season in a row.

“We ran a play to get Ochai open and he was actually open initially, but the defender was jumping over the ball where I couldn’t get it to him (for a lob). … I was able to look around, and Ochai was still open,” Garrett said.

“Unbelievable play,” Coach Bill Self said. “If we were going to win the game it was fitting that Ochai made the play to win the game because that was probably as efficient a game maybe that anybody has played for us in a long time against a team that really guarded, and their emphasis was to guard him.”

Agbaji was 8 of 11 from the floor, including four made three-pointers, with only one turnover in 34 minutes.

Texas Tech (6-2, 0-1) had one more opportunity after a timeout with 6.2 seconds left. But Terrence Shannon Jr., who had 20 points and nine rebounds, had his mid-range jumper blocked by Jalen Wilson to end the game.

Mac McClung led Texas Tech with a season-high 21 points, the third 20-point game for the transfer from Georgetown. But he finished 5-of-16 shooting and had only two free throws in the final 18 minutes.

NO. 9 CREIGHTON 94, ST. JOHN’S 76

NEW YORK — Marcus Zegarowski scored 20 points, shooting 6 for 7 from three-point range, and No. 9 Creighton cruised to a victory over St. John’s.

Denzel Mahoney had 16 points and freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner added 15 off the bench to help the Bluejays (5-2, 1-1 Big East) bounce back from a home loss to Marquette in their conference opener Monday night.

Damien Jefferson had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists for Creighton. Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm (5-4, 0-3) with 17 points, and freshman Posh Alexander had 13.

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NO. 3 UCONN 80, CREIGHTON 47

STORRS, Conn. — Olivia Nelson-Ododa hit all nine of her shots from the floor and scored 24 points to lead No. 3 UConn to a rout of Creighton in the Huskies’ Big East home opener.

Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Huskies (3-0, 2-0 Big East). Anna Makurat scored 12 points and freshman Paige Bueckers finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Emma Ronsiek scored 11 points for Creighton (2-4, 1-1).

NO. 4 N.C. STATE 79, WAKE FOREST 65

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jakia Brown-Turner 14 of her 23 points in the first quarter and No. 4 North Carolina State used sizzling early shooting to beat Wake Forest.

Elissa Cunane added 17 points for N.C. State (7-0, 2-0 ACC). The Wolfpack made 13 of 15 shots, including 6-for-6 on three-pointers, in racing to a 33-14 lead late in the first quarter.

Kayla Jones had 12 points and Raina Perez 10 for N. C. State, which shot 49.2% from the floor.

Christina Morra led Wake Forest (4-2, 1-1) with 13 points. Jewel Spear scored all of her 12 points in the first half on 4-for-4 shooting on three-pointers.

NO. 5 SOUTH CAROLINA 103, TEMPLE 41

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zia Cooke tied her career high with five three-pointers and scored 23 points as No. 5 South Carolina powered past Temple.

Cooke sparked a 7-0 run late in the first quarter to break a 14-14 tie and send the Gamecocks (5-1) to their second consecutive victory since having their 29-game win streak halted at home against No. 4 North Carolina State two weeks ago.

For Temple (0-3), it was the fourth consecutive loss against its former coach, South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, who got her college coaching start with the Owls in 2000.

Aliyah Boston had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Gamecocks.

TENNESSEE 66, NO. 15 INDIANA 58

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Rennia Davis scored 19 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and Tennessee handed No. 15 Indiana its second consecutive loss.

Rae Burrell added 18 points for the Lady Vols (4-1), who had a 16-point lead in the third quarter cut to one before coming up with clutch plays down the stretch. Jordan Horston had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Ali Patberg led the Hoosiers (2-2) with 16 points and Jaelynn Penn added 14 with 10 rebounds.

NO. 16 NORTHWESTERN 70, PURDUE 54

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Veronica Burton scored a career-high 27 points and helped No. 16 Northwestern get off to a fast start en route to a win over Purdue.

Burton had 12 points in the first quarter, including seven in a row for the Wildcats, who took a 22-13 lead and had 20 at the half when the advantage was 40-29. Her three-point play started a 9-0 run that made the lead 37-24 and Purdue was never any closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Sydney Wood scored 11 points for Northwestern (3-0, 2-0 Big Ten). Fatou Diagne scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Boilermakers (32, 0-1).

NORTH CAROLINA 92, NO. 18 SYRACUSE 68

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Janelle Bailey scored 25 points and North Carolina ran away from Syracuse.

Petra Holesinska added 21 points for the Tar Heels (6-2, 1-2 ACC), who lost their first two league games on the road by a total of seven points. Deja Kelly scored 22 points and had eight assists.

Emily Engstler finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Kamilla Cardoso added 11 points and 13 boards for the Orange (4-1, 1-1).