Harper carries No. 19 Rutgers past Maryland for Big Ten win
COLLEGE PARK, MD. » Ron Harper Jr. scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, and No. 19 Rutgers won its Big Ten opener for the first time in school history, grinding past Maryland 7460 Monday night.
The Scarlet Knights (50, 1- 0) broke open a tight game with a 10- 0 run that made it 50- 38 with 11:49 left. Myles Johnson started and ended the spree with dunks, and Harper contributed a 3-pointer.
After Donta Scott stemmed the surge with a long-range jumper, Harper connected from behind the arc and Jacob Young scored in the lane to give the Scarlet Knights a 14-point cushion.
his is the first time since 1934- 35 that Rutgers has opened with five straight double- digit victories.
Scott scored 20 and Eric Ayala added 12 for Maryland (4-2, 0-1), which finished in a tie atop the conference last season.
Rutgers was winless in Big Ten openers since joining the league in 2014 and was 16-73 in conference play before going 11- 9 last season.
The Scarlet Knights have 11 letter winners back from that 2019-20 squad, most notably Harper, a 6-foot- 6 junior guard who came in averaging 22.3 points per game.
MARQUETTE
89, NO. 9 CREIGHTON 84 » D. J. Carton scored a career-high 20 points, and Greg Elliott and Dawson Garcia combined for 23 of their 28 in the second half to lead Marquette past Creighton.
The Golden Eagles (52, 1- 0 Big East) came back from a 12-point deficit to take a lead and then held off a couple of late comeback bids by the Bluejays (4-2, 0-1).
Mitch Ballock went 8 of 13 on 3-pointers and had a season-high 26 points to lead Creighton. Denzel Mahoney added 21 points.
West Region
COLORADO
81, NORTHERN COLORADO 45 » McKinley Wright IV had 19 points, five rebounds and seven assists and Colorado beat Northern Colorado in the Buffaloes’ home opener.
Wright made a 3-pointer to start a 16- 0 run in the first half for a 22-point lead, and the Buffaloes led 45-21 at the break. Northern Colorado went without a field goal for five-plus minutes in the first half, and trailed by at least 21 points in the second half.
COLORADO STATE 91, NORTHERN ARIZONA 52 » Isaiah Stevens had 23 points as Colorado State routed Northern Arizona.
David Roddy had 14 points and eight rebounds for Colorado State (2- 0). James Moors and Kendle Moore each had 12 points.
Cameron Shelton had 18 points for the Lumberjacks (0-3). Luke Avdalovic added 12 points and Carson Towt had seven rebounds. NEVADA 79, SAN DIEGO 72 » Desmond Cambridge Jr. was 7- of-11 shooting from 3-point range and scored 27 points and Nevada topped San Diego.
Grant Sherfield added 25 point, six rebounds and seven assists for the Wolf Pack (5-2).