Gonzaga and Baylor set for a 1-2 showdown in Indy
The first week of the college basketball season was filled with great games, a few upsets, stellar performances and a handful of coronavirus cancellations.
Next up is a rare treat: No. 1 vs. No. 2.
Top-ranked Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor will play at the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis today (noon, CBS) for the ninth meeting between the top two teams in the AP Top 25 since 2005.
Top-ranked Michigan State and No. 2 Kentucky met last season in the previous 1-vs.-2 meeting, a game the Wildcats won 6962.
The Zags and Bears both won Wednesday in Indianapolis, setting up a showdown for the No. 1 ranking.
Baylor pulled out of a multiteam event in Connecticut earlier this season after coach Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19 and played its first two games under assistant coach Jerome Tang.
The distractions did nothing to slow the Bears.
Playing in Las Vegas, Baylor opened with a 112-82 win over Louisiana-Lafayette and followed by beating Washington 96-52.
Drew returned for Wednesday’s game against No. 5 Illinois, and the Bears were glad to see him again.
“We all gave him hugs when he came off the plane,” guard Davion Mitchell said.
Friday’s games
NO. 17 TEXAS TECH 80, TROY 46
Mac McClung scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half as the Red Raiders won in Lubbock in a replacement game for both teams.
The Red Raiders (3-1) were supposed to play St. John’s this week before the New York City school balked at making the trip to Texas as coronavirus infections surge. The Trojans (1-2) couldn’t go to Wake Forest because of COVID-19 issues with the Demon Deacons.
MARQUETTE 67 NO. 4 WISCONSIN 65
Justin Lewis scored 18 points
and converted a putback off a missed free throw at the buzzer as the Golden Eagles won a thriller in Milwaukee.
Marquette’s D.J. Carton was just inside the 3-point arc when he drew a foul from Wisconsin’s D’Mitrik Trice with nine-tenths of a second left. Carton made the first free throw to tie it, and his second attempt bounced off the rim.
After Lewis got into the paint and tapped the ball in to win the game, his teammates mobbed him under the basket.
NO. 6 DUKE 76, BELLARMINE 54
Matthew Hurt scored 24 points and hit six 3-pointers as the Blue Devils used a 19-2 run in the second half to cruise at home.
Bellarmine overcame a 1-of-9
shooting start to get within 28-25 late in the first half before Duke (2-1) closed with a 7-0 run, retaking a double-digit lead it never lost.
The Knights (0-1), making their Division I debut, got 14 points from Nick Thelen and 13 from Ethan Claycomb.
NO. 8 MICHIGAN STATE 83 DETROIT MERCY 76
Rocket Watts scored a careerhigh 23 points as the Spartans avoided a huge upset after starting out flat.
The Spartans (4-0) might have had a letdown coming off a road win over No. 6 Duke earlier this week.
The Titans (0-1) led by five points midway through the second half in a game with 10 lead
changes and nine ties. Detroit Mercy’s last win over a top-10 team on the road was in 1979 at Marquette.
Detroit Mercy was led by Antoine Davis, who scored 24 points.
NO. 9 CREIGHTON 93 KENNESAW STATE 58
Marcus Zegarowski and Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 14 points apiece as the Bluejays rolled at home.
Creighton coach Greg McDermott went nine deep into his bench in the first half, and 13 of his players got minutes in a game the Bluejays (3-0) led by as many as 43 points.
Alex Peterson led the Owls (2-2) with 14 points.
NO. 15 VIRGINIA 71 KENT STATE 64 (OT)
Sam Hauser scored six of his 18 points in overtime as the Cavaliers avoided another upset.
Hauser scored the first five points of the extra period as the Cavaliers kept the visiting Golden Flashes from scoring until the final minute. Jay Huff finished with 18 points and had 11 rebounds for Virginia (3-1), which was upset by San Francisco in its second game.
Mike Nuga scored 20 points and Danny Pippen had 13 for Kent State (1-1). Pippen hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime.
NO. 21 OREGON 83 SETON HALL 70
Eugene Omoruyi scored 22 points in his second straight strong game as the Ducks shut down Pirates star Sandro Mamukelashvili.
The Ducks (1-1) didn’t pull away until the last eight minutes, when they went on a 14-4 run and built a 16-point lead.
Women
NO. 7 ARIZONA 68, NO. 9 UCLA 65
Trinity Baptiste had 18 points and 11 rebounds as the Wildcats held off the Bruins at home in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
UCLA (1-1) rallied after Arizona (2-0) went up eight, pulling to 6765 on Charisma Osborne’s 3pointer with 12 seconds left. Arizona’s Cate Reese made 1 of 2 free throws to give UCLA a last chance, but Osborne’s 3-pointer hit the back of the rim.
NO. 5 LOUISVILLE 116 NO. 20 DEPAUL 75
Hailey Van Lith and Kianna Smith each scored 21 points in the highest-scoring game in Louisville history at the Jimmy V Classic in Uncasville, Conn.
The No. 5 Cardinals (3-0) surpassed the 115 points they scored against Murray State in 2017.
NO. 10 OREGON 82, COLORADO 53
Nyara Sabally had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the host Ducks (3-0) won their Pac-12 opener and set a school record for consecutive victories with 22.