Newman helps Kansas hold off Kentucky 65-61
CHICAGO — Svi Mykhailiuk scored 17 points, and Devonte Graham hit the clinching free throws to give No. 4 Kansas a 65-61 victory over No. 7 Kentucky on Tuesday night and put coach Bill Self in a tie for second with Roy Williams on the Jayhawks' all-time wins list.
In a game that matched the two winningest Division I programs, the Jayhawks (2-0) prevailed after the two teams spent most of the second half trading baskets and leads.
Misssippi State transfer Malik Newman had a key rebound in the closing seconds and hit two foul shots to help Kansas knock off the Wildcats (2-1). The down-to-wire game capped a powerhouse doubleheader that started with No. 1 Duke beating No. 2 Michigan State 88-81 in the opener.
Kevin Knox led Kentucky with 20 points and Hamidou Diallo added 14.
Alabama 86, Lipscomb 64
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Collin Sexton had 22 points and five assists in his Alabama debut to lead the Crimson Tide to a win over Lipscomb.
The NCAA reinstated Sexton, a Top 10 national recruit, after serving a one-game suspension for rules violations.
Alabama (2-0) shot an efficient 60 percent from the floor, scoring 50 points in the paint, but shot just 38 percent from the free-throw line.
Donta Hall was the Crimson Tide's leader down low. The junior scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds, while freshman forward Alex Reese scored four points and had nine rebounds.
Lipscomb (2-1) kept the contest within single digits for most of the game, but was unable to stop Alabama on the defensive end.
The Crimson Tide defense held the Bisons' offense to 33 percent shooting, blocking 10 shots and surrendering just 22 points in the paint.
Garrison Mathews had 15 points and six rebounds for Lipscomb.
Georgia 74, South Carolina-Upstate 65
ATHENS, Ga. — Yante Maten knows when the time is right to yell at his supporting cast, and this was not that time.
“One of the things a leader has to do is encourage, so I try my hardest to encourage my teammates,” he said. “We started strong and we kind of dipped. I told everyone on the bench that we have to watch our energy level on the bench.”
Maten had 22 points and 14 rebounds, William “Turtle” Jackson and Rayshaun Hammonds each scored 13 points and Georgia held off South Carolina-Upstate.
The Bulldogs (2-0) trailed by five points with 6:40 remaining, but less than 2 minutes later Hammonds hit a 3-pointer and a layup to give Georgia the lead for good.
Mike Cunningham and Malik Moore each scored 16 points for South Carolina-Upstate (1-2). The Spartans, of the Atlantic Sun Conference, missed seven of their last eight shots.
“I thought we really were going to win the game,” South Carolina-Upstate coach Kyle Perry said. “We took some shaky shots later in the game when we should've taken some better ones, but that's part of it.”
Maten, the Southeastern Conference's active career leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots, hit all nine of his free throws and pulled down four offensive boards. South CarolinaUpstate had nobody able to contain the 6-foot-8, 243-pound Maten, who scored from all over the floor and had 17 points in the last 20 minutes.
He has two double-doubles this year and leads active SEC players with 18.
Georgia coach Mark Fox liked the contribution he got pairing Maten with 6-9 Mike Edwards, a junior reserve whose physicality led to seven rebounds and four fouls.
“We put Mike and Yante together because they are both mobile and both experienced,” Fox said. “We really switched everything when we got behind, which allowed us to get a few stops, get a couple of breaks and the lead back. This is not a normal way we want to play, but Mike's experience I thing was key in allowing us to do that.”
But other than Edwards, Georgia got just 11 total points and four rebounds in 42 minutes from the other four reserves who played.
Tennessee 84, High Point 53
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee has played well enough in spurts to dominate its first two opponents.
Of course, it helps that those spurts have been rather lengthy and decisive.
Lamonte' Turner and Jordan Bone each scored 16 points Tuesday as Tennessee went on an early 32-0 run and rolled to an triumph over High Point. That followed a season-opening 88-53 victory over Presbyterian in which Tennessee scored 28 straight points for a stretch of 9 minutes, 45 seconds.
“Honestly, just being out there, you don't even know you're going on a run like that,” Turner said. “You're just playing, trying to focus on your job, focus on just playing defense and helping your teammates, and it just kind of happens.”
Four nights after reaching the 100-point mark in its season opener, High Point (1-1) was held scoreless for a stretch of 11 minutes, 43 seconds and didn't get a basket for a span of 12:15.
“It's what we were doing offensively,” High Point coach Scott Cherry said. “Give them credit. They're very good at what they do, but we were turning the ball over, driving it in, forcing things. We had 19 possessions in a row (where) if I go back and look at those 19 possessions, I'm not sure we had enough good ones, and when we did have good ones, we missed free throws and missed wide-open shots.”
Admiral Schofield scored 14 points for Tennessee. Jahaad Proctor had 17 points and Andre Fox added 13 for High Point.
High Point was coming off a season-opening 100-66 rout of William & Mary but scored just seven points in the first 16 minutes of Tuesday's game.
“I thought the first half, we really did play well defensively,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.
The score was tied 7-7 when High Point went cold. By the time Fox ended the drought with 3:54 left in the first half, Tennessee led 39-7.
High Point went 0 of 14 from the field and 0 of 3 from the free-throw line during its scoreless stretch.
Duke 88, Michigan State 81
CHICAGO — Grayson Allen — Duke's lone senior — scored a career-high 37 points, freshman Trevon Duval had 17 points and 10 assists, and the top-ranked Blue Devils beat No. 2 Michigan State in the Champions Classic.
The Blue Devils (3-0) lost Marvin Bagley III to an eye injury midway through the first half, but Allen made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points in the second half to help make up for the missing freshman phenom.
Wendell Carter Jr. added 12 points and 12 rebounds, helping Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski improve to 12-1 in his career against Michigan State.
Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Nick Ward each scored 19 points for the Spartans, who blocked 12 shots — just one shy of the school record. Michigan State (1-1) shot 51 percent from the field, but was outrebounded 46-34 by the long and athletic Blue Devils.
Villanova 113, Nicholls 77
PHILADELPHIA — Mikal Bridges set career highs with 23 points and four blocks, and Villanova swatted away a school-record 13 shots.
Donte DiVincenzo added 20 points, Jalen Brunson had 17 and the Wildcats (2-0) had six players in double figures while shooting 58 percent from the field in their second straight blowout of an inferior opponent.
Zaquavian Smith scored 25 points and Roddy Peters had 17 for the Colonels (1-1), who trailed by as many as 38 points.