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Quentin Grimes scored 21 points in his college debut and Dedric Lawson added 20 points and 14 rebounds to lead No. 1 Kansas past No. 10 Michigan State in the season-opening Champions Classic on Tuesday night. The Jayhawks won their third straight in one of college basketball's premier events. Michigan State was led by Joshua Langford with 18 points and Kenny Goins with 17 points and 11 rebounds. The Spartans are now 4-21 all-time against No. 1 teams. The game pitted two power-conference preseason favorites against each other, and the finish was every bit as intriguing as expected. After Kansas was in control for most of the game, the Spartans frantically trimmed a 10-point deficit to 90-87 with 34 seconds left. They had a chance to make it a two-point game when Devon Dotson missed the second of two free throws with 15 seconds left. But Cassius Winston missed a layup for Michigan State, Kansas grabbed the rebound and Grimes sealed it by making 1 of 2 free throws.
Ty Jerome scored 20 points and De'Andre Hunter had 13 and 10 rebounds as No. 5 Virginia beat Towson. Jerome made six 3-pointers for the Cavaliers, who were playing for the first time since they made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament. That 74-54 loss to UMBC last March, they insisted leading into the opener, was the furthest thing from their mind. Tobias Howard made three 3-pointers and led Towson with 10 points, and Brian Fobbs had nine. The Tigers had long spells without a field goal in each half and finished shooting 31.7 percent (1341). They also missed 15 of 27 free throws (46.7 percent) and turned the ball over 14 times while forcing just five by the Cavaliers. Jerome was hot from the start for Virginia. He scored 11 in the first half and took a seat early having made 6 of 9 3-point shots and adding four assists. He was joined with an early night off by Hunter, who played just 26 minutes and watched as Tony Bennett emptied his bench by the midpoint of the second half. Jordan Bone scored 18 points, Kyle Alexander added 16 and No. 6 Tennessee opened the season with a blowout over Lenoir-Rhyne. Tennessee coach Rick Barnes lettered for three seasons at Lenoir-Rhyne. Barnes is a native of Hickory, North Carolina, where Lenoir-Rhyne is located. The game against the Division II opponent counts on Tennessee's overall record, but Lenoir-Rhyne counted the game as an exhibition. In front of a crowd of 16,156, the Volunteers opened a season of heightened expectations. The defending Southeastern Conference co-champions return all five starters, and their No. 6 ranking is the highest ever in the preseason poll. Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield filled up the stat sheet for the Vols. Williams had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Schofield had 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Luke Maye had 24 points, Cameron Johnson provided a huge spark in the second half and No. 8 North Carolina avenged an upset loss to Wofford last year. Johnson made five 3-pointers and had 17 points along with eight rebounds. Garrison Brooks added 20 points as the Tar Heels improved to 15-1 in season openers under coach Roy Williams. Maye, the ACC preseason player of the year, finished 7 of 13 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line. But it was Johnson who provided the big boost for the Tar Heels, knocking down three 3-pointers in a span of three minutes after Wofford had tied the game with 10:32 remaining. Fletcher McGee finished with 21 points for Wofford after a slow start. Eric Paschall scored 26 points, Phil Booth had 17 and No. 9 Villanova opened its national championship defense with a win. The Wildcats have won 12 straight games dating to last season and won their 16th consecutive season opener. The new kid on the block that shone the most was the refurbished Pavilion, which closed for a season and forced the Wildcats to play a year in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center. Villanova's on-campus court underwent a $65 million facelift that would have made the Property Brothers jealous. The lights were dimmed for an NBA-worthy lineup introduction, artificial noise was pumped in and fans were encouraged to stand until the Wildcats scored their first basket. It didn't take long. Collin Gillespie hit a 3 and the Wildcats hit from long range much like they did against Michigan in the title game in San Antonio, Texas. Preseason AP All-America post Kalani Brown scored the first four points for fourth-ranked Baylor, which opened the season by scoring the first 24 points and had seven players in double figures on the way to a victory over Nicholls State. Brown finished with 13 points, matching Moon Ursin for the team high. The 6-foot-7 Brown also had four rebounds while playing only 18 minutes. All 11 players who saw action for the Big 12 champion Lady Bears scored multiple points and had at least one rebound. Asia Durr scored 33 points to help Louisville beat Western Kentucky and get coach Jeff Walz his 300th career win. Durr scored the first 11 points for the Cardinals (1-0) and had 21 by halftime as the team shot an efficient 56 percent from the floor and 47 percent from 3-point range. Already the winningest coach at Louisville, Walz got No. 300 in the same E.A. Diddle Arena where he started his career as a Western Kentucky graduate assistant in 1996-97. Tuesday also marked the head coaching debut of Greg Collins at Western Kentucky (0-1). The defending Conference USA Tournament champion Lady Toppers orchestrated two runs in the first half to trim Louisville's lead to single digits, but Durr and the Cardinals never let it get close. Teaira McCowan scored 24 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked seven shots to lead Mississippi State over Southeast Missouri. McCowan, a 6-foot-7 senior who is one of the nation's best returning post players, had her first double-double of the year by early in the second quarter. She had 29 double-doubles last season, which set a Southeastern Conference record. McCowan shot 7 of 11 from the field and made 10 of 15 free throws. Jazzmun Holmes and Chloe Bibby both scored 11 points for the Bulldogs. Jordan Danberry added 10. The Bulldogs had a 54-26 rebounding advantage. Southeast Missouri was led by Tesia Thompson, who scored 19 points. Kiara Lewis and McDonald's All-American Emily Engstler each scored 13 points and Syracuse beat North Dakota. Syracuse is coming off its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, going 22-9, and returns all five starters with the addition of Engstler. Junior guard Tiana Mangakahia led the nation last year with 304 assists and an average of 9.8 per game — both program and ACC records. She had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists against UND. Syracuse made 12 3-pointers — with three apiece from Lewis, Engstler and Miranda Drummond. Gabrielle Cooper and Mangakahia each had four steals as UND turned it over 27 times and shot just 32.8 percent. UND returns leading scorer and rebounder Lexi Klabo, who averaged 19 points and 9.3 rebounds as a junior. She had 12 points and seven boards against the Orange. North Dakota starts its season with seven straight road games. Natisha Hiedeman made five 3-pointers and scored 21 points, reigning Big East player of the year Allazia Blockton scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and Marquette beat South Dakota State. Marquette returned all five starters from last season's team that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament — its latest exit since 2011. Hiedeman hit 4 of 7 3-pointers in the first half and Isabelle Spingola made all three of hers to help Marquette build a 44-25 halftime lead. The Golden Eagles were 10 of 19 from distance in the half, making 7 of 8 in the second quarter, and finished with 13 makes. South Dakota State is picked to win the Summit League after a 26-7 season a year ago, falling to Big East opponent Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Macy Miller, who was named the league's preseason player of the year, finished with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Freshmen Beatriz Jordao had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Sydni Harvey scored 16, leading South Florida to a romp over Ohio State in the season opener for both teams. All-American candidate Kitija Laksa also had 17 points for the Bulls but she was 4-of-16 shooting while Jordao was 8 of 9 in her debut. The Buckeyes, one of just three teams to have to replace all five starters, as well as their top six scorers, was led by Carly Santoro, a Bowling Green graduate transfer. Dorka Juhasz, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Hungary, had 10 points and 10 rebounds.