Young Wildcats rally for first win
Kentucky overcomes veteran SIU team to bounce back from loss
Keldon Johnson and Immanuel Quickley each scored 15 points, Nick Richards grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and No. 2 Kentucky rallied in the second half to beat Southern Illinois 71-59 on Friday night.
The Wildcats (1-1) bounced back from Tuesday’s 118-84 shellacking by No. 4 Duke, but had to work hard in the second half to overcome the veteran Salukis. They trailed 44-37 before Quade Green (14 points) scored five points during a 10-2 run for a 47-46 lead with 12:19 left. SIU didn’t quit, but the Wildcats slowly extended their lead to 61-52 on consecutive three-point plays by Johnson and Green. tennessee 87, louisianalafayette 65: Grant Williams scored 31 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and showcased his newfound 3-point range as No. 6 Tennessee breezed to the victory. Williams shot 3 of 4 from beyond the arc to match his 2017-18 season total for 3-pointers. The 6-foot-7 forward was 3 of 25 on 3-point attempts last season, though he still averaged 15.2 points and was selected by Southeastern Conference coaches as the league’s player of the year. north carollina 116, elon 67: Cameron Johnson and freshman Nassir Little scored 21 points apiece, and No. 8 North Carolina routed Elon. Freshman Coby White added 14 points to help the Tar Heels (2-0) sweep their two-game, season-opening barnstorming tour of regional mid-majors. They beat Wofford 78-67 on Tuesday night in Spartanburg, South Carolina, before having a much easier time against the Phoenix, who christened their new $40 million on-campus arena. auburn 88, Washington 66: Chuma Okeke had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Samir Doughty scored 18 to lead No. 11 Auburn over No. 25 Washington. The Tigers (2-0) raced to an 18-point halftime lead and pushed it to 30 in their first home win over a ranked nonconference team in nearly 48 years. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown both scored 13 points for the Tigers. Harper also had five assists. Kansas state 56, Kennesaw state 41: Barry Brown and Makol Mawien each scored 15 points, Dean Waded added 13 and No. 12 Kansas State stumbled through a season-opening victory over Kennesaw State. Austin Trice added 12 rebounds in his debut for the Wildcats, who led just 31-27 at halftime before leaning on their stingy defense to embark on a late run for a comfortable final margin. buffalo 99, West Virginia 94 (ot): CJ Massinburg had 43 points and 14 rebounds as Buffalo pulled off another big upset against a power program, stunning No. 13 West Virginia in overtime. Jeremy Harris added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls in the season opener for both teams. Buffalo grabbed attention last March when the 13th-seeded Bulls blew out No. 4 seed Arizona 89-68 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. oregon 81, eastern Washington 47: Freshman Bol Bol had 23 points and 12 rebounds as No. 14 Oregon rode its stifling defense to a victory over Eastern Washington. Bol’s double-double, his second for the Ducks (2-0), was capped by a spinning drive from the left wing that sent his defender sprawling and led to a rim-hanging, two-hand dunk for a technical foul.
Virginia tech 87, Gardnerwebb 59: Nickeil Alexanderwalker and Isaiah Wilkins scored 21 points apiece, and No. 15 Virginia Tech opened its season with a win over Gardner-webb. Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 12 points for the Hokies, who allowed Gardner-webb to keep it close until after halftime. mississippi state 95, austin peay 67: Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 21 points, Nick Weatherspoon added 19 and No. 18 Mississippi State beat Austin Peay. Quinndary Weatherspoon shot 10 of 15 from the field during the first game of his senior season and also grabbed five rebounds. He’s been the Bulldogs’ best allaround player the past three years and now has 1,404 career points, which is 16th in school history. clemson 71, north carolina central 51: David Skara scored 16 points and No. 22 Clemson opened a large early lead in cruising to a victory over North Carolina Central. It was a matchup of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago. While the Tigers reached the Sweet 16, Mid-eastern Athletic Conference Tournament champion North Carolina Central lost to Texas Southern in a First Four matchup. lsu 97, north carolinagreensboro 91: Naz Reid scored 29 points and Tremont Waters had 21 points and 10 assists as No. 23 LSU beat North Carolinagreensboro. The Tigers (2-0) led by 16 points with seven minutes remaining in the game, but they needed to withstand a late rally by the Spartans. Unc-greensboro went on a 22-11 run to pull to 9388 with 13 seconds to play.