Buffaloes deck cold-shooting Vols
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — KJ Simpson had 23 points and 10 rebounds, both career highs for the sophomore, to lead Colorado to an 78-66 upset victory over No. 11 Tennessee on Sunday.
Tristan de Silva added 14 points for the Buffaloes, who shot 43.5% from the floor, compared with the Volunteers’ 25.4%.
“Today was about Colorado, and [Simpson] was terrific,” Buffaloes Coach Tad Boyle said. “KJ I thought really took the game in his own hands down the stretch there and really controlled the tempo. The 23 points, he’ll have other nights like that for sure, but the 10 rebounds were fantastic.”
Josiah-Jordan James and Tyreke Key led Tennessee with 15 points apiece.
“We definitely didn’t come into this game with the right mindset,” James said. “This is a good lesson for us. It’s a long basketball season. Of course I’m disappointed and upset that we lost, but I’m also excited just to see how this team responds.”
The Vols (1-1) could not overcome a poor shooting performance to rally in the second half after giving up the lead for good with 18:12 to play. The Buffaloes (2-1) led by as many as 14 down the stretch as part of a dominant second half in which they outscored Tennessee 46-32.
“They deserved to win,” Vols Coach Rick Barnes said. “They, I thought, controlled the game pretty much from start to finish.”
Simpson had 15 second-half points.
Tennessee held a 34-32 lead at halftime after shooting just 23.1% from the floor. Colorado trailed by as many as eight points before halftime.
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 2 STANFORD 87, PORTLAND 47
PORTLAND, Ore. — Haley Jones had 17 points and Cameron Brink added 12 to help No. 2 Stanford rout Portland.
Stanford (4-0), which led by as many as 43 points, has not lost to a West Coast Conference team since falling at Gonzaga in 2018.
Liana Kaitu’u led Portland with 13 points in the Pilots’ first loss of the season after opening with a pair of consecutive wins.
NO. 4 IOWA 92, DRAKE 86 (OT)
DES MOINES, Iowa — Monika Czinano scored 36 points and Caitlin Clark added 28 to help No. 4 Iowa (3-0) beat Drake (1-1) in overtime.
Czinano and Clark scored all but two of the Hawkeyes’ points in the extra period as Iowa outscored the Bulldogs 10-4.
A layup by Drake’s Katie Dinnebier with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter tied the game at 82-82. The Hawkeyes had a chance to win the game, but Gabbie Marshall’s shot missed with one second left.
Czinano, who led the nation in fieldgoal percentage the last two seasons, was 14 of 21 from the floor. Clark, a unanimous preseason Associated Press All-American, struggled with her shooting, finishing 9 of 28 from the floor.
NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 75, BELMONT 70
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hailey Van Lith scored 25 points, Payton Verhulst had a steal and the game-clinching free throws with 2.2 seconds left and No. 7 Louisville (2-0) escaped Belmont (1-1).
The Cardinals scored the last four points of the game from the foul line after Belmont lost possession when Madison Bartley was called for an illegal screen with 7.6 seconds to play.
Van Lith made a pair of foul shots with 6.4 seconds to go and on the ensuing half-court inbounds play the Bruins got the ball to Bartley in the left corner. She drove the baseline, hoping to find Sydni Harvey in the right corner but she was cut off by Olivia Cochran, who got a hand on the pass, allowing Verhulst to dart in and intercept it.
NO. 10 N.C. STATE 86, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 38
RALEIGH, N.C. — Aziaha James came off the bench to score 17 of her 19 points in the second half for No. 10 North Carolina State in its romp over Mount St. Mary’s.
Diamond Johnson had 13 points and Jada Boyd and Madison Hayes both scored 11 points for the Wolfpack (3-0).
NO. 14 OHIO STATE 82, BOSTON COLLEGE 64
BOSTON — Rebeka Mikulasikova and Jacy Sheldon had double-doubles and No. 14 Ohio State capped an impressive opening week with a victory over Boston College.
Mikulasikova had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes (2-0), who defeated No. 5 Tennessee 87-75 earlier in the week. Sheldon had the unusual double-double of 14 points and a school-record tying 11 steals. She had eight steals against Tennessee.
Ohio State trailed 22-21 with about six minutes left in the second quarter but finished the period with a 21-3 run that provided most of its 18-point margin by game’s end.
NO. 16 LSU 107, WESTERN CAROLINA 34
BATON ROUGE — Flau’jae Johnson scored 18 points, Angel Reese had 17 points and 15 rebounds as No. 16 LSU set a program record with its third-consecutive 100-point game.
The Tigers (3-0), who scored a school-record 125 points in their opener and 111 in their second game, opened this one with 15 consecutive points and were never challenged.
Johnson hit all three of her field goals and made 10 of 12 free throws.
Kehinde Obasuyi scored 10 points for the Catamounts (2-1), who shot 15%.
NO. 17 MARYLAND 83, FORDHAM 76
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Diamond Miller scored 22 and grabbed 13 rebounds and No. 17 Maryland turned back Fordham.
The Terrapins (2-1), coming off an 81-56 loss at No. 1 South Carolina, struggled to put away the Rams (2-1).
After taking a 21-10 lead after one quarter, Maryland was only up 34-33 at the break. A 14-0 run in the third quarter, which included two three-pointers from Vanderbilt transfer Brinae Alexander, pushed the lead to 54-39. The Rams came back with five three-pointers and went ahead 59-58. Miller’s late three-pointer had the Terps in front 6259 going into the fourth quarter.
NO. 19 ARIZONA,
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 47
TUCSON, Ariz. — Esmery Martinez didn’t miss a shot and scored 15 points to help No. 19 Arizona beat Cal State Northridge.
The Wildcats scored 28 of the final 30 first-quarter points to take a 22-point lead into the second quarter and led by at least 30 throughout the second half.
Martinez went 6 for 6 from the field, including one 3-pointer, and made each of her two free-throw attempts. Kailyn Gilbert added 16 points, Cate Reese and Maya Nnaji scored 14 apiece and Jade Loville 12 for Arizona (2-0).
Jordyn Jackson scored 12 points for Northridge (0-3).
SWAC MISSISSIPPI STATE 80, UAPB 47
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Seven players finished with at least seven points to send Mississippi State (3-0) to a convincing victory at Humphrey Coliseum.
D.J. Jeffries and Tolu Smith each scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, who led 41-19 at halftime and maintained control throughout the final 20 minutes to stay unbeaten. Smith also had nine rebounds. Cameron Matthews, Kimani Hamilton, Tyler Stevenson and Shakeel Moore all had eight points each for Mississippi State.
Shaun Doss had a team-high 15 points for UAPB (1-3), which shot 18 of 61 (29.5%) from the floor and committed 18 turnovers. The Golden Lions also went 5 of 7 (71.4%) from the foul line compared to 15 of 19 (78.9%) for Mississippi State.
Chris Greene added 14 points and Kylen Milton chipped in with 11 points for UAPB.