Duke tops Kentucky; Keels scores 25 in win
NEW YORK — Freshman Trevor Keels scored 25 points and classmate Paolo Banchero added 22 to help
No. 9 Duke open Mike Krzyzewski’s final season by beating 10th-ranked Kentucky 79-71 on Tuesday night in the nightcap of the Champions Classic.
Krzyzewski announced that he would retire at the end of the season. The Hall of Famer has won 1,098 games and five national championships in his 42 years coaching the Blue Devils. Overall he has 1,171 wins, the most in the history of the sport.
Duke, which led by four at the half, built the advantage to 15 with just under 10 minutes left behind Keels. The Wildcats wouldn’t go away, scoring the next 11 points to get within 69-65 on a three-point play by Oscar Tshiebwe with 6:07 left.
That’s as close as Kentucky could get. Keels scored on the Blue Devils’ next possession and Banchero followed with a three-point play after a huge block by Mark Williams to start a 7-0 run.
Kentucky could only get within eight the rest of the way.
Tshiebwe finished with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Sahvir Wheeler added 16 points and 10 assists for the Wildcats.
■ No. 1 Gonzaga 97, Dixie State 63: At Spokane, Wash., Liberty High product Julian Strawther had 17 points and 10 rebounds and touted freshman Chet Holmgren, the nation’s top-rated recruit, added 14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks in his debut for the Bulldogs.
■ No. 3 Kansas 87, Michigan State 74: At New York, Ochai
Agbaji scored a career-high 29 points for the Jayhawks in the in the Champions Classic, Remy Martin added 15 points and David Mccormack had 10.
A.J. Hoggard scored 17 points and Julius Marble added 13 for the Spartans.
■ No. 4 Villanova 91, Mount St. Mary’s 51: At Villanova, Pa., Justin Moore hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points for the Big East favorite Wildcats
■ No. 5 Texas 92, Houston Baptist 48: At Austin, Texas, Tre Mitchell scored 13 points and helped earned new coach Chris Beard his first win with the Longhorns.
■ No. 7 Purdue 96, Bellarmine 67: At West Lafayette, Ind., Sasha Stefanovic made 5 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead the Boilermakers, who made 16 of 34 3s. C.J. Fleming and Dylan Penn each scored 14 points for the Knights.
■ No. 13 Oregon 83, Texas Southern 66: At Eugene, Ore., Will Richardson scored 20 points to lead the Ducks, who led by as many as 23 points in the second half. John Walker III led the Tigers with 19 points
■ No. 14 Alabama 93, Louisiana Tech 64: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Keon Ellis scored 18 points and Jaden Shackelford added 17 for the Crimson Tide. Ellis was 5-of-7 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and had nine rebounds off the bench.
■ No. 15 Houston 83, Hofstra
75, OT: At Houston, Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Taze Moore added 12 as the Cougars rallied from a 13-point deficit in the second half. Zach Cooks scored 26 points and Aaron Estrada added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Pride.
■ No 16: Arkansas 74, Mercer
61: At Fayetteville, Ark., JD Notae scored 30 points for the Razorbacks, who was down eight points at halftime. Notae scored 17 of his game-high 30 in the final 20 minutes.
■ No. 17 Ohio State 67, Akron
66: At Columbus, Ohio, Zed Key hit a layup with less than a second left, banking home a buzzerbeater to avoid a season-opening embarrassment. E.J. Liddell led the Buckeyes with 25 points and 11 rebounds.
Ali Ali had 17 points and K.J. Walton 16 for the Zips, who were excruciatingly close to getting their first win over Ohio State in more than century.
■ No. 18 Tennessee 90, UT Martin 62: At Knoxville, Tenn., Kennedy Chandler, regarded as the top high school point guard in the country last year, and Santiago Vescovi each scored 20 points for the Volunteers. KK Curry scored 15 points to lead the Skyhawks.
■ No. 19. North Carolina 83, Loyola (MD) 67: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Caleb Love scored 22 points for the Tar Heels, who lead the whole game. Jaylin Andrews scored 17 points to lead the Greyhounds.
■ No. 21 Maryland 83, Quinnipiac 69: At College Park, Md., Eric Ayala scored 13 points, surpassing 1,000 for his career. Ayala entered the game with 994 points and made a 3-pointer and a three-point play in the early minutes to reach 1,000.
■ No. 22 Auburn 77, Morehead State 54: At Auburn, Ala., Wendell Green Jr. scored 19 points and fellow transfer K.D. Johnson added 12 points off the bench. The Eagles were led by freshman Johni Broome, who had 12 points and eight rebounds.
■ No. 23 St. Bonaventure 75, Siena 47: At Olean, N.Y., Kyle Lofton and Jaren Holmes scored 17 points apiece for the Bonnies, who missed nine of their first 11 attempts and trailed 18-8 with 12:12 left before closing the half up 36-32.
■ No. 24 Connecticut 99, Central Connecticut 48: At Storrs, Conn., Adama Sanogo scored 20 points for the Huskies, who led by 29-points at halftime. Joe Ostrowsky had 12 points to lead the Blue Devils.
■ Navy 66, No. 25 Virginia 58: At Charlottesville, Va., John Carter Jr. scored 19 points, Sean Yoder added 15 and Navy got its first win over a ranked team since 1986.