Kentucky has to rally for opening victory

Hamidou Diallo scored 15 second-half points, most of them during an 18-0 run, and No. 5 Kentucky shot 59% after halftime to rally past Utah Valley 73-63 on Friday night in the opener for both schools at Lexington, Ky.

One of Kentucky coach John Calipari’s youngest rosters since arriving in Lexington showed its inexperience by struggling on both ends and trailing 34-25 at halftime. The Wildcats emerged from the break more energetic to make the pivotal run over 3:22 with eight consecutive baskets, including back-to-back transition dunks by Diallo.

It won’t get any easier for Utah Valley of the Western Athletic Conference, which will face No. 1 Duke on Saturday.

at No. 1 Duke 97, Elon 68: Grayson Allen put on a show in his final season opener for the Blue Devils. So did Marvin Bagley in his first — and perhaps only — one.

Bagley had 25 points and 10 rebounds in his college debut, and Duke opened with a rout of the Phoenix that gave Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski his 999th career victory at the school.

Allen added 22 points and made six of the Blue Devils’ 12 three-pointers. Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points.

at No. 3 Arizona 101, Northern Arizona 67: Allonzo Trier scored a careerhigh 32 points and 7-foot-1 freshman Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 60% from the field.

No. 25 Texas A&M 88, No. 11 West Virginia 65: Tyler Davis had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Admon Gilder scored 23 points and the Aggies overcame a sluggish start in the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. It was the only matchup of ranked teams on the first day of the college basketball season.

at Stanford 78, Cal Poly 62: Reid Travis scored a game-high 26 points and had 12 rebounds as the Cardinal won their eighth straight season opener.