San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
FLORIDA GULF COAST UPSETS NO. 7 FAU
Dunk City has pulled off another surprise.
A decade or so removed from making the Sweet 16 of the 2013 NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed, Florida Gulf Coast made a splash again Saturday night — this time taking down a Florida Atlantic team that made the Final Four last season and was ranked No. 7 in the country this week.
Zach Anderson scored 21 points, Dallion Johnson added 18 and the Eagles beat the visiting Owls 72-68. FAU became the highest-ranked opponent FGCU has beaten in its history; that “Dunk City” crew beat then-no. 8 Georgetown in the first round of the 2013 NCAA tourney.
“We created our luck tonight,” FGCU coach Pat Chambers said. “We had everything going against us
FGCU 72 ,No.7
tonight ... and we still found a way.”
Cyrus Largie scored 12 and Franco Miller Jr. finished with 10 for FGCU (6-9), which never trailed in the game’s final 34 minutes. The Eagles came into the game as 17-point underdogs and needed overtime to beat NAIA member Florida Memorial last week.
Vladislav Goldin scored 21 points for FAU (10-3), and Johnell Davis added 17 for the Owls — a team that beat then-no. 4 Arizona last weekend.
“What we’ve learned is that our highs are very high and our lows are relatively low,” FAU coach Dusty May said. “And so, back to the drawing board as we head into league play.”
No. 2 Kansas 86, Wichita
State 67: Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and host Kansas routed Wichita State (8-5) in the first matchup between the in-state rivals in nearly nine years.
Kevin Mccullar Jr. scored 20 points and Elmarko Jackson added a career-best 12 for the Jayhawks (12-1), who have won 25 straight games in December.
No. 3 Houston 81, Penn 42: L.J. Cryer scored 16 points and Jamal Shead had 14, leading Houston (13-0) to the runaway win over visiting Penn (8-6).
Cryer scored his 1,000th career collegiate point between Baylor and Houston on a 3-pointer with 14:15 left in the first half.
No. 10 Marquette 72, No. 22 Creighton 67: Sean Jones scored a career-high 15 points, Tyler Kolek also had 15 and Marquette tied a Big East record with its 20th consecutive home conference victory.
Marquette (11-3, 2-1) has won 19 straight home games overall. Its last loss at Fiserv Forum was an 80-77 overtime setback against Wisconsin on Dec. 3, 2022.
Creighton (9-4, 0-2) lost for the third time in four games despite getting 23 points from Baylor Scheierman and 18 from Trey Alexander.
Scheierman went 7 of 13 on 3-point attempts.
No. 16 Duke 106, Queens 69: Jared Mccain scored a season-high 24 points, and Duke (9-3) beat visiting Queens (6-9) for its fourth consecutive win.
No. 19 Memphis 81, Austin Peay 70: David Jones scored 19 points, and host Memphis pulled away from Austin Peay (7-8).
Nae’qwan Tomlin had 15 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Tigers (11-2), who earned their sixth straight victory.
No. 20 James Madison 82, Texas State 65: T.J. Bickerstaff had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, leading James Madison to the victory over visiting Texas State (6-7) in the Sun Belt opener.
James Madison improved to 13-0 for the first time in program history.