NO. 9 KENTUCKY OVERWHELMS CENTRAL MICHIGAN

LEXINGTON, KY.» Oscar Tshiebwe had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Tyty Washington Jr. added 15 points and No. 9 Kentucky quickly overwhelmed Central Michigan for a 85-57 victory on Monday night.

The Wildcats (6-1) shot 60% in the first half before cooling off to finish 43% overall while dominating the rebuilding Chippewas (1-5) in most phases. They led

25-5 within seven minutes and maintained at least a 25-point cushion for much of the contest. Kentucky’s six wins have been by an average margin of 28.3 points.

Jermaine Jackson Jr. had 11 points, and Cameron Healy and Miroslav Stafl each added nine for Central Michigan, which dropped its third consecutive game. It spoiled the Lexington return of first-year Chippewas coach Tony Barbee, who took over the program in April after seven seasons as a Kentucky assistant.

The Wildcats won the paint 36-26 and committed just six turnovers.

NO. 3 GONZAGA 64, TARLETON STATE 55.

SPOKANE, WASH.» Rasir Bolton scored 17 points and Chet Holmgren added 15 as No. 3 Gonzaga beat Tarleton State, rebounding from a narrow loss to Duke last week that knocked the Zags out of the top spot in The Associated Press’ Top 25.

Drew Timme scored 10 points for Gonzaga (7-1), which extended its program record by winning its 56th consecutive home game. Tahj Small scored 25 points for Tarleton State (1-6), which is in its second season of transitioning to Division I.

NO. 7 TEXAS 73, SAM HOUSTON STATE 57.

AUSTIN, TEXAS» Marcus Carr scored a season-high 19 points and No. 7 Texas beat Sam Houston State, as the Longhorns played in cozy and cramped Gregory Gym for the first time in almost five decades.

Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey each scored 14 points for Texas (5-1). Timmy Allen had 12 points and seven assists. Jones added four steals.

Savion Flagg, a graduate transfer from Texas A&M, led Sam Houston (2-5) with 16 points. Demarkus Lampley and Javion May each scored 11.

IOWA 75, VIRGINIA 74. CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.» Joe Toussaint hit a clutch jumper to give Iowa the lead with eight seconds left in the game, Virginia missed two close-range shots and Patrick Mccaffery blocked a third at the buzzer to preserve Iowa’s win over the Cavaliers in the Big TEN/ACC Challenge.

Taine Murray’s 3 gave Virginia its first lead of the game, 71-70 with 1:40 left. Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon answered with a 3 for the lead and Kihei Clark answered with another 3 to give the Cavaliers a 74-73 advantage with 47 second left.

Iowa (7-0) called a timeout with 16 seconds left and Toussaint found space to take the game winner. Clark drove to the basket but missed a jumper near the basket, but Kadin Shedrick grabbed the rebound and put the ball on the rim, but it wouldn’t fall and Mccaffery swatted away the put-back attempt.

Jayden Gardner led the Cavaliers (5-3) with 18 points.

ILLINOIS 82, NOTRE DAME 72.

CHAMPAIGN, ILL.» Kofi Cockburn scored 28 points, Alfonso Plummer added 21 and Illinois defeated Notre Dame in the Big Ten/ ACC Challenge.

Cockburn, a preseason Allamerican and player of the year candidate, leads the nation in scoring at 26.6 points per game. He did not take a shot in the first 12 minutes but finished the first half with 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. For the game, he was 11 of 16 from the field.

Cockburn scored eight points early in the second half and his dunk with 14:50 remaining gave the Illini (4-2) a 56-43 lead. Jacob Grandison’s 3-pointer extended the lead to 59-43.

At that point, the pace slowed down for Illinois and Notre Dame drew within 67-62 when Cormac Ryan hit a 3-pointer with just under six minutes to go. Illinois pushed the lead to 71-63 at the final official timeout then made 11 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes.

WYOMING 79, CAL-STATE FULLERTON 66. FULLERTON, CALIF.» Hunter Maldonado had 21 points as Wyoming topped Cal State Fullerton. Graham Ike had 17 points and nine rebounds for the unbeaten Cowboys (6-0). Xavier Dusell added 16 points, while Drake Jeffries scored 14. E.J. Anosike had 19 points for the Titans (3-4). Jalen Harris added 14 points.

Duke jumps to No. 1 in reshuffled AP Top 25. Mike Krzyzewski’s final team at Duke has reached a familiar milestone: No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.

The Blue Devils jumped four spots to the top of Monday’s poll following a win against Gonzaga that knocked the Bulldogs from the top spot. This is the 127th week at No. 1 for Krzyzewski and the 145th for the Blue Devils, ahead of the late John Wooden (121) and UCLA (134).

Complete poll» 8B

WOMEN Uconn’s Bueckers signs NIL deal to represent Gatorade.

STORRS, CONN.» Uconn sophomore guard Paige Bueckers is the first college athlete to represent Gatorade, announcing Monday a multiyear name, image and likeness deal.

Terms of the deal with Pepsico Inc. were not released.

“I know this is just the beginning of our partnership and can’t wait to get to work with Gatorade to drive impact in the community and on the women’s game,” Bueckers said in a statement.

It is the second NIL deal announced for Bueckers, who also has a partnership with sneaker marketplace Stockx.

Result» 8B