LEXINGTON, Ky. — Andrew Harrison scored 16 points and No. 1 Kentucky dominated Grand Canyon in every phase during a season-opening 85-45 blowout.
Beginning their second straight season atop the rankings thanks to a 10-deep roster that coach John Calipari utilized through a two-platoon
system, the Wildcats exploited their substantial height and talent advantages through both units against a young Antelopes squad featuring seven true or redshirt freshmen among nine newcomers.
Despite missing a bunch of easy chances, Kentucky still shot 49 percent. The Wildcats held the Antelopes to 15 of 48 shooting (31 percent), outrebounded them 51-21 and blocked 10 shots.
Willie Cauley-Stein added 12 points, Dakari Johnson had 13 rebounds and 10 points and Trey Lyles had 14 points for Kentucky, which stretched its lead to 40 in the final minute.
Royce Woolridge, son of late former NBA player Orlando Woolridge, scored 15 points for Grand Canyon.
No. 2 ARIZONA 78, MOUNT ST. MARY’S 55
TUCSON, Ariz. — Brandon Ashley scored a career-high 21 points in his return to the lineup, and Arizona shook off a shaky start to open the season with a win over Mount St. Mary’s.
Arizona was out of sorts early before closing the first half with a big run to build a 15-point lead that was barely challenged.
Ashley played confidently and moved freely, finishing 9 of 10 from the floor in his return from missing the final 16 games last season with a broken foot.
No. 3 WISCONSIN 62, NORTHERN KENTUCKY 31
MADISON, Wis. — Frank Kaminsky scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help Wisconsin beat Northern Kentucky.
Sam Dekker added 15 points for the Badgers, while Daniel Camps led the Norse with eight points.
Though the Badgers hit just less than half of their shots overall, they weren’t sharp from 3-point range. They hit just 4 of 17, good for only 24 percent.
No. 4 DUKE 113, PRESBYTERIAN 44
DURHAM, N.C. — Preseason All-American Jahlil Okafor scored 19 points in his college debut and Duke routed Presbyterian in the opening round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
All four members of a heavily hyped freshman class scored in double figures for the Blue Devils (1-0): Greyson Allen had 18, and Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones had 15 apiece.
Duke shot 61 percent, hit 16 3-pointers and had 30 assists — three shy of the school record — in the third most-lopsided victory in school history.
No. 5 KANSAS 69, UC SANTA BARBARA 59
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Freshman Devonte’ Graham scored 14 points off the bench, Perry Ellis had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kansas beat UC-Santa Barbara.
Frank Mason III added 12 points and Wayne Selden Jr. had 10 for the Jayhawks, who committed 16 turnovers, struggled with their shooting and didn’t put away the pesky Gauchos until a late big charge midway through the second half provided a comfortable cushion.
The defending Big 12 champions had better solve their ills in a hurry. They have a date with top-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
No. 6 NORTH CAROLINA 76, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 60
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Brice Johnson scored 12 points to help North Carolina beat North Carolina Central.
Kennedy Meeks and J.P. Tokoto each added 10 for the Tar Heels (1-0), who scored the first 11 points and led by double figures much of the night. North Carolina shot 44 percent, though preseason Associated Press All-American Marcus Paige managed just eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.
UNC won its 10th season opener in a row.
No. 7 FLORIDA 68, WILLIAM & MARY 45
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dorian Finney-Smith scored 15 points, Michael Frazier II added 14 and Florida opened the season with a victory over William & Mary.
Michigan transfer Jon Horford chipped in 11 points for the Gators, who won their 24th consecutive season opener and improved to 19-0 on opening night under coach Billy Donovan.
Omar Prewitt led the Tribe with 15 points.
No. 8 LOUISVILLE 81, MINNESOTA 68
AGUADILLA, Puerto Rico — Montrezl Harrell had 30 points and Terry Rozier added 18 to help Louisville beat Minnesota.
The game at a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Puerto Rico featured Louisville coach Rick Pitino going against his son, Richard, for the second time. The Golden Gophers led 14-10 early after a pair of free throws from Nate Mason, but the Cardinals were too much for Minnesota after that.
No. 9 VIRGINIA 79, JAMES MADISON 51
HARRISONBURG, Va. — Justin Anderson scored 18 points and Virginia got an impressive debut from freshman Isaiah Wilkins in a victory at James Madison.
Wilkins, the stepson of NBA great Dominique Wilkins, had 8 points, 5 rebounds, three assist, two blocks and two steals in 19 minutes for the Cavaliers. Virginia was playing with its highest ranking to start a season since the 1982-83 team, featuring Harrisonburg native Ralph Sampson, was ranked No. 1.
No. 10 TEXAS 85, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 50
AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman Myles Turner scored 15 points in his college debut and Texas romped to a season-opening win over North Dakota State.
Turner scored 11 in the first half as Texas jumped out to a 20-point lead by halftime.
Isaiah Taylor scored 18 points and Jonathan Holmes added 15 points for the Longhorns.
No. 11 WICHITA STATE 71, NEW MEXICO STATE 54
WICHITA, Kan. — Tekele Cotton scored 17 points and Ron Baker added 16 as No. 11 Wichita State wore down New Mexico State.
Darius Carter and Shaquille Morris added nine points each for the Shockers (1-0).
Daniel Mullings scored 14 points to lead New Mexico State (0-1).
Wichita State led by 17 at halftime and was never threatened after that, despite going 0-for-11 from the 3-point line.
A tip-in by Darius Carter pushed the Shockers’ lead to 21, 44-23, with 16:41 to play. The Aggies did not get the deficit below 19 until the final two minutes.
No. 12 VILLANOVA 77, LEHIGH 66
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Dylan Ennis scored 19 points while Darrun Hilliard and Daniel Ochefu combined for 10 in the decisive second-half run as Villanova rallied for a victory over Lehigh.
Ryan Arcidiacono added 16 for the Wildcats, who went 29-5 last season while winning the Big East regular season championship.
Austin Price scored 24 points and Tim Kempton had 15 for the Mountain Hawks, who went 14-18 in 2013-14. Kempton also had 10 rebounds.
No. 13 GONZAGA 104, SACRAMENTO STATE 58
SPOKANE, Wash. — Kyle Wiltjer scored 18 points and Gonzaga routed Sacramento State.
Kevin Pangos added 16 points, Domantas Sabonis 14, Byron Wesley 12 and Gary Bell Jr. 11 for the Bulldogs (1-0).
Dylan Garrity scored 13 points for Sacramento State (0-1), which returned all five starters and eight of its top nine from last season. But Sacramento State played without leading scorer Mikh McKinney, who averaged 16.6 points a game last season, who sat out for disciplinary reasons.
No. 14 IOWA STATE 93, OAKLAND 82
AMES, IOWA — Junior Georges Niang had a career-high 30 points and nine rebounds as Iowa State beat Oakland .
UNLV transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones had 20 points in his debut for the Cyclones (1-0), who improved to 5-0 in openers under coach Fred Hoiberg.
Iowa State sandwiched a 15-3 run around the half after allowing Oakland to tie the score at 38-all. The Cyclones built their lead up to as much as 20 in the second half and won comfortably behind Niang, who figures to be Iowa State’s top scoring option this season.
No. 15 VCU 85, TENNESSEE 69
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Melvin Johnson scored 20 of his 23 points in the decisive first half, Treveon Graham had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Virginia Commonwealth defeated Tennessee in the Veterans Classic.
Johnson went 9 for 17 from the floor, hit five 3-pointers and had three assists to help the Rams win their 10th straight season opener.
After falling behind 48-30 at halftime and 55-35 with 16:44 remaining, Tennessee closed to 67-59 but could not complete the comeback.
No. 16 SAN DIEGO STATE 79, CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 58
SAN DIEGO — Aqeel Quinn scored 15 points and Winston Shephard had 14 for the San Diego State Aztecs, who ran past undermanned Cal State Northridge to open the season.
JJ O’Brien scored 13 and Dwayne Polee II had 11 for SDSU, which is coming off a 31-5 season that included the second trip to the Sweet 16 in school history.
It was an unbracketed game in the Maui Invitational. While CSUN is in the mainland portion of the tournament, the Aztecs actually get to go to Maui, opening with a game against BYU on Nov. 24.
SDSU has won 15 straight games at home and 42 straight against California schools.
No. 17 UCONN 66, BRYANT 53
STORRS, Conn. — Ryan Boatright scored 24 points as UConn opened up defense of its national championship with a win over Bryant University.
Amida Brimah added 12 points and five blocked shots for the Huskies, who won their 15th consecutive season opener.
Dyami Starks had 18 points for Bryant, which led by six points at halftime and nine points after Angus Riley hit a 3-pointer to open up the second half.
But the Huskies began chipping away.
No. 18 MICHIGAN STATE 64, NAVY 59
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Travis Trice scored a career-high 25 points, and Michigan State struggled against pesky Navy before squeezing out a victory in the Veterans Classic.
The Spartans got all they could handle from the disciplined Midshipmen.
Michigan State led 44-43 with 11 minutes left and 53-50 with 7 minutes remaining before Navy went cold. A 3-pointer by Denzel Valentine, coupled with a layup by Braden Dawson with 5:29 to go, upped the margin to eight points. After the Midshipmen got to 60-57, Trice scored on a drive with 1:46 left.
No. 20 OHIO STATE 92, UMASS-LOWELL 55
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sam Thompson scored 14 points and Ohio State’s newcomers led the Buckeyes to a victory against overmatched UMass-Lowell.
Freshman D’Angelo Russell had 16 points, four rebounds and six assists, Marc Loving scored 14, graduate transfer Anthony Lee had 13 and redshirt freshman Kam Williams 12 for the Buckeyes, who shot 62 percent from the field.
Jahad Thomas, redshirted as a freshman due to an injury, had 18 points in his debut for the River Hawks, who have nine newcomers.
No. 22 SMU 93, LAMAR 54
DALLAS — Ben Moore scored a career-high 22 points and added a team-high nine rebounds with five assists to lead SMU to a victory over Lamar.
Yanick Moreira added 19 for SMU, equaling his career high.
The Cardinals were led by Anthony Holliday with 12 points.
Lamar was limited 31 percent shooting from the floor, 5-for-20 on three-pointers. Last season, SMU ranked seventh nationally in field-goal defense by holding opponents to 38.5 percent.
No. 23 SYRACUSE 89, KENNESAW STATE 42
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Rakeem Christmas had a career-high 21 points, freshman forward Chris McCullough added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse beat Kennesaw State.
The first meeting between the teams was a mismatch as the Orange dominated despite some sloppy early play. Syracuse took control with a 22-2 run in the first half and cruised.
No. 25 HARVARD 73, MIT 52
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Wesley Saunders had 15 points, 9 rebounds and six assists on Friday night as Harvard opened the season with a victory over down-river rival MIT.
Siyani Chambers also scored 15, making all four attempts from 3-point range and added four assists for Harvard — the four-time defending Ivy League champion.
No. 25 UTAH 90, BALL STATE 72
SALT LAKE CITY — Brandon Taylor scored 19 points while Jordan Loveridge and Jakob Poeltl added 18 apiece to lead No. 25 Utah to a victory over Ball State.
The Utes (1-0) blew open a tight game in the final five minutes with dominant play around the basket and on the perimeter. Utah had a 35-22 advantage on the boards over the Cardinals (0-1) and enjoyed a 42-14 edge in points in the paint.