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Hunter Dickinson scores 21 as No. 1 Kansas routs North Carolina Central 99-56

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had seven points, two rebounds and a block in the first 90 seconds of his Kansas career Monday night, then made a trio of 3-pointers that showed the 7-foot-2 transfer from Michigan is more than just a beast on the block.Not surprisingly, his newfound fans inside Allen Fieldhouse responded with waves of adulation.“I was telling somebody, ‘I’m used to the opposing fans being this loud and more boos than cheers,'” Dickinson said after leading the top-ranked Jayhawks to a 99-56 wipeout of North Carolina Central on college basketball’s opening night.“It was real fun to have people on my side for once,” added Dickinson, whose decision to leave the Wolverines left angry fans in his wake. “The atmosphere was insane. I’ve been hearing about it during my recruiting, and when I committed, and I was hearing so much about Allen Fieldhouse. And it lived up to it.”Dickinson lived up to the hype, too, finishing with 21 points, eight boards an...

Dawson Garcia’s big double-double leads fast-starting Minnesota’s 80-60 win over Bethune-Cookman

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Dawson Garcia had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Minnesota rode a 46-point first half to a season-opening 80-60 victory over Bethune-Cookman on Monday night.Garcia was 4-of-10 shooting but made 14 free throws in 16 attempts. He also had six assists. Braeden Carrington scored 13 points and Elijah Hawkins added 10 for the Golden Gophers.A 16-2 run helped Minnesota build a 26-11 lead through the first 9 1/2 minutes and the Gophers went on to lead 46-22 at the break.Jakobi Heady led the Tigers with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Zion Harmon and Damani McEntire scored 11 points each.Garcia, a 6-foot-11 junior, is Minnesota’s leading returning scorer (15.3 ppg in 2022-23) on a roster with eight newcomers — four transfers and four freshmen. Transfer Parker Fox, who scored seven points, saw his first action with the Golden Gophers after missing the past two seasons with knee injuries.___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the...

Murrell sparks Ole Miss past Alabama State, 69-59 to win in Chris Beard’s debut

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Matthew Murrell scored 16 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double in leading Ole Miss to a 69-59 win over Alabama State on Monday night in coach Chris Beard’s debut as the Rebels’ head coach.Robert Cowherd knocked down a 3 to pull the Hornets within four points, 40-36 and CJ Hines added a free throw a minute later to get within three, but Allen Flanigan answered with a 3 for Ole Miss. Micah Octave’s 3 with 12:49 left got Alabama State within one, 45-44, but TJ Caldwell answered with back-to-back 3s and a layup and sparked a 6-0 run with under eight minutes to play with another pair of layups. Jaylen Murray, Flanigan and Caldwell each added 15 points and Flanigan grabbed 12 of the Rebels’ 52 rebounds.CJ Hines and TJ Madlock each had 12 points and Amarr Knox added another 11 points to lead Alabama State. Mississippi is 8-0 against Alabama State. The teams first met in the 1983 NIT tournament, with the Rebels earning an 87-75 win. __...

UConn unveils championship banner, opens title defense with 95-52 rout of N. Arizona

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures and defending national champion UConn opened the season on Monday with a 95-52 rout of Northern Arizona. Tristen Newton scored 14 points, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle each had 12 and Samson Johnson added 11 for No. 6 UConn, which unveiled the school’s latest championship banner in a pregame ceremony. The Huskies shot 56% (32 of 57) from the floor and held the Lumberjacks to 34% (20 of 59).Liam Lloyd led Northern Arizona with 15 points.UConn opened the game with a 14-5 run and led 47-30 at the half.The Huskies are seeking to become the first program to repeat as national champions since Florida did it in 2006 and 2007.No. 1 KANSAS 99, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 56LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and eight rebounds in his Kansas debut, Kevin McCullar Jr. made four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and the top-ranked Jayhawks cruised to a victory over North Carolina Cent...

Top-ranked LSU falls to Colorado 92-78

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Defending national champion and No. 1 LSU lost to No. 20 Colorado 92-78 on Monday night in the Hall of Fame Series.It’s the first time that the top team in the AP poll lost its opener since the 1995-96 season when UConn fell to Louisiana Tech according to ESPN. The Huskies were defending national champions that year and that game also marked the first time that the previous season’s NCAA title winners lost its first game.Frida Formann scored 27 points and Aaronette Vonleh added 24 to lead Colorado. Jaylyn Sherrod had 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Buffaloes. Mikaylah Williams led defending champion LSU with 17 points, Angel Reese had 15 points and 12 rebounds, Sa’Myah Smith scored 16 points and noted Louisville transfer Hailey Van Lith and had 14 points.Colorado, which made the Sweet 16 last season for the first time since 2003, led most of the way in the convincing, statement-making victory. The Buffaloes, who shot 53%, led by as many as 22 point...

Sengun has 17 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds to help Rockets beat Kings, 122-97

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 17 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds and Jalen Green scored 23 points in the Houston Rockets’ 122-97 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.The Rockets have won three straight to improve to 3-3. They are .500 for the first time since Oct. 22, 2021, when they started the 2021-22 season 1-1. Sengun fell just two rebounds shy of his third career triple-double, doing so in just 26 minutes and without playing in the fourth quarter. Houston shot 48.4% from 3, making 15 of 31. Green was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and made 10 of 12 free throws. Keon Ellis scored 15 points off the bench to lead the Kings with star De’Aaron Fox out for a third straight game because of a sprained right ankle.Kevin Huerter scored 13 points, Keegan Murray had 12 points, and Domantas Sabonis added eight points and eight rebounds, well below the league-leading 14.2 rebounds per game that he entered Monday averaging. Houston outrebounded Sacramento 39-34. The K...

Verhaeghe scores in overtime as the Panthers rally to beat the Blue Jackets 5-4

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nick Cousins pulled Florida into a tie in the final minute of regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored 1:26 into overtime and the Panthers got a wild 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.Florida led 3-0 barely six minutes into the contest, gave up the next four goals and then needed the late heroics from Cousins and Verhaeghe.Ryan Lomberg, Gustav Forsling and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves.“It felt good,” Verhaeghe said. “Definitely nice to get the win, but it’s obviously not how we drew it up. We started off good and let them back in it, but there are no bad wins.”Sean Kuraly, Boone Jenner, Alexandre Texier and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets. Spencer Martin made 35 saves in relief of Elvis Merzlinkins, who allowed three goals on 11 shots in the first 6:09.“It didn’t surprise me at all that we responded,” Martin said. “I love the guys in this room so much. We battle and it seems like we’v...

Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan power Bulls past sloppy Jazz 130-113, snapping a 3-game skid

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Zach LaVine scored 24 points, DeMar DeRozan had 21 and the Chicago Bulls snapped a three-game losing streak with a 130-113 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.Coby White added 18 as the Bulls (3-5) scored a season high in points. Chicago got a boost off the bench as Jevon Carter hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points, and Andre Drummond added 12 points from inside the paint. Drummond had seven rebounds, reaching 10,000 for his career.All-Star Lauri Markannen scored 29 points and led Utah for the sixth time in eight games. The Jazz got 15 points from Walker Kessler, and 14 from John Collins and Colin Sexton. The Jazz committed 22 turnovers in their third straight loss. The Bulls’ Patrick Williams and Alex Caruso, who played after injuring his right elbow in a loss at Denver on Saturday, each had 10 pointsChicago, which entered with 59 steals in seven games, added 12 in this one while scoring 30 points off Utah turnovers. Chicago opened a 20-point lead with a...

LSU routs Mississippi Valley State 106-60 behind Baker’s 29 points

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Will Baker scored 29 points in 19 minutes to lead LSU to a 106-60 rout of Mississippi Valley State in the season-opener for both teams on Monday night.Baker was one of four Tigers to finish in double-figure scoring. Jordan Wright added 12 points, and Daimion Collin and Tyrell Ward chipped in with 11 apiece for LSU, which made 57.6% of its shots from the field (34 for 59) and 53.8% of its 3s (14 for 26).Rayquan Brown led Mississippi Valley State with 17 points. Arecko Gipson added 15, and Donovan Sanders poured in 13 for the Delta Devils.LSU never trailed in the wire-to-wire win. Ward drilled a 3 at the end of the first half to give the Tigers a 56-29 lead. The Tigers extended their lead to as much as 53 after Adam Benhayoune’s 3 with 2:50 remaining.LSU did not have transfer guard Jalen Cook, due to the NCAA denying the senior guard’s immediate eligibility request. Cook began his collegiate career with the Tigers before transferring to Tulane for his sophomore...

No. 4 UCLA routs Purdue 92-49 and Stanford transfer Lauren Betts scores career-high 20 points

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:25:55 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lauren Betts scored a career-high 20 points, Londynn Jones added 20 points and No. 4 UCLA routed Purdue 92-49 Monday night in a matchup of future Big Ten opponents.The Bruins never trailed as they opened the 50th year of women’s basketball in Westwood against the alma mater of John Wooden, who guided UCLA’s men’s program to 10 of its record 11 national championships.UCLA is leaving the Pac-12 next season to join the Midwest-based Big Ten. The Boilermakers were set to fly out of Los Angeles shortly after the game and arrive back in Indiana around 5 a.m. EST.UCLA star Charisma Osborne was scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points after hitting three 3-pointers in the second half. But the Bruins got plenty of scoring from their other four starters.Betts, at 6-foot-7 the tallest player on the floor, transferred from Stanford, where she helped the Cardinal win the Pac-12 regular season title. Angela Dugalic added 13 points for the Bruins in he...