Men's top 25 College Basketball Roundup
CORONADO, Calif. — With President Barack Obama watching from midcourt, No. 1 North Carolina beat Michigan State 67-55 on Friday night in the Carrier Classic on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson.
Harrison Barnes scored 17 points and John Henson had 12 points and a career-high nine blocked shots as the Tar Heels put their size advantage to good use. Michigan State's Draymond Green had 18 rebounds.
Fitting with the Veterans Day theme, the Tar Heels and Spartans had U.S.A. rather than their names on the back of their jerseys, which had a camouflage design. At dusk, the game was paused for the lowering of the American flag. The players gave their jerseys to servicemen after the game.
Obama watched intently, chatted with wife Michelle and service members seated near him, and at one point appeared to check his BlackBerry. When the game ended, he applauded and then shook hands with coaches Roy Williams and Tom Izzo.
North Carolina has beaten Michigan State six straight times, including in the 2009 NCAA final.
NO. 6 DUKE 77, BELMONT 76
DURHAM, N.C. — Seth Curry scored 16 points and Duke held off Belmont in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational to move coach Mike Krzyzewski within one victory of tying Bob Knight atop the Division I men's career list.
Austin Rivers added 16 points in his college debut for the Blue Devils (1-0). They shot 43 percent and overcame 19 turnovers to avoid their first nonconference home loss since 2000 and put their Hall of Fame coach one step closer to history.
Krzyzewski started his 37th season as a head coach by improving his record to 901-284. He can tie his college coach and mentor's record Saturday when Duke plays Presbyterian.
Kerron Johnson scored 15 points for Belmont.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 73, WRIGHT STATE 42
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Preseason All-American Jared Sullinger had 19 points and nine rebounds to lead Ohio State past Wright State in the Global Sports Shootout.
William Buford added 13 points for the Buckeyes. Point guard Aaron Craft had 10 points and just one turnover in 28 minutes in the opener for both teams.
A.J. Pacher had 13 points and Reggie Arcenaux 11 for Wright State.
NO. 4 CONNECTICUT 70, COLUMBIA 57
STORRS, Conn — Jeremy Lamb scored a career-high 30 points and No. 4 Connecticut began defense of its national championship with a victory over Columbia.
Shabazz Napier added 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Huskies, who led 37-22 at halftime in the season opener for both teams.
Tyler Olander had eight rebounds for UConn, four in the first 5 minutes when UConn used an 8-0 run to break a 5-5 tie. The Huskies never trailed.
Noruwa Agho, who led the Ivy League in scoring last season, had 16 points for Columbia.
The win extends the Huskies streak to 12 games, after the 11-0 run that gave UConn the NCAA title in April. The Huskies unveiled their national championship plaque before the game.
NO. 2 KENTUCKY 108, MARIST 58
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Anthony Davis had 23 points and 10 rebounds to join Terrence Jones and Sam Bowie as the only freshmen in Kentucky history with 20-10 games in their debuts, leading the Wildcats past Marist.
Davis attacked the rim in the opener, finishing 10 of 13 with eight dunks, as Kentucky shrugged off a slow start with a dominant second half that turned a single-digit lead into a blowout in their first game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament.
Jones, a sophomore, came off the bench for eight points after the university said he was involved in an early morning car accident. Coach John Calipari said earlier in the day that he would institute a curfew for the Wildcats. Isaiah Morton led Marist with 13 points.
NO. 8 FLORIDA 99, JACKSON STATE 59
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Newcomer Mike Rosario scored 19 points, freshman Bradley Beal added 14 and Florida opened the season with a victory over Jackson State.
Florida built a 30-point lead midway through the first half and started the second half with a 15-0 run.
Sophomore Patric Young had the first double-double of his career, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Erving Walker added 10 points. Jenirro Bush led Jackson State with 20 points.
NO. 9 LOUISVILLE 83, TENNESSEE-MARTIN 48
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kyle Kuric scored all 14 of his points in the first half and Louisville routed Tennessee-Martin to give Rick Pitino earned his 600th college victory.
Pitino is the 38th coach to reach 600 wins. He is the 15th fastest to the milestone, doing it one game quicker than former Louisville coach Denny Crum.
Freshman Chane Behanan had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Peyton Siva added 10 points and nine assists.
Mike Liabo had 15 points and four assists for the Skyhawks.
NO. 10 PITTSBURGH 89, ALBANY 56
PITTSBURGH — Travon Woodall scored a career-high 25 points and had 10 assists, and Ashton Gibbs added 21 points for Pittsburgh, unbeaten in nine season openers under coach Jamie Dixon.
Gibbs and Woodall dominated, feeding off each other against Albany's overmatched backcourt. Woodall made 9 of 13 shots, including 5 of 7 3-pointers. Pitt played without sophomore forward J.J. Moore, suspended for one game for playing in an unsupervised summer league game.
Gerardo Suero led Albany with 17 points.
NO. 13 KANSAS 100, TOWSON ST. 54
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Thomas Robinson had 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, Travis Releford added 14 points and Kansas romped past outmanned Towson State in a season opener that was lopsided from the start.
Robinson, a 6-foot-10 junior getting his first chance to start with the departure to the NBA of the vaunted Morris twins, led Kansas in what counts as the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
Point guard Tyshawn Taylor, suspended along with guard Elijah Johnson for the two exhibition games, added 12 points and four assists for the seven-time defending Big 12 champions. Connor Teahan had 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting and in three games is 17 for 21.
Robert Nwankwo had 14 points for the Tigers.
NO. 14 XAVIER 74, MORGAN STATE 63
CINCINNATI — Mark Lyons scored 22 points and Dezmine Wells added 12 in his college debut to help Xavier open the regular season with a victory over Morgan State.
Xavier star Tu Holloway, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year last season, was suspended for the game by the NCAA for participating in two leagues this past summer, when only one is permitted. The secondary violation was reported by Xavier in August.
Kevin Thompson scored 14 points, 10 in the second half, for Morgan State.
NO. 18 MICHIGAN 59, FERRIS STATE 33
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Stu Douglass scored 14 points after making a surprise start at point guard, and Michigan overcame some early shooting struggles to beat Ferris State.
Evan Smotrycz added 14 points for Michigan, and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 12.
Daniel Sutherlin scored 11 points for the Division II Bulldogs.
NO. 19 ALABAMA 64, NORTH FLORIDA 44
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — JaMychal Green scored 18 points and Tony Mitchell had 17 to lead Alabama.
Green, a preseason first-team All-SEC pick, made 6 of 10 shots and had six rebounds but also committed five turnovers. Mitchell had 10 rebounds.
Andy Diaz had nine points and eight rebounds for North Florida.
NO. 22 MARQUETTE 91, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 37
MILWAUKEE — Darius Johnson-Odom led a balanced Marquette attack with 16 points and the Golden Eagles rolled past Mount St. Mary's.
Jae Crowder and Chris Otule each added 14 points for Marquette, which led 49-18 at halftime and was never threatened after the game's opening minutes. Julian Norfleet led Mount St. Mary's with 12 points.
NO. 25 MISSOURI 83, SE MISSOURI 68
COLUMBIA, Mo.— Ricardo Ratliffe and Marcus Denmon had 20 points apiece, leading Missouri to a ragged opening victory over Southeast Missouri State in coach Frank Haith's Tigers debut.
Kim English added 19 points and hit four 3-pointers in the second half, going 5 for 9 from long distance overall as the Tigers pulled away after leading by only two at the break. The Tigers have a 59-game home winning streak against nonconference opponents dating to the 2005-06 opener.
Tyler Stone, who had his scholarship pulled by Missouri after spending most of his freshman season on the bench, led Southeast Missouri State with 18 points and seven rebounds.