FORT WORTH,
Texas (AP) — J’Wan Roberts scored 15 points, Marcus Sasser added 13
and top-ranked Houston held on to beat Saint Mary’s 53-48 on
Saturday night.
The Cougars
(8-0) won twice in their first week as the No. 1 team since the
final poll of the 1982-83 regular season, when Clyde Drexler and
Hakeem Olajuwon led high-flying Phi Slama Jama.
Logan
Johnson scored 17 points and Aidan Mahaney had 14 for the Gaels
(6-3), who lost their third in a row following a 6-0 start.
Houston was
the favorite to win it all in the second of three consecutive trips
to the Final Four nearly 40 years ago, but lost to Jim Valvano and
North Carolina State in one of the iconic championship games.
Coach
Kelvin Sampson’s first top-ranked team is coming off trips to the
Final Four and Elite Eight the past two seasons.
For the
third straight year, the postseason path will start at Dickie’s
Arena, where Sampson likes to bring his team during the regular
season as prep for the American Athletic Conference tourney.
NO.
3 VIRGINIA 62, FLORIDA STATE 57
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Kihei Clark scored 18 points and
Virginia overcame poor shooting to beat Florida State and win its
15th straight Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
Virginia
(7-0) trailed 22-21 after both teams shot under 30% in the first
half. The Cavaliers started the second half with a 22-9 run to lead
43-31 midway through the half.
Florida
State (1-9) scored the next six points, then didn’t score again for
five minutes as the Cavaliers rebuilt their advantage.
Darin Green
Jr. scored 17 points in the Seminoles’ fifth straight loss.
RUTGERS 63, NO. 10 INDIANA 48
PISCATAWAY,
N.J. (AP) — Freshman guard Derek Simpson scored 10 straight points
in a game-deciding run and Rutgers beat Indiana for the sixth time
in a row.
Caleb
McConnell had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Scarlet Knights
(6-2, 1-0 Big Ten). Simpson finished with 14, all in the second
half.
Miller Kopp
scored a season-high 21 points for Indiana (7-1, 0-1) . Star
forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was held to 13 points and 10 rebounds
before fouling out late. The rest of the team had 14 points.
NO.
11 ARKANSAS 99, SAN JOSE STATE 58
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Trevon Brazile scored 23 points and
Arkansas broke away in the second half to beat San Jose State.
The
Razorbacks (7-1) led 40-35 at the break before erupting. It was the
first men’s basketball matchup between the schools.
Ricky
Council IV had 17 points for Arkansas. Heralded freshman guard Nick
Smith, Jr. contributed 16 points and five assists in his first
career start in only his second game as a collegian.
Omari Moore
scored 21 for the Spartans (6-3).
NO.
11 ALABAMA 78, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 65
TUSCALOOSA,
Ala. (AP) — Freshman Noah Clowney’s breakout game — 22 points, nine
rebounds, four assists and a steal — helped Alabama recover from
blowing a 20-point lead and beat South Dakota State.
Clowney
shot 8 of 17, including 5 of 12 on 3s, in his highest-scoring game
of the season.
Alabama
(7-1) led 37-17 with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half. South
Dakota State (3-6) rallied to go ahead 51-50 on Alex Arians’
3-pointer with 11 1/2 minutes remaining.
Charlie
Easley and Arians each scored 17 points for the Jackrabbits.
NO.
17 DUKE 75, BOSTON COLLEGE 59
DURHAM,
N.C. (AP) — Mark Mitchell scored 15 points and Kyle Filipowski
posted 13 points and 10 rebounds for the freshman’s fifth
double-double as Duke beat Boston College in the Atlantic Coast
Conference opener for both teams.
The Blue
Devils (8-2), who shot 52.8% from the field, are unbeaten in six
home games under first-year coach Jon Scheyer.
CJ Penha
scored 16 points and Jaeden Zackery had 14 for Boston College
(5-4), which has lost eight straight to Duke.
NO.
25 OHIO STATE 96, ST. FRANCIS (Pa.) 59
COLUMBUS,
Ohio (AP) — Brice Sensabaugh led the Buckeyes with 15 points and
Bruce Thornton added 13 as Ohio State surged in the second half to
be St. Francis.
The Red
Flash trimmed a 16-point deficit to eight in the first half, with
Josh Cohen getting the first points after the break. But Ohio State
(6-2) went on a 13-5 run, held St. Francis (2-7) scoreless for
about five minutes in the second half and at one point went up 39
points.
Roddy Gayle
Jr. had 12 points, Zed Key had 11 and Sean McNeil and Felix Okpara
scored 10 apiece for Ohio State, which shot 50.7% from the
field.
Cohen
finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double
of the season. Cam Gregory added 15 points and Maxwell Land scored
14 for the Red Flash.