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Former Norview High star Keyontae Johnson scored 13 points in his first game with Kansas State as the host Wildcats beat UT Rio Grande Valley 93-59 Monday night in Manhattan, Kansas.
It was Johnson’s first official game since, while playing for Florida, he mysteriously collapsed during a game in December 2020. He never was medically cleared to play for the Gators again, though he wanted to compete, and he transferred from Florida to Kansas State in the offseason.
“I’m feeling good, just thanking God every day to give me the opportunity to get here. I was a little emotional before the game,” he said.
Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Markquis Nowell scored 14 points apiece as K-State opened the season under new coach Jerome Tang, who served as an assistant to Scott Drew at Baylor from 2003-2022.
No. 1 North Carolina 69, UNC Wilmington 56: Caleb Love and RJ Davis scored 17 points apiece as UNC began a season of grand expectations by pulling away from the Seahawks in Chapel Hill.
Armando Bacot added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, who were perhaps most impressive at the defensive end. UNCW shot 29.8% from the field.
The Tar Heels, who were the NCAA Tournament runners-up in April, began the new season with the top ranking for the first time in seven years. It’s a record 10th time that UNC has been ranked No. 1 to start a season — one more than rival Duke.
Trazarien White scored 19 points for UNCW, which faced a top-ranked team for the first time in program history.
No. 7 Duke 71, Jacksonville 44: Jeremy Roach scored 16 first-half points to help Duke open Jon Scheyer’s coaching tenure with a win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Freshman Mark Mitchell had a team-high 18 points for the Blue Devils, who used a 25-4 run spanning halftime to blow the game open.
It was a quality start to a season of massive change for the Blue Devils, starting with Scheyer taking over for retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has 11 new players, including the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class and two power-conference transfers. The Blue Devils didn’t have top freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead for this one as they recover from preseason injuries.
Stetson 83, Florida State 74: Luke Brown scored 27 points on 7-for-11 shooting from 3-point range and Stetson upended the Seminoles in Tallahassee.
The Hatters led most of the way, including the entire second half. The Seminoles used a 17-7 run to draw within three with 4:44 left, but Alvin Tumblin threw down a dunk for a 70-66 lead and closed the door on FSU.
Matthew Cleveland led Florida State with 16 points.
N.C. State 99, Austin Peay 50: Terquavion Smith scored 26 points to lead five in double-figure scoring and North Carolina State rolled in Raleigh. Smith shot 9 of 15 from the floor, made three 3-pointers and had five assists.
Jarkel Joiner had 18 points and eight assists for N.C. State. Jack Clark added 15 points, and former Virginia Cavalier Casey Morsell and D.J. Burns Jr. scored 10 apiece.
Elijah Hutchins-Everett scored all eight of his points in the first half for the Governors.
Boston College 79, Cornell 77: The Eagles’ Prince Aligbe powered to the basket for a layup with less than a second left to lift BC. He scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the final four minutes, and the freshman added nine rebounds and a pair of steals in his college debut.
BC freshman Donald Hand Jr., from Landstown High, had five points and three rebounds despite two turnovers in 14 minutes.
Nazir Williams led the Big Red with 17 points on 4-for-9 shooting from deep.
Clemson 80, The CItadel 69: Chase Hunter scored 23 points, Ian Schieffelin and Hunter Tyson added double-doubles and Clemson won at home.
Hunter sank 8 of 17 shots, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, with seven assists for the Tigers. Schieffelin scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting with 14 rebounds off the bench, while Tyson finished with 19 points and 13 boards.
Pittsburgh 80, UT Martin 58: Blake Hinson had 27 points and 13 rebounds for the host Panthers in his first game since the 2019-20 season. He averaged 9.1 points per game and made 91 3-point field goals for Mississippi before transferring following his sophomore season.
Hinson sat out the past two seasons at Iowa State due to medical reasons (2020-21) and a coaching change (2021-22).
Georgia Tech 93, Clayton State 63: Lance Terry scored 16 points to lead six players in double figures and Georgia Tech rolled in Atlanta. Rodney Howard finished with 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Brian Coffey II led the Division II Lakers with 17 points.
Miami 67, Lafayette 54: Isaiah Wong and Nijel Pack each scored 16 points, Norchad Omier had 11 points and 15 rebounds and Miami won at home. Pack and Omier are transfers who will be asked to fill part of the void created by the departures of Charlie Moore, Kameron McGusty and Sam Waardenburg.
Wake Forest 71, Fairfield 59: Daivien Williamson, Cameron Hildreth and Delaware transfer Andrew Carr each scored 14 points for the host Demon Deacons.
Caleb Fields scored 14 points, Supreme Cook added 13 and TJ Long scored 11 off the bench to lead the Stags.
Syracuse 90, Lehigh 72: Joe Girard scored 19 points, Jesse Edwards had 18 points and 11 rebounds and the host Orange won. Girard and Edwards are the only two returning starters for Syracuse after the Boeheim brothers and swingman Cole Swider moved on.
Liberty 104, Regent 38: The Flames began the season with a win over the Royals before 3,885 fans in Lynchburg.
The Flames (1-0) improve to 10-0 in home openers under coach Ritchie McKay, who improved to 200-104 in his Liberty career. Darius McGhee became the winningest individual player in program history with his 105th career win, breaking a tie with Elijah Cuffee.
Five Liberty players scored in double figures, led by 17 points apiece from McGhee and Brody Peebles.
Regent, playing above its level, got 16 points from Andrew Walston but hit just 10 of 51 field-goal tries.
No. 15 Auburn 70, George Mason 52: Wendell Green Jr. scored 16 points while K.D. Johnson and Johni Broome each had 12 for the host Tigers, who weren’t challenged much in their first game since losing NBA first-round draft picks Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
Ronald Polite III led George Mason with 10 points, and Victor Bailey Jr. had nine.
No. 20 Alabama 75, Longwood 54: Freshman Brandon Miller had 14 points and 13 rebounds in his debut as Alabama won in Tuscaloosa.
Fellow freshman Rylan Griffen also scored 14 for the Crimson Tide, and point guard Mark Sears had 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley added 11 points and six boards.
Alabama held Longwood to 27% shooting and blocked nine shots. Michael Christmas, a former Landstown High star and James Madison transfer, led the defending Big South champion Lancers with 12 points.
VCU 73, Manhattan 56: Ace Baldwin had 15 points, nine assists and three steals for the Rams at Siegel Center. Elijah Buchanan led the Jaspers with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Richmond 69, VMI 48: Jason Nelson’s 13 points, Tyler Burton’s 12 points and 11 rebounds and Isaiah Bigelow’s 11 points helped the Spiders win at Robins Center.
Sean Conway finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Keydets. VMI also got 10 points from Devin Butler.
James Madison 123, Valley Forge 38: The Dukes zoomed past their Division III opponents from Pennsylvania. Newcomer Noah Freidel, a transfer from South Dakota State, had 17 points and was 4 for 4 from 3-point range.
Marquette 79, Radford 69: Oso Ighodaro had 19 points and seven rebounds for Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles in Milwaukee. The Highlanders’ Shaquan Jules had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
George Washington 85, Virginia State 58: James Bishop IV had 21 points, nine assists and four rebounds for the hosts in D.C. VSU’s Francis Fitzgerald had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Terrence Hunter-Whitfield added 10 points and six rebounds.
No. 2 Gonzaga 104, North Florida 63: Drew Timme scored 22 points, Julian Strawther added 16 and Gonzaga used a big first-half run to win in Spokane, Washington.
Anton Watson had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals for Gonzaga, which won its 68th consecutive home game, the nation’s longest such streak.
Carter Hendricksen scored 16 points, Jadyn Parker 13 and Jose Placer 12 for UNF, a veteran-laden team from the Atlantic Sun Conference that returned its top four scorers from last season.
No. 3 Houston 83, Northern Colorado 36: Marcus Sasser scored 21 points, J’Wan Roberts added 12 points and six rebounds, and the Cougars won at home.
Sasser, a preseason All-American, scored 11 points in the first half. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson won his 700th career game and 200th with the Cougars.
No. 4 Kentucky 95, Howard 63: Antonio Reeves scored 22 points, CJ Fredrick had 20 and Kentucky won at home with All-American Oscar Tshiebwe and two other players sidelined.
Tshiebwe had a procedure last month on his right knee. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler (right leg) and sophomore forward Daimion Collins (personal reasons) were also out, but the Wildcats still shot 55% against the overmatched Bison.
Kobe Dickson scored 17 points and Elijah Hawkins had 14 for Howard, which shot 34%.
No. 5 Kansas 89, Omaha 64: Jalen Wilson had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 23 points in his debut, and Kansas began defense of its national championship without suspended coach Bill Self.
Self served the first of a four-game punishment along with assistant Kurtis Townsend as part of the fallout from a 2017 federal investigation into college basketball corruption.
Jaeden Marshall scored 13 for the Mavericks.
No. 5 Baylor 117, Mississippi Valley State 53: Adam Flagler scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures for the host Bears, who opened their 20th season with coach Scott Drew. Flagler is a preseason All-Big 12 pick who also was the Bears’ leading scorer last season. He added eight assists, and one of his four 3-pointers started a 24-0 run midway through the first half. Alvin Stredic scored 14 points for MVSU.
No. 9 Creighton 72, St. Thomas 60: Baylor Scheierman made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to give Creighton the lead for good.
Arthur Kaluma scored 17 points, Trey Alexander had 12 and Scheierman added 11 as the Bluejays won their 25th opener in 26 years.
St. Thomas, a Summit League member beginning its second season in Division I, gave the Bluejays all they could handle until the last few minutes in Omaha. Andrew Rohde had 15 points to lead the Tommies.
No. 10 Arkansas 76, North Dakota State 58: Trevon Brazile had 21 points and 12 rebounds in his debut as Arkansas won at home.
Brazile, a sophomore transfer from Missouri, scored six straight points during an 11-0 run early in the second half that gave Arkansas a 16-point lead with 15 minutes left.
Wichita State transfer Ricky Council led the Razorbacks with 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting.
No. 11 Tennessee 75, Tennessee Tech 43: Tyreke Key came off the bench to score 17 points in Knoxville.
Key, an Indiana State transfer, connected on 4 of 8 3-pointers to ignite a sluggish Volunteer offense. Zakai Zeigler scored all but two of his 12 points in the second half.
Brett Thompson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points.
No. 12 Texas 72, UTEP 57: Tyrese Hunter scored 18 points to lead Texas in the debut of the Longhorns’ new arena in Austin.
Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State, was 6-of-8 shooting and added five rebounds. Ze’Ri Onyema led UTEP with 10 points.
Texas this season moved to the $375 million Moody Center on the edge of campus, leaving behind the old Frank Erwin Center after 45 years.
No. 13 Indiana 88, Morehead State 53: Preseason All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and freshman Malik Reneau each scored 15 points for the Hoosiers, who have won all six matchups in the series and are 26-0 all-time against Ohio Valley Conference foes.
No. 14 TCU 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 72: Mike Miles hit a 3-pointer with 51 seconds remaining to finally put TCU ahead to stay against Pine Bluff, which built an early 20-point lead in Fort Worth, Texas.
Miles, the preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, hit from deep beyond the top of the key for a 71-68 lead.
Emanuel Miller had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Miles finished with 15 points for the Horned Frogs. They returned all five starters and five other scholarship players after winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1987.
Shaun Doss had 25 points with four of Pine Bluff’s 13 3-pointers.
No. 16 Villanova 81, La Salle 68: Caleb Daniels scored 24 points to make coach Kyle Neptune a winner in his Villanova debut.
Neptune replaced Hall of Famer Jay Wright, who retired in the offseason. The host Wildcats returned three starters (a fourth, Justin Moore, was injured) from the team that lost a national semifinal to Kansas. Eric Dixon added 20 points for Villanova.
Daniels made his first five 3-pointers, and the Wildcats used an early 10-0 run to put away their Philadelphia-area rival and spoiled 74-year-old coach Fran Dunphy’s return to the bench.
Josh Nickelberry scored 22 points to lead the Explorers.
No. 17 Arizona 117, Nicholls State 75: Azuolas Tubelis scored 23 points and Arizona went on a massive opening run to begin its second season under coach Tommy Lloyd with a rout in Tucson.
Ballo scored 18 points, helping Arizona set a school record with 71.7% shooting from the floor against the reigning Southland Conference regular-season champions. The Wildcats opened the game with a 30-4 run.
Micah Thomas led Nicholls State with 20 points.
No. 19 San Diego State 80, Cal State Fullerton 57: Darrion Trammell hit three 3-pointers during a 29-10 run to open the second half and finished with 18 points as SDSU won at home.
Fellow newcomer Jaedon LeDee and Lamont Butler scored 11 points apiece and Nathan Mensah had 10 for the Aztecs, who won their 10th straight season opener and their 17th in 18 seasons.
Vincent Lee scored 11 and Jalen Harris 10 for the Titans, the defending Big West Conference champions.
No. 21 Oregon 80, Florida A&M 45: N’Faly Dante had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Keeshawn Barthelemy added 13 points for the host Ducks, who are in the top 25 to start the season for the ninth straight year.
Jordan Tillmon and Jordan Chatman had eight points apiece for the Rattlers, who have 11 new players. Florida A&M coach Robert McCullum was on Oregon coach Dana Altman’s staff from 2014-17.
No. 22 Michigan 75, Purdue Fort Wayne 56: Hunter Dickinson had 22 points and 12 rebounds and freshman Jett Howard added 21 points for the host Wolverines, who went on a 20-0 run for a 24-8 lead.
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Quinton Morton-Robertson scored 15 for the Mastodons.
No. 23 Illinois 87, Eastern Illinois 57: Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points and Coleman Hawkins had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the host Illini in Champaign.
Kinyon Hodges scored 14 for the Panthers.
No. 24 Dayton 73, Lindenwood 46: Mustapha Amzil scored 14 points, DaRon Holmes II and R.J. Blakney each had 13 and the host Flyers won a sluggish opener for both teams.
Dayton was without injured point guard Malachi Smith and didn’t play particularly well until late, but it had a large margin for error against Lindenwood, a school in Saint Charles, Missouri, that was playing its first game after moving up to Division I.
Chris Childs had 15 points for the Lions, who shot 33% from the field.
No. 25 Texas Tech 73, Northwestern State 49: Daniel Batcho had 12 points and 10 rebounds as Texas Tech rolled in Lubbock. Isaac Haney led Northwestern State, a Louisiana school, with 16 points.
