Eight American Athletic Conference teams notched wins on the first day of the college basketball season, including three – No. 12/13 Cincinnati, Tulane and No. 7/8 Wichita State – eclipsing the 100-point mark.
No. 12/13 Cincinnati 107, Savannah State 77
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) -- The Bearcats made their new digs feel just like the old ones in the most important way: They kept up that home-court winning streak.
Cane Broome scored 17 points during his debut as Cincinnati's point guard, and the 12th-ranked Bearcats pulled away to a 107-77 victory over Savannah State on Friday that showed they need a lot of work in other areas.
Asked if he was happy with his team's opener, coach Mick Cronin referred to the turnovers as his answer.
"Umm, not a whole lot," Cronin said. "Our attitude's great. Guys are trying. Twenty turnovers -- that will drive a coach nuts. I told them the year is too long, I can't lose it on the first game. I can't go to the Maalox that early."
The Bearcats showcased the offensive depth that brought them their highest AP preseason ranking since 1999-2000. Gary Clark -- one of three returning starters -- had 13 points and 11 rebounds in their first game on their temporary home court.
The Bearcats drew 6,610 fans to BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University, a half-hour drive from their on-campus arena that's under renovation for the season. Cincinnati has won its last 27 home games overall after going 18-0 at Fifth Third Arena last season.
Broome sat out last season after transferring from Sacred Heart. He started the game and had four assists and six turnovers in Cincinnati's highest-scoring opener since a 108-73 victory over Austin Peay in 1994.
Austin Dasent scored 14 for Savannah State, which led the nation in 3-pointers last season but couldn't make enough down the stretch. The Tigers trailed 69-62 with 12 minutes to go, but missed 14 of their final 17 shots from beyond the arc.
"With a team like that, nobody's safe," said Jacob Evans III, who led Cincinnati with 19 points. "We've seen games like that. We wanted to play our basketball, not turn it over."
Cincinnati responded with a 17-3 spurt that put it away.
"We had shots we were able to make, but at the end of the day, it was their size and strength," Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax said. "They were able to create that stretch there, and then it left us scrambling again."
No. 7/8 Wichita State 109, UMKC 57
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Senior Darral Willis scored 19 points to lead No. 7 Wichita State past Missouri-Kansas City 109-57 in its season opener Friday night.
Landry Shamet had 17 points, Shaquille Morris scored 16 and Conner Frankamp added 11 to give the Shockers (1-0) four starters in double figures.
Wichita State reserves Samaje Haynes-Jones and Rauno Nurger each scored 11 points.
Isaiah Ross led Missouri-Kansas City (0-1) with 12 points. Broderick Robinson scored 11 and Aleer Leek added 10 for the Kangaroos.
The Shockers were 13 of 23 from the 3-point line, making six of their first seven. Wichita State outrebounded UMKC 51-26 and had 11 blocked shots.
The biggest news for Wichita State might have been the health of Shamet, a preseason All-American Athletic Conference selection. Shamet had offseason surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot, missing practice time and an exhibition. Shamet looked completely recovered while playing 17 minutes.
Wichita State led 62-23 at halftime, going 21 of 34 from the field. The Shockers outrebounded the Kangaroos 27-9 in the first half.
UConn 70, Colgate 58
STORRS, Conn. -- UConn swingman Terry Larrier hasn't played much over the past two years, but didn't show any rust on Friday night.
The 6-9 transfer from VCU scored a career-high 27 points and the Huskies opened the season with a 70-58 win over Colgate.
Larrier, coming off a knee injury that kept him out most of last season, hit 11 of his 18 shots, and was 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
"Sitting out those two years, I waited long," Larrier said. "It was just all motivation to me. It fired me up. I got some easy baskets early and just continued to keep scoring."
Point guard Antwoine Anderson, a graduate transfer from Fordham, added 12 points and six assists for the Huskies, who are coming off a disappointing 16-17 season.
Colgate's Will Rayman had 14 of his 19 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that sent the Raiders to intermission trailing the Huskies just 33-31.
UConn scored the first seven points after the break and a put-back dunk by freshman Isaiah Whaley put the Huskies up 51-37 midway through the second half. Colgate cut the lead to five, but Larrier scored seven straight down the stretch to put the game away.
The Huskies played just one person, Christian Vital, who saw significant minutes a year ago. They were without star guard Jalen Adams, who was suspended after being charged with a misdemeanor for leaving the scene of a scooter accident on Wednesday.
"I thought this was a test," said UConn coach Kevin Ollie. "Without Jalen...to come out, get tested and respond the way they did, I'm really proud of our group.
Houston 81, McNeese State 53
HOUSTON (AP) -- Armoni Brooks missed just three shots from the floor and totaled 22 points to lead Houston to an 81-53 victory over McNeese to open the season Friday night.
Brooks drilled 5 of 8 from distance and was 8 of 11 from the floor. He also grabbed six rebounds. Wes VanBeck hit three treys for 14 points and Corey Davis Jr. added 12 points with five assists. Breaon Brady had eight points with 10 rebounds for Houston.
The Cougars took an early lead, but McNeese closed to 20-19 following a Jarren Greenwood jumper with 10:42 remaining in the first half. VanBeck hit a trey to start a 17-6 run and Houston took a 48-34 lead into the break. The Cougars won the second half, 33-19.
Jacob Ledoux came off the bench to led McNeese with 10 points and four steals. Kalob Ledoux and Greenwood had nine points apiece.
#rv/-- UCF 88, Mercer 79
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Ceasar DeJesus and Dayon Griffin scored 16 points apiece and the University of Central Florida rallied early in the second half to beat Mercer 88-79 in Friday night's season opener for both teams.
DeJesus made a layup and a dunk amid a 16-3 run the Knights used to open the second half and pulled away after trailing 47-46 at halftime. UCF led by as many as 16 the rest of the way.
A.J. Davis grabbed 15 rebounds, Chance McSpadden scored 13 points and B.J. Taylor added 12 points and four assists for the Knights, who shot 53.6 percent from the field to 41.1 percent for the Bears. Davis and Chad Brown had three blocks apiece.
UCF has won 14 of its last 15 season openers.
Ria'n Holland scored 21 of his 31 points in the first half for Mercer and made a career-high 6 of 11 3-pointers. Jordan Strawberry and Ethan Stair scored 12 apiece.
#rv/rv SMU 78, UMBC 67
DALLAS (SMU) – SMU used a strong second half to pull away from UMBC on Friday night, winning 78-67 in the season opener.
The Mustangs were led by Naismith Trophy candidate Shake Milton, who posted a career-high 28 points. The junior was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line while also dropping in three 3-point buckets.
"Last year, we had one of the great equal-opportunity offenses," head coach Tim Jankovich said. "Whether we become that this year, time will tell. Early in the season when there are three guys coming back and four freshmen, we're going to rely on him to have a lot more opportunities to shoot the ball. He's not the primary ball hander, and we're going to run more things for him."
Junior Jarrey Foster also picked up right where he left off last season, continuing his extremely efficient play on the offensive side of the ball. The Houston, Texas, native poured in 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
In his first game as a Mustang, Ethan Chargois also broke into double-figures in the points column. The freshman big man finished with 15 points and showed the ability to stretch the defense, hitting two shots from behind the arc.
"He proved on night one that he's a good player," Jankovich said. "He played terrific. He did a lot of great things defensively. It's not the least bit surprising. He's been practicing very, very well. He's done such a good job since he got here. His future is extremely bright."
After going into half trailing by seven points, the Mustangs clamped down on the Retrievers hard on the defensive side of the ball in the second half. After scoring 45 first-half points, UMBC was held to only 22 in the final 20 minutes. UMBC shot just 31 percent in the second half, including a 2-of-14 mark from 3-point range.
"In the first half, we had foul trouble and we couldn't get stops," Jankovich said. "I'm really proud of the team. I hope people are fair to this team. This is a team that has eight scholarship players and only three played last year. We have four freshmen playing their first college basketball game. We just played a really good team."
SMU also was able to work its way to the free throw line much more frequently in the second half. After attempting only 12 free throws in the first half, the Mustangs made 18 after halftime.
The Mustangs have now won 23-straight games at home in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs are back at Moody again on Sunday, hosting ULM at 3 p.m.
Tulane 102, LIU Brooklyn 96
NEW ORLEANS (Tulane) -- Six Green Wave players scored in double-figures, as the Tulane men's basketball team won its first season opener since 2013 with a 102-96 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Friday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
Cameron Reynolds scored a team-high 24 points and Melvin Frazier added 19 more, while Jordan Cornish had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. Samir Sehic compiled his first double-double comprising 17 points and 14 rebounds on 7-for-11 shooting off the bench.
Ray Ona Embo added 11 points and handed out a career-high nine assists, while Colin Slater chipped in 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks as a reserve. He also shot 3-for-3 from the field and made both of his 3-point attempts.
Raiquan Clark led LIU Brooklyn (0-1) with a game-high 34 points on 14-for-20 shooting overall. Joel Hernandez added 23 points and six boards.
Tulane (1-0) had a quick 4-3 lead to start, but the Blackbirds erupted on an 8-0 run, forcing the Green Wave to call a timeout at the 16:21 mark. Tulane responded with a 14-4 run, capped by an Ona Embo 3-pointer, forcing LIU Brooklyn to call timeout with 12:27 left in the first half.
The Blackbirds drew within one point, 18-17, but the Green Wave expanded its lead to double digits and led by as many as 17, before taking a 52-28 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
The Green Wave shot 19-for-38 (.500) overall, 7-for-17 (.412) from 3-point range and 7-for-9 (.778) at the free throw line in the first half, while the Blackbirds went 16-for-34 (.471) from the floor, 3-for-10 (.300) from deep and made three of four attempts at the foul stripe. Tulane held a 27-12 advantage on the boards and a 9-0 margin on second chance points through the first 20 minutes of action.
The Olive and Blue made nine of their first 12 shots in the second half and led 73-58 with 13 minutes remaining, but LIU Brooklyn chipped away down the stretch and drew as close as two points, 98-96, on a desperation 3-pointer made by Zach Coleman with 23 seconds to go. Tulane sunk its free throws and hung on for the six-point win.
The Green Wave finished the night shooting 36-for-70 (.514) as a team, 9-for-24 (.375) beyond the arc and 21-for-26 (.808) at the free throw line, while the Blackbirds went 38-for-76 (.500) overall, 9-for-26 (.346) from deep and 11-for-13 (.846) at the stripe.
Tulane owned a 52-46 scoring advantage in the paint, a 46-32 rebounding margin, won, 17-2, on second chance baskets and a 27-9 margin in bench points, despite being outscored 17-4 on the fast break and 17-10 off turnovers.
USF 60, FAU 59
TAMPA (USF) -- The Brian Gregory era of USF men's basketball began in thrilling fashion with a 60-59 victory over Florida Atlantic on Friday night.
Stephan Jiggetts sent the loud Sun Dome crowd of 4,192 to its feet with a go-ahead, pull-up jumper with 12 seconds remaining. Malik Martin (Miami) pulled down the final rebound with two seconds left to help deliver Gregory's 249th career victory and his first with the Bulls in the regular season opener.
Tulia Da Silva (Formiga, Brazil) poured in a career-high 20 points and used an all-out effort to force a crucial turnover with 27.3 seconds left that set the stage for Jiggetts' game-winning shot in the paint.
Jiggetts, a graduate transfer for Fairleigh Dickinson, shined in his USF debut with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Grad transfer Terrence Samuel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with nine points and dished out four of his game-high six assists in a second half that kept Bulls fans on the edge of their seats.
USF started the game on an 11-2 run and headed into the break with a 33-29 advantage before the lead changed hands four times. Dedicated to playing team defense, the Bulls finished the job by limiting FAU to a 1-for-4 shooting performance from the field in the final two minutes along with Da Silva forcing the pivotal turnover in the final minute.
#rv/25 Alabama 82, Memphis 70
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Taking a cue from the unbeaten Alabama football team, Crimson Tide basketball coach Avery Johnson found a way to win with a depleted roster.
Dazon Ingram scored 20 points, and short-handed Alabama used long-range shooting to beat Memphis 82-70 on Friday night in a season opener at the Veterans Classic.
The Crimson Tide were without injured starters Braxton Key (knee) and Riley Norris (hip), two of the team's top three scorers from last year. Also missing: reserve guard Ar'mond Davis and highly touted freshman guard Collin Sexton, who served a one-game suspension levied by NCAA.
None of that mattered to Johnson, who used nine players - eight of whom went at least 11 minutes.
''We've got a great role model on our campus with our football team,'' Johnson said. ''When something happens, it's next man up, and they're still getting the job done. It's not always pretty, and this wasn't necessarily pretty tonight. But we were trying to finish the game with one more point than our opponents.''
Donta Hall had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Crimson Tide, who outscored Memphis 44-34 in the second half after committing 20 fouls and 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
''We didn't get off to a great start. We fouled too much, we didn't take great care of the ball,'' Johnson said. ''It looked like it was our first game.''
Alabama went 11 for 27 from 3-point range; the Tigers were 2 for 17. Herbert Jones and John Petty each connected twice from beyond the arc for the Crimson Tide during a 16-4 run that turned a 2-point deficit into a 57-47 lead.
A 3-pointer by Avery Johnson Jr. made it 68-51 with 7:37 left.
Alabama's depth was tested after starters Daniel Giddens and Jones, along with reserve Galin Smith, each picked up three fouls in the first half. Through seven players finished with at least three fouls, only Smith garnered five.
Memphis coach Tubby Smith launched his 27th season as a head coach with only two letterwinners from last season, tied for the fewest in Division I.
Yet, the Tigers held the lead until Hall began the pivotal run with a dunk and Jones popped a 3-pointer to put Alabama ahead for good.
Kyvon Davenport had 15 points and 11 points for Memphis.
''We just couldn't make shots, and our defense struggled,'' Smith said.
The first meeting between Alabama and Memphis since 2005 was followed by Pittsburgh versus Navy in this annual event at the Naval Academy.
Lamar 74, Tulsa 67
TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Nick Garth had 23 points and eight rebounds, Colton Weisbrod added 15 points and 13 boards for his 11th career double-double, and Lamar beat Tulsa 74-67 on Friday night in an opener for both teams.
DaQuan Jeffries' dunk capped a 12-0 Tulsa run to cut it to 62-61 with 5:23 to play. But Weisbrod answered with two free throws and Garth made four straight in the final 20 seconds to seal it.
Zjori Bosha added 13 points and seven rebounds for Lamar, which outrebounded Tulsa 42-28. Torey Noel had 11 points and six assists.
Lamar, coming off the program's first postseason appearance since 2012, was picked second in the Southland Conference preseason poll. The Big Red returned four starters from last season, including all-conference selection Weisbrod.
Sterling Taplin led Tulsa with 18 points, and Jeffries and Martins Igbanu each added 12 points. The Golden Hurricane's returned five of their top six leading scorers from last season, which ended with losses in nine of their last 12 games.
Tulsa is now 50-19 when opening a season at home.