Evansville gets historic road win over No. 1 Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Sam Cunliffe scored 17 points, including two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining, and Evansville silenced Rupp Arena with an improbable 67-64 victory over No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday night.
K.J. Riley added 18 points as the Purple Aces — coached by Walter McCarty, who won a national title with Kentucky in 1996 — pulled off the biggest upset in program history with their first win over a No. 1 team in three tries.
Evansville (2-0) led much of the game and answered each Kentucky rally with clutch baskets to grab the lead and then maintain it for the season's biggest upset. The Wildcats (2-1) were a 25-point favorite.
Kentucky had been 39-0 at home against unranked, nonconference opponents when ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. Evansville, meanwhile, got its first-ever road win over an AP-ranked team.
Tyrese Maxey's layup with 8 seconds remaining got Kentucky within 65-64, but Cunliffe stepped to the line and calmly made both ends of the 1-and-1 to seal the victory.
Immanuel Quickley led Kentucky with 16 points.
NO. 2 DUKE 105, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 54
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Matthew Hurt scored 19 points to help Duke beat Central Arkansas.
Fellow freshman Vernon Carey Jr. added season highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who played much of the night without starting point guard Tre Jones after he was shaken up during a first-half collision.
Duke (3-0) had no trouble, running off 19 straight points to build a 25-5 lead by midway through the opening half.
Jones — the returning floor leader for a team that has turned over its rotation with another recruiting wave — played just 9 minutes.
Rylan Bergersen scored 13 points for the Bears (1-3).
NO. 8 GONZAGA 97, NORTH DAKOTA 66
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Filip Petrusev had 19 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots as Gonzaga beat North Dakota.
Corey Kispert scored 20 points and Anton Watson added 15 for Gonzaga (3-0), which has romped to victory in all three games. Six Bulldogs scored in double figures.
The Zags have won all six meetings with the Fighting Hawks.
Marlon Stewart scored 21 points and Filip Rebraca had 16 points and 13 rebounds for North Dakota (1-1).
NO. 14 OREGON 82, NO. 13 MEMPHIS 74
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Shakur Juiston had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Oregon held off Memphis in the Phil Knight Invitational.
Payton Pritchard added 14 points and six assists as the Ducks collected their third straight win to open the season.
James Wiseman had 14 points and 12 rebounds as controversy continued to swirl around the Tigers' 7-foot-1 freshman phenom, who is fighting to maintain his eligibility to play. Memphis (2-1) was led by Lester Quinones with 16 points.
NO. 17 UTAH STATE 97, DENVER 56
LOGAN, Utah (AP) — Brock Miller scored a career-high 27 points, and Utah State cruised past Denver.
Alphonso Anderson added 15 points and Sam Merrill had 14. Justin Bean led the Aggies (3-0) with 15 rebounds.
Ade Murkey led Denver (1-2) with 14 points.
NO. 20 WASHINGTON 56, MOUNT ST. MARY'S 46
SEATTLE (AP) — Isaiah Stewart scored 16 points and blocked five shots, Nahziah Carter scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and Washington (2-0) overcame an awful first half offensively to pull away from Mount St. Mary's.
Stewart was again a force on the interior as the freshman made 7 of 10 shots, mostly from close range, and was imposing defensively.
The Mountaineers (1-2) wouldn't go away, hitting five 3-pointers in the second half as they found gaps in Washington's zone defense. Vado Morse finished with 10 points.
NO. 21 XAVIER 63, MISSOURI 58, OT
CINCINNATI (AP) — Naji Marshall hit a 3-pointer that tied it in regulation and made a pair of free throws in overtime as Xavier overcame poor outside shooting and rallied past Missouri.
The Musketeers (3-0) let a 15-point lead slip away because they couldn't hit an outside shot, going only 3 of 21 from beyond the arc. Marshall's 3-pointer — Xavier's only one in the second half — tied it 51-all with 27.1 seconds left. Marshall finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Missouri (2-1) missed a 3 at the end of regulation and never led in overtime, losing to a ranked team for the seventh time in a row. Dru Smith led the Tigers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
NO. 22 AUBURN 70, SOUTH ALABAMA 69
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Freshman Isaac Okoro made a layup with 2.9 seconds left to lift Auburn past South Alabama.
Samir Doughty twice rebounded missed 3-pointers for the Tigers (3-0), setting up the game-winning shot.
Okoro had 15 points, six rebounds and six assists for Auburn. Jamal Johnson scored 14 and made 4 of 5 3-pointers. Anfernee McLemore also had 14 points while Doughty had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Andre Fox led the Jaguars (2-1) with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds. Fox hit back-to-back 3-pointers in between an Okoro basket to give South Alabama a 69-68 lead with 28 seconds left.
