LEXINGTON, Ky. — James Young scored 26 points and No. 14 Kentucky rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Mississippi State 85-63 on Wednesday night.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — James Young scored 26 points and No. 14 Kentucky rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Mississippi State 85-63 on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats (11-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) were playing for the first time since Dec. 28 and started slow offensively, trailing 40-37 at the break. They regrouped to tie it at 47 before going on a 27-6 run over the next 10:54 for a 74-53 lead.
Kentucky shot 65 percent in the second half, and Mississippi State (10-4) went nearly 9 minutes without a field goal.
Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress each added 12 points for the Wildcats.
Craig Sword led the Bulldogs with 19 points.
NO. 6 WICHITA ST. 66, ILLINOIS ST. 47
WICHITA, Kan. — Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker each scored 11 points, and Wichita State routed Illinois State.
Wichita State (16-0, 3-0 Missouri Valley) extended both the longest winning streak and best start to a season in program history by holding Illinois State (8-7, 1-2) to 27 percent shooting (18 of 55).
Bobby Hunter scored 11 points for the Redbirds.
NO. 8 VILLANOVA 83, SETON HALL 67
NEWARK, N.J. — Darrun Hilliard scored 19 points and Villanova hit a dozen 3-pointers in a victory over undermanned Seton Hall.
JayVaughn Pinkston added 17 points, Ryan Arcidiacono had 14 and the Wildcats (14-1, 3-0 Big East) shot 52 percent from the field and 3-point range in beating Seton Hall (10-6, 1-2) for the 11th time in the last 12 games.
Brian Oliver had 20 points to lead Seton Hall. The Pirates played without swingman Fuquan Edwin, their second leading scorer, and Eugene Teague, their top rebounder. Edwin, who beat Villanova last season with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, has a knee injury. Teague missed his third straight game with a concussion.
NO. 10 FLORIDA 74, SOUTH CAROLINA 58
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Scottie Wilbekin scored 17 points before leaving with a sprained right ankle, and Florida opened Southeastern Conference play with a victory over South Carolina.
Casey Prather and Patric Young added 13 points apiece for Florida. The Gators (12-2) won their sixth straight and tied a school record by winning their 24th consecutive home game.
Tyrone Johnson led South Carolina (7-7, 0-1) with 12 points.
No. 13 San Diego St 69, Boise St. 66
SAN DIEGO — Xavier Thames and Winston Shepard scored 16 points each for the San Diego State Aztecs, who held on for 69-66 win against Boise State after Derrick Marks missed the potential-game winning shot with 4 seconds left.
The Aztecs (13-1, 2-0 Mountain West) won their 12th straight game. They led by 18 points in the first half before allowing the Broncos (11-4, 1-1) to come almost all the way back in the closing minutes.
NO. 18 KANSAS 90, OKLAHOMA 83
NORMAN, Okla. — Wayne Selden Jr. had a career-high 24 points and Perry Ellis added 22 points to help Kansas started Big 12 Conference play with a victory over Oklahoma.
Kansas (10-4) won its conference opener for the 23rd straight year, a streak that began with the 1991-92 season. Oklahoma, in January 1991, was the last team to beat the Jayhawks in a conference opener.
NO. 19 MASSACHUSETTS 66, SAINT JOSEPH’S 62
AMHERST, Mass. —Chaz Williams scored eight of his 22 points in the final 6 minutes to lift Massachusetts past Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic-10 opener for both teams.
Maxie Esho scored 12 points, and Raphiael Putney had 11 for the Minutemen (13-1). Halil Kanacevic led Saint Joseph’s (9-5) with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
GEORGIA 70, NO. 21 MISSOURI 64, OT
COLUMBIA, Mo. —Charlie Mann scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket with 35.8 seconds to go in overtime, and Georgia overcame its free-throw shooting struggles to beat Missouri.
Nemanja Djurisic had 16 points and hit the tying 3-pointer with 1:39 to go, and Kenny Gaines and Brandon Morris hit a pair of free throws apiece in the final half-minute. The Bulldogs (7-6, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) ended Missouri’s 26-game home winning streak — the longest run in the nation.
Jabari Brown had 19 points and Earnest Ross added 15 for Missouri (12-1, 1-1).