LEXINGTON, Ky. — Devin Booker scored 19 points for his second career best in as many games, Karl-Anthony Towns added 13 with 11 rebounds, and No. 1 Kentucky had no trouble with Texas-Arlington in Tuesday night’s 92-44 blowout.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Devin Booker scored 19 points for his second career best in as many games, Karl-Anthony Towns added 13 with 11 rebounds, and No. 1 Kentucky had no trouble with Texas-Arlington in Tuesday night’s 92-44 blowout.
The Wildcats (6-0) concluded a busy season-opening stretch of six games in 11 days with a complete effort on both ends. Besides shooting 57 percent from the field, Kentucky held the Mavericks (3-2) to 27 percent shooting.
Booker followed Sunday’s 18-point effort by shooting 7 of 8, including five 3-pointers. Towns added three blocks and four assists for Kentucky, which led 55-12 at halftime and rarely let UTA get within 40 points afterward in ending the Mavericks’ two-game winning streak.
Dakari Johnson scored all 12 of his points on free throws, and twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison each had 11 points for the Wildcats.
No. 7 TEXAS 78, ST. FRANCIS (PA) 46
AUSTIN, Texas — Freshman forward Myles Turner had 25 points and 10 rebounds, leading Texas over Saint Francis for its first 5-0 start since 2009.
Turner, one of the top recruits in the country, had been quiet in Texas’ two previous wins, but showed a deft shooting touch and his typical tough defense against Saint Francis, stepping out for three 3-pointers while also blocking three shots. Turner was 11 of 12 from the field.
Cam Ridley scored 16 points for the Longhorns.
Texas point guard Isaiah Taylor was on the bench with his left arm in a sling. Coach Rick Barnes said Taylor is out indefinitely with a broken wrist but should return later this season. Texas also played without Taylor’s top backup, junior Javan Felix, who sat out with a sore left foot.
Malik Harmon scored 15 for Saint Francis (2-3).
No. 8 VIRGINIA 79, TENNESSEE STATE 36
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Justin Anderson was 7 for 7 from the field and scored 20 points, and Virginia had a 32-point run spanning halftime to beat Tennessee State.
Anderson made five 3-pointers and Mike Tobey added 13 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Cavaliers (5-0), off to their best start since the 2007-08 team also won its first five.
Tennessee State (2-3), which has only one returning player and 12 newcomers in coach Dana Ford’s first season, trailed 19-2 after 7 minutes and 42-17 at halftime. The Tigers remained stuck on 17 until just 12:29 remained when Xavier Richards ended a scoring drought that stretched 10 minutes, 21 seconds.
Anthony Gill added 16 points for Virginia and also was perfect from the field, going 6 for 6.
No. 12 VILLANOVA 60, No. 19 MICHIGAN 55
NEW YORK — JayVaughn Pinkston had the go-ahead basket and game-saving block in the final minute to lift Villanova over Michigan in the Legends Classic championship game.
Pinkston put the Wildcats (5-0) up 56-55 with a spin for separation and a one-handed bucket with 13.4 seconds left. He then had a clean stuff on Zak Irvin’s dunk attempt off an inbounds pass with 5 seconds left.
Ryan Arcidiacono sealed the win with four free throws.
Tournament MVP Dylan Ennis led the Wildcats with 15 points. Pinkston finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
Caris LeVert had 16 points for Michigan (4-1).
The lead swung both ways multiple times over the final 3 minutes.
MARYLAND 72, No. 13 IOWA STATE 63
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jared Nickens and Jake Layman scored 15 points apiece to lead a balanced offense, and Maryland beat Iowa State in the championship game of the CBE Classic.
Dez Wells added 14 points and Melo Trimble scored 11 for the Terrapins (5-0), who built a 15-point lead with 3 minutes left before hanging on down the stretch.
It was a happy homecoming for Terps coach Mark Turgeon, who grew up in Topeka and starred at Kansas before coaching at Wichita State. He improved to 6-0 in his career against Iowa State, the majority of those wins coming while he was coaching at then-Big 12 rival Texas A&M.
Bryce Dejean-Jones had 17 points to lead the Cyclones (3-1), who won the Big 12 title in the same building in March. Georges Niang added 10 points, but was 4 of 14 from the floor.
No. 14 VCU 77, OREGON 63
NEW YORK — Melvin Johnson scored 19 points and Treveon Graham had 13 to lead Virginia Commonwealth past Oregon.
The Rams (4-1) led by as many as 14 and never trailed in the Legends Classic consolation game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
They bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 12-0 run that opened the game against the Ducks (3-2). Johnson hit three of VCU’s six 3-pointers, and the Rams held a 40-31 edge on the boards.
Jordan Burgess scored 12 points, Briante Weber had 11 and Mo Alie-Cox 10 to put all five starters in double figures.
Dillon Brooks scored 15 points for Oregon. Joseph Young, who had averaged 24.5 points, missed 11 of 13 shots and had only nine points.
No. 17 MIAMI 77, CHARLOTTE 74
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sheldon McClellan scored a career-high 31 points and had 11 rebounds as Miami defeated Charlotte for the second time in three days.
McClellan, who had 19 points in the Hurricanes’ 19-point win over Charlotte in the Charleston Classic championship on Sunday, was 11 of 17 from the field and had five 3-pointers.
Manu Lecomte scored 18 points and Angel Rodriguez had 14 as the Hurricanes (6-0) shot 14 of 23 from 3-point range.
Freshman guard Torin Dorn and Mike Thorne Jr. each had 17 points for Charlotte (3-2).
No. 23 CREIGHTON 75, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
OMAHA, Neb. — Reserve center Geoffrey Groselle scored a career-high 15 points, and Creighton beat Eastern Illinois in the Emerald Coast Classic.
The Bluejays celebrated coach Greg McDermott’s 50th birthday with a victory in their first game as a ranked team this season.
The 7-foot Groselle made his first five shots and finished 7 of 8 from the field. Toby Hegner added 13 points for Creighton (5-0), which led by as many as 33 points.
Chris Olivier and Trae Anderson scored nine points apiece for Eastern Illinois (1-4).
No. 25 ARKANSAS 78, SMU 72
DALLAS — Bobby Portis scored 22 points and Arkansas won its first game as a ranked team in seven years, beating previously ranked SMU.
The Razorbacks never trailed after Portis made a 3-pointer for the game’s first basket. They are 4-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
SMU, coached by Larry Brown, was No. 22 in the AP Top 25 before consecutive road losses last week against No. 10 Gonzaga and Indiana. The Mustangs (2-3) dropped out of the poll Monday, the same day the Razorbacks got ranked for the first time since November 2007.
Yanick Moreira led SMU with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Keith Frazier added 16 points.
Michael Qualls had 13 points for the Razorbacks.
After trailing by as many as 19 in the second half, the Mustangs pulled to 73-68 with 37 seconds left. That was as close as they got.