Top 25 roundup: Buffalo stuns No. 13 West Virginia

[November 10, 2018]  CJ Massinburg scored 35 of his 43 points after halftime, and visiting Buffalo stormed back to stun No. 13 West Virginia 99-94 in overtime at Morgantown, W.V.

The Bulls (2-0) overcame a 13-point second-half deficit and tied the score at 84-84 on Massinburg's deep 3-pointer with 16 seconds left in regulation.

The senior guard shot 9-of-15 from 3-point range and was 10-of-12 at the foul line for the Bulls, who rose to prominence with last March's upset of Arizona in the NCAA Tournament. Massinburg also grabbed 14 rebounds.

Lamont West produced 22 points and nine rebounds for West Virginia (0-1), while point guard James Bolden scored 21. Bolden had to be helped to the locker room late in regulation and did not return for overtime.

No. 2 Kentucky 71, Southern Illinois 59

The Wildcats bounced back from an embarrassing 118-84 loss to No. 4 Duke in the Champions Classic on Tuesday to win their home opener over the Salukis, who were making their season debut.

Kentucky (1-1) was led by freshmen Keldon Johnson and Immanuel Quickley with 15 points each, but the spark came from sophomore Quade Green's 14 points off the bench. Sophomore Nick Richards added 19 rebounds.

Southern Illinois, which returned all five starters from a 20-win team and finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference last year to NCAA Tournament darling Loyola-Chicago, was led by junior Aaron Cook with 18 points and 16 from senior Kavion Pippen, nephew of former NBA great Scottie Pippen.

No. 6 Tennessee 87, Louisiana 65

Grant Williams scored 31 points as the host Volunteers rolled over the Ragin' Cajuns, as all five Tennessee starters scored in double figures and the team improved to 2-0.

Williams made 11-of-15 field-goal attempts to lead a balanced Volunteers attack, Admiral Schofield added 15 points, and Jordan Bone, Jordan Bowden and Kyle Alexander scored 10 each.

JaKeenan Gant led the Ragin' Cajuns (1-1) with 18 points, and Marcus Stroman had 11. Justin Miller came off the bench to score 10.

No. 7 Nevada 83, Pacific 61

Caleb Martin scored all 22 of his points in the second half as the host Wolf Pack pulled away from the Tigers in the second half.

Martin watched as his brother Cody buried two 3-pointers and Tre'Shawn Thurman hit three as Nevada (2-0) used 7-for-13 accuracy from beyond the arc to claim a hard-earned 34-25 halftime advantage.

A 3-pointer by Jahbril Price-Noel got Pacific (1-1) within five early in the second period. But Nevada's Jordan Caroline dropped in three baskets, including a 3-pointer, and Caleb Martin got on the board with a three, assisted by Caroline, to put the hosts in command 44-29.

No. 8 North Carolina 116, Elon 67

Senior guard Cameron Johnson scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half as the visiting Tar Heels steamrolled the Phoenix.

Freshman reserve Nassir Little racked up 21 points and seven rebounds, including a highlight-reel second-half dunk, and first-year point guard Coby White scored 14 points. Sterling Manley added 11 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Luke Maye finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (2-0).

Sheldon Eberhardt‘s 16 points and Steven Santa Ana's 14 points paced Elon (1-1), while Tyler Seibring added 10 points.

No. 11 Auburn 88, No. 25 Washington 66

Chuma Okeke had game-high totals of 19 points and 10 rebounds as the host Tigers used a balanced attack to rout the Huskies in just the second time Auburn played host to a ranked nonconference opponent and the first since 2006.

Fellow forward Samir Doughty, a transfer from Virginia Commonwealth, had a strong all-around game with 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and a game-high four steals for the Tigers (2-0), who were ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1999.

Guards Bryce Brown and Jared Harper each scored 13 points for the Tigers. Jaylen Nowell and Nahziah Carter led the Huskies (1-1) with 16 points each.

No. 12 Kansas State 56, Kennesaw State 41

The Wildcats overcame a sluggish start in their season opener to defeat the visiting Owls as Barry Brown Jr. and Dean Wade led Kansas State with 15 points each.

Makol Mawien added 13 points for the Wildcats. Newcomer Austin Trice led the Wildcats with 12 rebounds. The Kansas State defense really showed up in the second half, holding Kennesaw State to just 21 percent shooting after intermission.

The Wildcats also dominated inside, outscoring the Owls 42-12 in the paint and outrebounding them 42-29. Kansas State was playing without regular starting guard Xavier Sneed, who sat out for precautionary reasons with an ankle injury.

No. 14 Oregon 81, Eastern Washington 47

Freshman center Bol Bol recorded 23 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots to help the Ducks roll to a drubbing of the visiting Eagles as senior guard Ehab Amin added 13 points for Oregon, which used an early 24-0 run to break open the game.

Senior forward Paul White scored 11 points, and junior point guard Payton Pritchard added 10 points and eight assists for Oregon (2-0). The win was the 212th at Oregon for coach Dana Altman, tying him with Howard Hobson (1935-44, 45-47) for second most in school history.

Senior guard Cody Benzel scored 16 points for Eastern Washington (0-2), which shot just 23.1 percent (15 of 65) from the field. The Eagles hoisted 45 3-point shots and made 13.

No. 15 Virginia Tech 87, Gardner-Webb 59

In his first collegiate game, freshman Isaiah Wilkins scored 21 points as did sophomore Nickeil Alexander-Walker to lead the Hokies to a season-opening win over the visiting Runnin' Bulldogs.

Wilkins was perfect in the first half, scoring 12 points on 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and sinking both of his free throws.

Alexander-Walker also recorded six rebounds, five assists and four steals to help the Hokies (1-0) blow open a close game after the Runnin' Bulldogs (0-2) had cut an 11-point halftime deficit to 47-43.

No. 18 Mississippi State 95, Austin Peay 67

Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 21 points and his brother Nick Weatherspoon added 19 as the Bulldogs opened their season with an easy victory over the visiting Governors.

Mississippi State led by 16 points at the half and poured it on late thanks to 57.8 percent shooting from the floor for the game and a solid defensive effort that forced 18 Austin Peay turnovers and limited the Governors to 39 percent shooting.

Tyson Carter added 12 points off the bench for Mississippi State, with Abdul Ado hitting for 11 and Aric Holman scoring 10 points and taking 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Steve Harris led the Governors (1-1) with 17 points off the bench, while Terry Taylor added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 21 UCLA 91, Long Beach State 80

Freshman center Moses Brown scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while sophomore guard Kris Wilkes added 17 points as the Bruins recovered from a slow start to beat the 49ers.

Sophomore guard Jalen Hands scored 14 points and junior guard Prince Ali added 11 as UCLA (2-0) used a 10-0 run at the end of the first half to take a 45-41 halftime lead before holding off a pesky 49ers team in the second half.

Senior guard Deishuan Booker scored a game-high 31 for Long Beach State, which was playing its first game of the season. Booker, who led the Big West Conference in assists last season, had four assists Friday.

No. 22 Clemson 71, North Carolina Central 51

David Skara's 16 points and 14 from Aamir Simms helped the host Tigers break out to an early lead in a rout of the Eagles as Clemson's three starting forwards combined to shoot 13 of 19 from the field, creating dominance in the lane.

Shelton Mitchell added 11 points for Clemson (2-0). Raasean Davis scored 14 points and Zacarry Douglas added 12 points for NC Central, which was making its season debut. The Eagles haven't won an opener since 2010. The Eagles hit 32.7 percent from the field, starting to find some flow in the second half.

The Tigers broke to a 40-20 halftime lead, holding the Eagles to 25 percent shooting from the field.

No. 23 LSU 97, UNC Greensboro 91

Freshman forward Naz Reid, a McDonald's All-American, scored 16 of his 29 points in the first half, and point guard Tremont Waters added 21 points and 10 assists to lead the Tigers over the visiting Spartans.

Reid, a 6-foot-10 forward from New Jersey, was LSU's leading scorer for the second consecutive game as the Tigers stayed perfect (2-0) on the season. UNCG's Kyrin Galloway made eight 3-pointers, seven in the second half, to lead the Spartans with a game-high 32 points. Francis Alonso added 20.

UNCG (1-1) stayed within striking distance with its perimeter shooting, going 19-of-33 from 3-point range.

--Field Level Media

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