EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — James Madison, not No. 4 Michigan State, opened the season with a lot of swagger.
Terrence Edwards had 24 points, Raekwon Horton made a 3-pointer with 8.6 seconds left in overtime and James Madison pulled off a major upset with a 79-76 win over the Spartans on Monday night.
Tyson Walker scored 35 points for Michigan State, but he had the ball poked away from behind in the closing seconds of the season opener.
Walker made a layup to give Michigan State a four-point lead with 1:26 left in regulation.
James Madison's Noah Freidel made two free throws after A.J. Hoggard fouled him on a 3-point shot. After Michigan State’s point guard missed a 3-point shot, T.J. Bickerstaff made a tying jumper with 30 seconds left and Walker couldn’t connect on a jumper just before the buzzer.
Bickerstaff scored 21 points in James Madison’s first win against a ranked team since a victory over No. 19 California on Dec. 29, 1992.
The Spartans were 1 of 20 on 3-point shots and made 23 of 37 free throws.
No. 1 KANSAS 99, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 56
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and eight rebounds in his Kansas debut, Kevin McCullar Jr. made four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and the top-ranked Jayhawks cruised to a victory over North Carolina Central.
Kansas had five players in double-figures scoring, including Dickinson, the Michigan transfer and one of the most sought-after players to enter the portal.
Nic Timberlake had 13 points, KJ Adams scored 12 and Dajuan Harris Jr. dished out 10 assists for Kansas, which led 59-17 by halftime before coasting to its 51st consecutive home-opening win.
Ja’Darius Harris had 12 points to lead the Eagles.
No. 2 DUKE 92, DARTMOUTH 54
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Kyle Filipowski scored 25 points to help No. 2 Duke beat Dartmouth to open Year 2 under coach Jon Scheyer.
Freshman Caleb Foster added 15 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 64.4% and had doubled up the Big Green by halftime, 42-21.
The preseason Atlantic Coast Conference favorite won its 23rd straight season opener.
Dusan Neskovic scored 23 points for the Big Green, but the rest of his team combined to make 8 of 37 shots (21.6%).
No. 3 PURDUE 98, SAMFORD 45
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Zach Edey opened the season by scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds and Camden Heide had 13 points as No. 3 Purdue beat Samford.
Braden Smith and Fletchers Loyer each had 12 points and combined for half of the Boilermakers 16 3-pointers. Purdue tied a school record with its 25th consecutive regular season win over a non-conference foe.
Edey, the defending national player of the year, posted his 40th career double-double.
Jaden Campbell scored 11 points and Rylan Jones added eight to lead Samford.
Purdue took a 51-17 halftime lead.
No. 5 MARQUETTE 92, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 70
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kam Jones scored 20 points and No. 5 Marquette beat Northern Illinois in the season opener for both schools.
Marquette entered with its highest preseason ranking since 1977, when it was coming off a national championship and started out at No. 3.
Tyler Kolek had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for Marquette. Oso Ighodaro had 13 points and seven assists.
David Coit scored 14 points and DePaul transfer Philmon Gebrewhit had 13 for Northern Illinois.
No. 6 UCONN 85, NORTHERN ARIZONA 52
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures and defending national champion UConn opened the season with a rout of Northern Arizona.
Tristen Newton scored 14 points, Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle each had 12 and Samson Johnson added 11 for No. 6 UConn, which unveiled the school’s latest championship banner in a pregame ceremony.
The Huskies shot 56% (32 of 57) from the floor and held the Lumberjacks to 34% (20 of 59).
Liam Lloyd led Northern Arizona with 15 points.
The Huskies are seeking to become the first program to repeat as national champions since Florida did it in 2006 and 2007.
No. 7 HOUSTON 84, LOUISIANA-MONROE 31
HOUSTON (AP) — Emanuel Sharp scored a career-high 20 points, Damian Dunn added 18 points and No. 7 Houston beat Louisiana-Monroe in the season-opener for both teams.
Dunn scored 14 straight points during one stretch as the Cougars built a 23-7 lead with 8:45 left in the first half en route to a 38-14 halftime lead.
The Cougars dominated Louisiana-Monroe in just about every stat, including outrebounding the Warhawks 46-30.
Savion Gallion scored eight points, and Tyreke Locure had seven for the Warhawks.
No. 9 TENNESSEE 80, TENNESSEE TECH 42
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dalton Knecht scored 17 points and No. 9 Tennessee’s defense was in midseason form as the Volunteers opened the season by beating Tennessee Tech.
Knecht, a Northern Colorado grad transfer, scored 14 points in the first half. Josiah-Jordan James added 15 points and Jordan Gainey 11.
Josiah Davis led Tennessee Tech with 13 points.
Tennessee Tech was limited to 22% shooting. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 16 times and had eight shots blocked, four by Jonas Aidoo.
No. 12 ARIZONA 122, MORGAN STATE 59
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Kylan Boswell scored 18 points, Pelle Larsson added 15 and No. 12 Arizona opened coach Tommy Lloyd’s third season with a demolition of Morgan State.
The Wildcats dominated after an early feeling-out period, using two big runs to build a 35-point halftime lead, their largest since 1998.
Caleb Love had 12 points in his Arizona debut and freshman KJ Lewis had five of Arizona’s 16 steals in the Wildcats’ 23rd straight home-opening win.
Christian Oliver led Morgan State with 12 points.
No. 13 MIAMI 101, NJIT 60
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Wooga Poplar scored 21 points, Norchad Omier had 20 points and 10 rebounds and No. 13 Miami beat New Jersey Institute of Technology in the opener for both teams.
Poplar shot 8 of 16, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.
Coming off their first Final Four appearance, the Hurricanes also had double-figure scoring from Florida State transfer Matthew Cleveland, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Adam Hess scored 14 points for the Highlanders in the debut of coach Grant Billmeier.
No. 14 ARKANSAS 93, ALCORN ST. 59
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Khalif Battle scored 21 points and Tramon Mark added 16 as No. 14 Arkansas beat Alcorn State in an opener.
The two each reached double figures by halftime, outscoring Alcorn State on their own 25-22 at the break. The Razorbacks led by 24 after 20 minutes.
Trevon Brazile a preseason first-team All-SEC forward, played his first game since tearing his right ACL on Dec. 6. Brazile scored 13 points with six rebounds in his 22 minutes.
Jeremiah Gambrell led Alcorn State with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting.
No. 15 TEXAS A&M 78, TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE 46
COLLEGE STATION Texas (AP) — Hayden Hefner scored 19 points, Wade Taylor IV had 16 and No. 15 Texas A&M opened the season with a win over Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Aggies were up by 13 early in the second half when they used a 13-2 run to extend the lead to 55-31 with 15 minutes to go.
Taylor, the preseason Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, went to the bench for good a couple minutes later with Texas A&M in control of the game.
Texas A&M-Commerce was led by Jerome Brewer Jr., who had 13 points.
No. 16 KENTUCKY 86, NEW MEXICO ST. 46
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Rob Dillingham scored 17 points, D.J. Wagner had 13 and No. 16 Kentucky shot 59% in the second half to rout New Mexico State in the season opener for both teams.
Wagner and Justin Edwards (12 points) set the tone, and Kentucky native Reed Sheppard finished with 12 points.
Fifth-year senior Antonio Reeves had 11 points and West Virginia transfer Tre Mitchell finished with nine points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Jaylin Jackson-Posey and Christian Cook each had 10 points for New Mexico State.
No. 17 SAN DIEGO STATE 83, CAL STATE FULLERTON 57
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jaedon LeDee scored six of his career-high 27 points in the first three minutes of the second half and No. 17 San Diego State broke open a close game to beat Cal State Fullerton in their season opener.
LeDee also pulled down 10 rebounds for SDSU, runner-up for last season’s national title. Before the game, the school unveiled banners for being an NCAA finalist and for winning the Mountain West regular-season and tournament titles.
Micah Parrish had five 3-pointers and scored 17 for SDSU, while newcomer Reese Waters added 15.
Dominic Brewton scored 13 for the Titans and Max Jones had 11 points.
No. 18 TEXAS 88, INCARNATE WORD 56
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ithiel Horton scored 17 points and No. 18 Texas unveiled its new transfer-heavy lineup with a season-opening romp over Incarnate Word
Texas made it to the Elite Eight last season, then rebuilt the team with five transfers. Three started — Max Abmas from Oral Roberts, Horton from Central Florida and Ze’Rik Onyema from UTEP — and the Longhorns needed little time to find their on-court chemistry.
Those three combined for 40 points, and five Longhorns scored in double figures.
Sky Wicks scored 26 points for Incarnate Word.
No. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 86, RADFORD 70
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Armando Bacot scored 25 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the best season opener of his career, helping No. 19 North Carolina beat Radford.
RJ Davis and Cormac Ryan both scored 13 points, and Harrison Ingram had 12 points for the Tar Heels.
North Carolina won its 19th straight season opener.
Bacot's 25 points in an opener beat the 16 points he had last year against UNC Wilmington.
DaQuan Smith and Kenyon Giles both scored 18 points for Radford.
No. 21 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 82, KANSAS STATE 69
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Boogie Ellis had 24 points and eight rebounds as No. 21 Southern California defeated Kansas State in the season opener for both teams.
Touted freshman Isaiah Collier made his USC debut with 18 points, including 15 in the first half. Kobe Johnson finished with 16 points for the Trojans, and Joshua Morgan had 11.
Tyler Perry led Kansas State with 22 points. Cam Carter scored 15, and David N’Guessan had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Bronny James cheered his USC teammates from the bench. The son of NBA career scoring leader LeBron James is still on his way back from suffering a cardiac arrest during a summer workout. LeBron James said last month that his son had surgery to repair a congenital heart condition that caused the collapse.
No. 22 VILLANOVA 90, AMERICAN 63
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — Eric Dixon and Tyler Burton each scored 15 points to lead No. 22 Villanova to a win over American in the season opener.
The Wildcats led by as many as 32 in the first game of what they expect to turn into a bounce-back season after a 17-17 finish in coach Kyle Neptune’s first year.
Dixon, a second-team All-Big East preseason pick, made 6 of 10 baskets. Justin Moore scored 10 points.
Colin Smalls led the Eagles with 16 points.
No. 23 SAINT MARY'S 107, STANISLAUS ST 28
MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Aidan Mahaney scored 15 points and No. 23 Saint Mary’s rolled to a season-opening victory over Division II Stanislaus State.
Saint Mary’s was ranked in the preseason for the fourth time ever thanks to the return of key starters Mahaney, Alex Ducas and Mitchell Saxen. Mason Forbes scored 19 points to lead Saint Mary’s and Rory Hawke added 13.
The opener against Stanislaus State hardly provided a test for the Gaels, who were in complete control the whole way and led 50-11 at halftime.
John Wade III scored seven points to lead Stanislaus State.
No. 24 ALABAMA 105, MOREHEAD STATE 73
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Grant Nelson scored 24 points and Aaron Estrada added 16 in impressive Alabama debuts, leading the Crimson Tide to a victory over Morehead State in the opener for both teams.
The defending Southeastern Conference champion Crimson Tide rolled to a 24-point lead midway through the first half with an overhauled roster. It was the first time Alabama topped 100 points in an opener since scoring 107 in 2001-02 against Mississippi Valley State.
Mark Sears had 13 points and five assists.
Riley Minix scored 19 to lead Morehead State.
No. 25 ILLINOIS 80, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn scored 18 points, Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 and No. 25 Illinois pulled away in the second half to beat Eastern Illinois in the season opener.
Twelve players scored for the Illini as they used their depth to turn away the Panthers.
Gibbs-Lawhorn shot 7 of 10 from the field, including a one-handed dunk in the first half that ignited the State Farm Center crowd.
Kooper Jacobi scored 10 points to lead Eastern Illinois.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
