1 week Ago By By The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Alex Karaban scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half and No. 3 UConn routed Le Moyne 90-49 on Wednesday night.
Liam McNeeley added 15 points for two-time defending national champion UConn (3-0). Solo Ball scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Tarris Reed Jr.
added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Hassan Diarra had 10 points and six assists. Dwayne Koroma led Le Moyne (1-3) with 13 points and five rebounds. Fred Bagatskis had 11 points.
Takeaways Le Moyne: The Dolphins are in their second season playing at the Division I level. Le Moyne led Syracuse by five points at halftime before falling 86-82 and led UConn by three points early in the game. UConn: Hassan Diarra, the most experienced guard on the UConn team and a member of the two championship teams, continues to come off the bench for the Huskies.
He had a pair of baskets when UConn was struggling to score. Late in the half, he hit a 3-pointer and assisted on Jaylin Stewart's buzzer-beating layup to give the Huskies a 38-19 lead at halftime. Key moment UConn had missed nine of its first 10 from 3-point range and only led 21-16 when Alex Karaban and Liam McNeeley had back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Huskies their first double-digit lead.
Key stat UConn has scored at least 90 points in each of its first three games for the first time since the 1994-95 season. Up next UConn plays East Texas A&M on Tuesday night in its fourth straight home game to open the season. Le Moyne plays at St.
Bonaventure on Saturday. No. 22 ST.
JOHN'S 66, WAGNER 45 NEW YORK (AP) — Deivon Smith drained a 3-pointer midway through the second half to start an 18-0 spurt that propelled No. 22 St. John's past Wagner 66-45 on Wednesday night for its first victory as a ranked team in almost 10 years.
RJ Luis Jr. had 13 points, Aaron Scott scored 11 and the 6-foot Smith grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as St. John's (3-0) pulled away down the stretch following a sloppy performance over the first 30 minutes.
In their second season under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, the Red Storm jumped into the AP Top 25 poll this week for the first time since January 2019 and won their first game as a ranked team since topping Tulane on Dec. 28, 2014. Javier Ezquerra scored 10 points to pace Wagner (1-2).
Takeaways Wagner: The Seahawks were picked as co-favorites with Central Connecticut State in the NEC preseason coaches' poll. They outhustled St. John's for 30 minutes but shot 29.
1% percent from the field and 5 for 24 (21%) from 3-point range. St. John's: The Red Storm went only 18 for 30 at the free-throw line (60%) in Pitino's first game coaching a Top 25 team since he was at Louisville.
Key moment Seahawks freshman Zavier Fitch lost a sneaker near midcourt late in the first half and Ezquerra dribbled the ball right off the footwear, allowing Simeon Wilcher to scoop up an easy steal for a layup that capped a 10-2 spurt and gave St. John's a 30-20 lead. Key stat St.
John's outscored Wagner 20-0 in fast-break points. Up next Wagner visits Seton Hall on Saturday, while St. John's will play New Mexico, coached by Pitino's son, Richard, on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
CHARLOTTE 65, RICHMOND 48 CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Nik Graves had 23 points in Charlotte's 65-48 win over Richmond on Wednesday night.
Graves also contributed seven rebounds for the 49ers (2-1). Kylan Blackmon shot 3 for 7 (1 for 4 from 3-point range) and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to add 12 points. Dusan Neskovic finished with 14 points for the Spiders (1-2).
Jonathan Beagle added 10 points and nine rebounds for Richmond. Charlotte took the lead with 8:06 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Graves led their team in scoring with 12 points in the first half to help put them up 29-19 at the break.
Graves scored a team-high 11 points in the final half. VCU 63, MERRIMACK 42 RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Joe Bamisile scored 20 points as VCU beat Merrimack 63-42 on Wednesday night.
Bamisile added three steals for the Rams (3-0). Phillip Russell shot 5 of 8 from the field, including 3 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 5 for 6 from the line to add 18 points. Adam Clark led the Warriors (1-1) in scoring, finishing with 19 points and five steals.
Sean Trumper added 16 points and two steals for Merrimack. VCU took the lead with 14:37 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 38-17 at halftime, with Russell racking up 12 points.
Bamisile led the way with a team-high eight second-half points. No. 11 TENNESSEE 92, MONTANA 57 KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — Igor Milicic Jr. had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and No. 11 Tennessee beat Montana 92-57 on Wednesday night.
Chaz Lanier, Felix Okpara and Cameron Carr each scored 13 points for the Volunteers (3-0). Zakai Zeigler had 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds. The 6-foot-10 Milicic also had two steals and made two 3-pointers.
Money Williams led Montana (2-2) with 30 points. Takeaways Montana: Six of the Grizzlies’ nine-man rotation are playing at Montana for the first time. That leaves for a pretty steep learning curve so early in the season, especially against the No.
11 team in the country. Tennessee: A week ago, Gardner-Webb scored 64 points in a loss to Tennessee. More than half (34) of those points came in the paint.
That was a concern for Vols coach Rick Barnes. With an emphasis on defense down low, Tennessee allowed just 10 against Louisville but had a bit of a regression against Montana (22). Key moment A 13-2 run to start the second half allowed Tennessee to turn a nine-point halftime lead into an 18-point advantage that gave the Vols some breathing room.
Chaz Lanier had eight of those points. Key stat Tennessee committed nine turnovers in the first half. The Vols had just one in the first 14 minutes of the second half and stretched the lead to 23.
Up next Montana will play at Utah State on Monday, and Tennessee will take on Austin Peay on Sunday. NO. 5 AUBURN 79, KENT STATE 56 AUBURN, Ala.
(AP) — Johni Broome had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Chaney Johnson also scored 18 points to lead No. 5 Auburn to a 79-56 victory over Kent State on Wednesday night. The Tigers (3-0) raced to a fast start and then fought off a second-half rally on the heels of a 74-69 win at then-No.
4 Houston that vaulted them six spots in the AP poll. Chad Baker-Mazara and Denver Jones had 12 points apiece for Auburn. Broome made 8 of 12 shots and Johnson 8 of 11.
VonCameron Davis led Kent State (2-1) with 19 points despite playing just 18 minutes after getting into early foul trouble. Jalen Sullinger added 16 points and made 3 of 5 3-pointers. Auburn's Jahki Howard and Ja‘Heim Hudson missed their second game in a row after reportedly getting into an altercation on the flight to Houston, forcing the plane to be grounded shortly after takeoff.
Takeaways Kent State: Fell to 5-8 against current Southeastern Conference members. Davis had three fouls in three first-half minutes but poured in 17 points after that. Auburn: Scored the game's first 10 points and raced ahead 30-8 but couldn't sustain the dominant start.
Had 23 assists on 28 baskets with four players each getting four. Key moment The Golden Flashes clawed back from a 22-point first-half deficit, cutting it to 41-37 on Delrecco Gillespie’s layup with 15:37 left. Then Broome scored six points and Tahaad Pettiford made a 3-pointer and just beat the shot clock with another jumper to fuel an 11-0 run that effectively ended the threat.
Key stat Auburn shot 49.1% from the floor (28 of 57). Kent State was just 20-of-61 shooting (32.
8%). Up next Auburn hosts North Alabama Monday night when Kent State also hosts Niagara..
