BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — James Blackmon Jr. made five 3-pointers, scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Robert Johnson added 16 points, as No. 6 Indiana sailed to a 100-78 victory over UMass Lowell on Wednesday night.
Blackmon made four 3-pointers and scored 20 of his 23 points in the first half of Indiana’s regular season home opener.
The Hoosiers (2-0) were playing their first game since beating No. 3 Kansas in the Armed Forces Classic and had to overcome a slow, sloppy start. Indiana outscored UMass Lowell (1-2) 32-15 over the final 8:24 of the first half. Indiana shot 60 percent from the field (21 of 35) in the first half. The Hoosiers found scoring opportunities with sound passing, scoring 23 of their field goals off an assist.
Big men OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant contributed to Indiana’s onslaught. Anunoby scored 15 points and Bryant added nine. The Hoosiers outrebounded UMass Lowell 46-24. The 19 offensive rebounds helped the Hoosiers score 15 second-chance points.
Jahad Thomas finished with 16 points and Tyler Livingston scored 14 for the River Hawks.
(21) RHODE ISLAND 79, BROWN 72: Jared Terrell scored 18 points and E.C Matthews added 17 as Rhode Island (3-0) held off upset-minded Brown (1-2) in Round Two of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Kingston, Rhode Island.
Hassan Martin added 12 points and Kuran Iverson had 11 as the Rams beat the Bears for the 19th time in their last 21 meetings.
Rhode Island built a 36-21 lead late in the first half but Steven Spieth keyed a rally that enabled the Bears to pull within 41-33 at halftime.
The Rams scored 20 points off 13 Brown turnovers that offset the fact the Bears outrebounded Rhode Island 38-31.
Brandon Anderson had 16 points for Brown while Tavon Blackmon and Travis Fuller chipped in with 11 apiece.
WOMEN
(5) LOUISVILLE 91, MIDDLE TENNESSEE 72: Mariya Moore scored 27 points, and the Cardinals (3-0) never trailed in a win at Middle Tennessee (0-2).
Ciera Johnson opened with a layup for the Cardinals, and Alex Johnson hit a short jumper to tie it up at 2. That was as close as Middle Tennessee would get as Louisville shot 67 percent taking a 22-9 lead after the first quarter.
(6) MARYLAND 106, MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE 61: Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 19 points and host Maryland (2-0) routed Maryland-Eastern Shore (1-1).
Maryland got another big game from two of its highly touted freshmen, Kaila Charles and Destiny Slocum, both of whom got their second straight start. Slocum had 10 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Charles scored 14 points. Another freshman, Jenna Staiti, added 10 points.
(7) OHIO STATE 96, CLEVELAND STATE 78: Kelsey Mitchell scored 31 points to lead four teammates in double figures and Ohio State (2-1) beat visiting Cleveland State (1-1).
The Buckeyes won despite poor 3-point shooting from everyone except Mitchell. Early in the fourth quarter her teammates were 0 for 11 from beyond the arc and she was 7 for 13. Finally, Sierra Calhoun hit a 3-pointer as Ohio State finished 8 for 27 from 3-point range.
(8) TEXAS 98, HOUSTON BAPTIST 46: Freshman Joyner Holmes scored 22 points to lead Texas (1-1) past Houston Baptist (0-2) at Austin, Texas.
Holmes went 8 of 17 from the field with nine rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes.
(10) MISSISSIPPI 66, TULANE 49: Victoria Vivians scored 17 points, Breanna Richardson added 11 and host Mississippi State (3-0) cruised past Tulane (1-1).
Send questions/comments to the editors.
