Richmond’s Blake Francis shoots near Kentucky’s Cam’Ron Fletcher, left, and Olivier Sarr during the Spiders’ 76-64 win on Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky. James Crisp/Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo powered Richmond to the program’s first road victory over an Associated Press top-10 team, rallying in the second half to beat No. 10 Kentucky 76-64 Sunday.
The Spiders (2-0) had been 0-25 against top 10 teams and trailed 36-30 just after halftime. Francis and Cayo each finished with 18 points, many coming during a series of small scoring runs that pushed Richmond ahead.
A 9-0 burst gave the Spiders the lead, and a 7-0 stretch made it 58-46 with 7:43 remaining. In between, Francis and Tyler Burton hit 3-pointers and Cayo converted a three-point play.
Kentucky (1-1) got within eight before Richmond answered with Jacob Gilyard’s fast-break layup and Matt Grace’s 3-pointer for a 13-point edge with 4:40 left. Francis added a 3-pointer that made it 72-56 and sparked a celebration on the Spiders’ bench.
(2) BAYLOR 86, WASHINGTON 52: Jared Butler scored 20 points and the Bears (2-0) won again without Coach Scott Drew, beating the Huskies (0-1) in Las Vegas.
Assistant coach Jerome Tang is directing the Bears with Drew in a 10-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Bears (2-0) stayed hot after scorching Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday behind 56.3% shooting, by hitting 34 of 67 (50.7%) from the floor. They shot 44.8% (13 for 29) from 3-point range.
(11) CREIGHTON 69, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 58: Christian Bishop scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, Antwann Jones fueled the decisive run in the first half, and the Bluejays opened the season with a victory over the Bisons (0-3) in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jones scored nine of his 11 points in succession as Creighton turned an early deficit into a lead, and Bishop had nine points in the first five minutes of the second half as the Bluejays went up by 23 points.
(17) HOUSTON 64, (14) TEXAS TECH 53: Marcus Sasser scored 17 points playing close to home, Quentin Grimes added 15 and the Cougars (3-0) never trailed in a 64-53 victory over the Red Raiders (2-1) in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sasser, whose career high of 26 points came at SMU in Dallas as a freshman last season, was 5 of 15 from the field as the Cougars (3-0) overcame 35% shooting at Dickies Arena. That’s where they are set to play in the American Athletic Conference tournament this season near downtown Fort Worth and not far from the Dallas suburb where Sasser grew up.
A 3-pointer from Grimes opened the scoring and put the Red Raiders behind for the first time this season. Texas Tech (2-1) went six minutes without scoring in the first half and trailed by 18 just 12 minutes into the game.
(18) ARIZONA STATE 100, HOUSTON BAPTIST 77: Marcus Bagley scored 21 points, fellow freshman Josh Christopher added 17 and the Sun Devils (2-1) used a huge first-half run to rout the Huskies (0-2) in Tempe, Arizona.
The Sun Devils (2-1) played without starting guard Alonzo Verge for unspecified reasons in their home opener, but it did little to slow them down against the overmatched Huskies (0-2).
Arizona State was much more crisp offensively than in a loss to No. 3 Villanova last week, dishing out 21 assists on 36 field goals, and put the game out of reach early with a 33-3 first-half run.
(23) OHIO STATE 74, UMASS-LOWELL 64: Duane Washington Jr. scored 21 points and the Buckeyes (2-0) had to rally from a second-half deficit to defeat the River Hawks (1-2) in Columbus, Ohio.
Washington took a pass from teammate C.J. Walker and hit a 3 from the left wing for a 70-63 lead with 1:07 left to all but clinch it for the Buckeyes (2-0).
(24) RUTGERS 70, HOSTRA 56: Ron Harper Jr. had 15 points and nine rebounds, Jacob Young had 17 points and the Scarlet Knights (3-0) beat the Pride (0-1) in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Montez Mathis scored 14 points, and point guard Paul Mulcahy added nine rebounds and seven assists as the Scarlet Knights never trailed.
Rutgers led 32-16 with 3:52 left in the first half before Hofstra entered the break on a 5-0 run.
(25) MICHIGAN 81, OAKLAND 71: Isaiah Livers scored 22 points and Hunter Dickinson had all 19 of his points after halftime, helping the Wolverines (2-0) outlast the Golden Grizzlies (0-4) in overtime in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dickinson, a 7-foot-1 center, scored six points early in overtime to finally give Michigan control of a game it was expected to win easily.
The Wolverines led by eight points in the first half and trailed by as much as six in the second half in an uneven and sloppy performance marred by 20 turnovers.
The Golden Grizzlies had a chance for the third victory over a ranked team in program history and the first in a decade, but appeared to run out of energy playing in their fourth game in five days.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
(1) SOUTH DAKOTA 79, (21) GONZAGA 72: Destanni Henderson scored a career-high 23 points and Zia Cooke added 16 to help the Gamecocks (3-0) top the Bulldogs (0-1) in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It was the second straight game that the Gamecocks faced a tough challenge from their opponent.
Henderson earned tournament MVP honors as she scored 19 points and had nine rebounds in the opening round win over South Dakota.
Against Gonzaga, Henderson was scoreless in the first half before going 6 for 12 in the third and fourth quarters. She was 10 for 13 from the free throw line over that span.
After Jill Townsend’s 3-pointer for Gonzaga gave the Bulldogs a 62-60 lead with six minutes to play, South Carolina got the lead back up to eight in the final 90 seconds. The Bulldogs hit nine 3-pointers, including one by Cierra Walker with 54 seconds to play to cut it to 74-70.
Jenn Wirth scored 16 points, two shy of her career high, to lead Gonzaga. Jill Townsend added 14 for the Bulldogs.
(5) LOUISVILLE 101, EASTERN KENTUCKY 58: Hailey Van Lith scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals (2-0) to a win in their home opener over the Colonels (0-2) .
The Cardinals used a 16-2 run to start the second quarter, take a 35-14 lead with 5:17 left in the half and put the game away. They would lead by as much as 40-16 in the half.
(6) MISSISSIPPI STATE 88, JACKSON STATE 58: Preseason All-SEC player Rickea Jackson was one of four Mississippi State players to score in double figures as the No. 6 Bulldogs (1-0) opened up the Nikki McCray-Penson era with a victory over the Tigers (0-1) in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Bulldogs played the Tigers in a game that was scheduled late in the week unexpectedly. They were slated to play in the Women’s Hall of Fame Challenge in Connecticut before participant UConn shut down team activities for two weeks due to COVID-19 concerns.
(7) ARIZONA 76, NORTHERN ARIZONA 63: Cate Reese scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Aari McDonald added 18 points and the Wildcats opened their season with a 76-63 victory over the Lumberjacks (1-1) in Tuscon, Arizona.
McDonald, a preseason AP All-America selection, scored in double figures for a 67th straight game, which is the nation’s longest active streak. She made just 6 of 17 of her shots but finished with eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals.
(8) NORTH CAROLINA STATE 108, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 70: Elissa Cunane’s 17 points led six players in double figures for the Wolfpack (2-0) in a rout of the Eagles (1-1) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Wolfpack shot 68.3% from the field in a final tune-up before a game at top-ranked South Carolina. Cunane made all six of her shots.
Jakia Brown-Turner, Raina Perez and Kayla Jones all scored 15 points, Jada Boyd added 11 and Kai Crutchfield had 10.
(11) KENTUCKY 70, BELMONT 50: Dre’una Edwards scored a career-high 27 points, matched her career best with 15 rebounds and the Wildcats (2-0) pulled away for a win over the Bruins (0-1) in Lexington, Kentucky.
Edwards, the Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year at Utah two seasons ago, was 11-of-19 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers and had three steals and an assist.
It was Edwards’ turn to step up as the Wildcats played their second-straight game without All-American Rhyne Howard and starting forward Tatyana Wyatt. Howard returns on Thursday against Kansas State but Wyatt will miss another game.
(12) MARYLAND 115, (14) ARKANSAS 96: Katie Benzan scored a career-high 28 points, drained eight 3-pointers, led five Terrapins into double-figure scoring and No. 12 Maryland (2-1) roared past the Razorbacks (3-1) for its highest-scoring defeat of a ranked opponent, in Fort Myers, Florida.
Chloe Bibby added 23 points and 12 rebounds, hitting 5 of 7 shots from distance, Diamond Miller scored 19 with 10 rebounds, freshman Angel Reese scored 16 and Ashley Owusu 12.
The Terrapins, stung by a loss to No. 24 Missouri State Saturday night, came out fired up. Benzan hit a 3 and Bibby two more, sparking a 19-4 run early in the first quarter to take control.
(20) OHIO STATE 82, DUQUESNE 47: Jacy Sheldon scored 20 points, Dorka Juhasz had a double-double and the Buckeyes overwhelmed the Dukes in the season opener for both teams, in Columbus, Ohio.
Though Duquesne entered with a veteran team that includes four graduate students and two seniors, they were outmatched by an Ohio State squad that brought back all five starters and six of its top seven scorers from a year ago.
(22) NOTRE DAME 88, MIAMI 68: Destinee Walker scored 24 points, Maddy Westbeld added 19 plus nine rebounds and the Irish gave new head Coach Niele Ivey her first victory, as they beat the Hurricanes, in South Bend, Indiana.
Ivey took over for Hall of Famer Muffet McGraw, who retired with 939 career wins. Ivey’s Fighting Irish (1-1) gave her the lead for good just over three minutes into the game, extended it to 15 points at halftime and kept it in double figures the rest of the way.
(23) SYRACUSE 50, STONY BROOK 39: Tiana Mangakahia’s return from a battle with breast cancer was impressive as she had 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists to lead the Orange (1-0) past the Seawolves (0-2) in Stony Brook, New York.
She grabbed the rebound when Stony Brook misfired on its first possession, drove down the court and found Amaya Finklea-Guity for the first points of the game. A few minutes later she made a steal and drove down the court to make it 4-0.
Mangakahia, who missed all of last season after undergoing chemotherapy and then a double mastectomy in November, had not played a competitive game in 615 days.
WAKE FOREST 68, (24) MISSOURI STATE 59: Ivana Raca scored 10 of her 23 points in the third quarter when the Demon Deacons (2-1) pulled away and went on to beat the Lady Bears (2-1) at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Fort Myers, Florida.
Raca had a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter, and her two free throws and a layup by Gina Conti to end the period extended Wake Forest’s lead to 53-40. Raca, who had nine rebounds and five assists, opened the fourth quarter with a basket for the Demon Deacons’ largest lead at 15.
NOTES
HALL OF FAME: Maryland basketball star Len Bias, who was chosen No. 2 by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft before dying days later of a drug overdose, was chosen for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Bias leads a group of six players and two coaches that will be enshrined in Kansas City next November.
The other players to make up the class are Hersey Hawkins, who scored more than 3,000 points during his career at Bradley; UCLA’s David Greenwood, the No. 2 pick of the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 draft; Jim Jackson, the two-time Big Ten player of the year at Ohio State; Antawn Jameson, who led North Carolina to back-to-back Final Fours; and Kansas star Paul Pierce, who went on to play 19 years in the NBA, mostly with the Celtics.
The two coaches selected for the Hall of Fame were Rick Byrd, who won 805 games at Maryville, Lincoln Memorial and Belmont, and Tom Penders, who took four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
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