Top 25 Roundup: James Madison Shocks No. 4 Michigan St. in OT

Michigan State's Tyson Walker (L) scores as James Madison's Terrence Edwards, Jr. defends during the second half in East Lansing, Mich., on Nov. 6, 2023. (© Nick King/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK via Field Level Media)

Terrence Edwards Jr. had 24 points, including seven in overtime, as James Madison stunned No. 4 Michigan State 79–76 on Monday in East Lansing, Mich.

T.J. Bickerstaff had 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Dukes upset a ranked team for the first time since 1992. Michael Green III added 13 points in the season opener for both teams.

Tyson Walker carried the Spartans with 35 points. Coen Carr contributed 14 points and six rebounds. Edwards made two free throws with 1:51 left in overtime to give his team a 73–70 lead. The Spartans tied it before Edwards had a putback for a 75–73 edge. After Walker split two free throws, Raekwon Horton nailed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.

No. 1 Kansas 99, North Carolina Central 56

Kevin McCullar Jr. scored 22 points as the Jayhawks manhandled the Eagles, building a lead as high as 55 points, in the season opener for both teams.

The Jayhawks shot a blistering 69.6 percent (39-of-56) from the field. Hunter Dickinson added 21 points, including 17 in the first half, in his Kansas debut after transferring from Michigan. Starting point guard Dajuan Harris Jr. did not attempt a shot, but he had 10 assists and four rebounds.

Ja‘Darius Harris led NC Central with 12 points, Josh Smith added 11 and Po’Boigh King 10. Leading returning scorer Fred Cleveland Jr. was held to six points on 2-of-12 shooting from the field.

No. 2 Duke 92, Dartmouth 54

Kyle Filipowski scored 25 points and the Blue Devils overpowered the Big Green at Durham, N.C.

Filipowski made 10 of 12 shots from the field and went 4-for-4 on free throws. He had 10 first-half points and then matched that in less than five minutes of the second half. Duke’s Jeremy Roach notched 14 points.

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Dusan Neskovic poured in 23 points on 11-for-19 shooting for Dartmouth, and Ryan Cornish had nine points.

No. 3 Purdue 98, Samford 45

Zach Edey had 16 points and 11 rebounds while Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith each made four 3-pointers as the Boilermakers routed the visiting Bulldogs in West Lafayette, Ind.

Camden Heide scored 13 points off the bench for the Boilermakers, while Loyer and Smith chipped in 12 each. Edey added four blocks to go with his 40th career double-double, the third most in school history, and Smith had seven assists.

Samford boasted a 9–4 edge in offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, but the Bulldogs struggled with nearly everything else, trailing 51–17 at the break.

No. 5 Marquette 92, Northern Illinois 70

Kam Jones scored 20 points and Tyler Kolek added 14 as the Golden Eagles started their season with a victory against the Huskies on Big East title banner night in Milwaukee.

Oso Ighodaro contributed down low with 13 points and seven rebounds while Chase Ross came off the bench to score 12 points, shooting 5–for–6.

NIU was led by returning starter David Coit with 14 points, while Philmon Gebrewhit added 11. Yanic Konan Niederhauser finished with a near double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high 11 boards. He also blocked two shots.

No. 6 Connecticut 95, Northern Arizona 52

The Huskies leaned on their height advantage and breezed past the Lumberjacks in Storrs, Conn., in UConn’s first game since winning the national championship last season.

The Huskies outrebounded Northern Arizona 50–27 and had a 50–30 advantage in points in the paint. UConn also blocked 10 shots.

Forward Alex Karaban scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for UConn, which never trailed. Karaban made 8 of 12 shots from the field, including three of his six 3-point attempts.

No. 7 Houston 84, UL Monroe 31

Emanuel Sharp hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points as the Cougars opened their season with a victory over the visiting Warhawks.

Houston’s most notable players, L.J. Cryer and Jamal Shead, both named to the Naismith Player of the Year Preseason Watch List, combined for just 14 points, including nine from Cryer. But others stepped up, including Damian Dunn, who scored 18 points.

No one scored in double figures for UL Monroe. Savion Gallion scored eight points for the Warhawks, who led 4–3 early before the Cougars got rolling.

No. 9 Tennessee 80, Tennessee Tech 42

Dalton Knecht scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half to fuel the Volunteers to a victory over the visiting Golden Eagles in Knoxville, Tenn.

Knecht, a transfer from Northern Colorado, made 6 of 11 shots from the floor. Tennessee’s Josiah-Jordan James sank five 3-pointers to highlight his 15-point performance. James added seven rebounds, and South Carolina Upstate transfer Jordan Gainey scored 11 points off the bench.

Josiah Davis scored 13 points for the Golden Eagles, who had 16 turnovers and shot just 28.6 percent from the floor and 16.7 percent from 3-point range.

No. 12 Arizona 122, Morgan State 59

Sophomore guard Kylan Boswell scored a career-high 18 points as the Wildcats dominated the Bears for one of the highest-scoring games in school history in the season opener for both teams in Tucson, Ariz.

Boswell, making his first career start as he steps into the lineup for the departed Kerr Kriisa, made 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range to lead a powerful, balanced attack that placed eight scorers in double figures. The 122 points matched the fourth most for a single game in Arizona history.

Christian Oliver scored 12 points to lead Morgan State, which also lost at Arizona last season, falling 93–68 on Dec. 22, 2022.

No. 13 Miami 101, NJIT 60

Matthew Cleveland posted 16 points and a tied a game high with 10 rebounds in his debut for the Hurricanes, who cruised past the Highlanders in Coral Gables, Fla.

The Hurricanes, who made it to the NCAA Final Four last season, also got a career-high 21 points from Wooga Poplar and 20 points and 10 rebounds from Norchad Omier.

Adam Hess led NJIT with 14 points. He made 4 of 14 shots, including 3-of-10 3-point attempts. Hess was one of the best shooters in the nation last season, making 43.3 percent of his 3-point shots.

No. 14 Arkansas 93, Alcorn State 59

Khalif Battle scored 21 points in his debut for the Razorbacks, who cruised past the Braves in Fayetteville, Ark.

Houston transfer Tramon Mark made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points—all in the first 25 minutes—and sophomore big man Trevon Brazile added 13 points and six rebounds. He set the tone early with a powerful one-handed flush in the lane over two defenders that staked Arkansas to a 17-10 lead.

Senior guard Jeremiah Gambrell led Alcorn State with 17 points, and point guard Byron Joshua had 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting. He had four turnovers and two assists in a one-on-one matchup with Arkansas’ lockdown defender Davonte Davis.

No. 15 Texas A&M 78, Texas A&M-Commerce 46

Hayden Hefner scored a game-high 19 points, Southeastern Conference preseason Player of the Year Wade Taylor IV finished with 16 points and the Aggies rolled to a victory over the visiting Lions in College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M knocked down 11 3-pointers, including four by Taylor, three by Hefner and two by Eli Lawrence. Lawrence, a graduate transfer from Middle Tennessee, finished with 11 points in 11 minutes.

Commerce was led by forward Jerome Brewer Jr., who had 13 points. Senior guard Kalen Williams had 10 points.

No. 16 Kentucky 86, New Mexico State 46

Rob Dillingham scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime to lead five players in double figures as the Wildcats survived some shaky moments in the first half and led most of the way in a rout over the Aggies in both teams’ season opener in Lexington, Ky.

Dillingham came off the bench to make 6 of 11 shots as Kentucky shot 58.8 percent in the second half and 49.2 percent overall in the second meeting between the schools. D.J. Wagner added 13 for the Wildcats on 6-of-13 shooting but he missed four of five treys as the Wildcats shot 9-of-29 (31 percent) from behind the arc.

Christian Cook and Jaylin Jackson-Posey scored 10 points apiece to lead New Mexico State in its first game under new coach Jason Hooten.

No. 17 San Diego State 83, Cal State Fullerton 57

Jaedon LeDee scored a career-best 27 points and also collected 10 rebounds to lead the Aztecs past the visiting Titans in the season opener for both teams.

San Diego State’s Micah Parrish added 17 points, six rebounds and four steals and made five 3-pointers, matching his career best for treys that he set for Oakland University during the 2021–22 season.

Dominic Brewton recorded 13 points, six assists and four steals for Cal State Fullerton.

No. 18 Texas 88, Incarnate Word 56

Ithiel Horton scored 17 points, and Kadin Shedrick and Max Abmas added 12 each as the Longhorns used a dominating first half to set the table for a win over the visiting Cardinals in Austin, Texas.

Texas hit the visitors with wave after wave on both ends of the floor, leading by 31 points at halftime and by as many as 38 in the second half while continually rotating its players on the court. Shedrick had been nursing a shoulder injury in the offseason and wasn’t even cleared for full-court practice until Tuesday. He hit all three of his field goals and was 6 of 7 from the free-throw line in 11 minutes of court time.

Incarnate Word’s Sky Wicks led all scorers with 26 points.

No. 19 North Carolina 86, Radford 70

Armando Bacot poured in 25 points to go with 13 rebounds and the Tar Heels had enough power to fend off the visiting Highlanders at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Newcomers Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram provided 13 and 12 points, respectively, and RJ Davis also notched 13 points for North Carolina. The Tar Heels won their season opener for the 19th consecutive season, aided by shooting 52.5 percent from the field. Ryan made three of the team’s seven 3-point baskets.

DaQuan Smith and Kenyon Giles tallied 18 points apiece for Radford, which was bidding for its second-ever win over a ranked team.

No. 21 Southern California 82, Kansas State 69

Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier combined for 42 points as the Trojans defeated the Wildcats in the season opener for both teams in Las Vegas.

Ellis had 24 points and eight rebounds. Collier, the consensus No. 1-ranked recruit in the class of 2023, had 18 points and six assists before fouling out. After Kansas State scored the first six points of the second half to cut its deficit to four points, USC gradually pulled away.

Kansas State, playing without forward Nae‘Qwan Tomlin, who was suspended indefinitely last week following an arrest over an alleged fight, still outrebounded the Trojans 44–41. Tylor Perry led the Wildcats with 22 points, 16 in the second half, and six assists, and David N’Guessan added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 22 Villanova 90, American 63

The Wildcats opened the second half with a finishing kick and outran the visiting Eagles in the season opener for both teams.

Eric Dixon and Tyler Burton scored 15 points each, TJ Bamba scored 13 points, Hakim Hart added 11 and Justin Moore had 10 for the balanced Wildcats. Villanova outscored American 49–32 in the second half.

Colin Smalls led American with 16 points while Jermaine Ballisager Webb added 13 for the Eagles. Matt Rogers, a preseason Patriot League First Team selection, was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.

No. 23 Saint Mary’s 107, Stanislaus State 28

Six players scored in double figures as the host Gaels opened their season with a monumental nonconference rout of the Division II Warriors in Moraga, Calif.

Mason Forbes came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and grab seven rebounds for the Gaels. Aidan Mahaney added 15 points and five of the team’s 22 assists. The Gaels made 56.5 percent of their field-goal attempts.

John Wade III scored seven points for Stanislaus State, which played the game as an exhibition, its second against a Division I program in less than a week, following an 84–80 loss at Nevada on Wednesday. The Warriors made only 9 of 58 shots from the field (15.5 percent) and managed just one assist against 17 turnovers.

No. 24 Alabama 105, Morehead State 73

Behind newcomers Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada, the Crimson Tide rolled to a season-opening home win over the Eagles in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Nelson, a North Dakota State transfer, tallied a game-high 24 points and added seven rebounds, while Estrada, a Hofstra transfer, had 16 points, three rebounds and three assists. Point guard Mark Sears added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Riley Minix led Morehead State with 19 points to go with five rebounds and two assists. Jordan Lathon added 14 points and four rebounds and Drew Thelwell chipped in 13 points for the Eagles.

No. 25 Illinois 80, Eastern Illinois 52

Led by freshman guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn’s game-high 18 points, the Fighting Illini shrugged off icy shooting in the first half to roll to a nonconference victory over the visiting Panthers in Champaign, Ill.

The contest was the season opener for both teams. Gibbs-Lawhorn hit 7 of 10 shots from the field in his 20 minutes off the bench. Illinois All-Big Ten returnee Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 points and five rebounds.

Eastern Illinois, which played without top returning scorer Caleb Donaldson, received 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from Toledo transfer Kooper Jacobi.