COLLEGE BASKETBALL Carolina freshmen dominate Penn St.

Monday's game was the first where the Tar Heels started three first-year players at once.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It appears North Carolina's three standout freshmen came to one of college basketball's storied programs with a purpose.
Rashad McCants scored 28 points to set the freshman scoring mark for an opening game, and Sean May added 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Tar Heels raced past Penn State 85-55 in the first round of the Preseason NIT on Monday night.
The Tar Heels scored as many as 85 points just six times in an 8-20 season last year -- the program's worst ever.
Coach Matt Doherty decided Monday afternoon to go with a lineup that included McCants, May and Raymond Felton, making it the first time in school history three freshmen have started in the same game.
The three former prep All-Americans didn't disappoint their coach.
"This is not a rebuilding season," McCants said. "We are sustaining a legendary program. They had a bad season, so what? We're here and we're going to take it back to the top."
Felton, the national high school player of the year, had an off night scoring with nine points, but his 10 assists set a freshman mark for an opening game.
It didn't take long to Penn State's Brandon Watkins to figure out his club was in serious trouble against the fast-paced Tar Heels.
"Oh my God," Watkins said. "I'm usually the fastest guy on the floor, but I couldn't run them down."
At one point in the first half McCants had 17 points -- so did Penn State, which missed 25 of its first 33 attempts and finished 3-for-23 from 3-point range.
No. 11 Xavier 87, St. Peter's 48
CINCINNATI -- Romain Sato had 23 points and David West added 21 in a diversified offense as Xavier beat St. Peter's in the first round of the Preseason NIT.
St. Peter's managed only 17 points as Xavier took control in the first half.
Anthony Myles, a 6-foot-9 junior college transfer, scored eight points and had two rebounds. Will Caudle, a 6-9 redshirt freshman, had four first-half points and two rebounds. Point guard Lionel Chalmers added nine points and five assists and steadied the offense.
Rutgers 60, Columbia 36
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Jerome Coleman scored 18 points and Rutgers forced Columbia into 27 turnovers in the first round of the Preseason NIT. Calvin Wooten had nine points for Rutgers, which shot 40.4 percent with 12 turnovers. Jeremiah Boswell and Tito Hill led Columbia with five points each.
Stanford 61, Boston U. 57
STANFORD, Calif. -- Josh Childress Childress scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half in addition to 11 rebounds as Stanford won an opening round game of the Preseason NIT. Justin Davis added 10 points and 13 rebounds as the Cardinal (1-0) improved to 60-6 in home openers. Billy Collins scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston (0-1), which fell to 2-6 against Pac-10 teams.
E. Illinois 73, Boise St. 59
BOISE, Idaho -- Henry Domercant scored 36 points, including 15 from 3-point range, to lead Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the Preseason NIT. J.R. Reynolds, who was 4-for-8 on 3s, added 16 points for Eastern Illinois. Aaron Haynes led Boise State with 15 points, while Bryan Defares added 14 and Jason Ellis had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Notre Dame 89, IUPUI 45
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Matt Carroll scored 26 points, hitting 4-of-8 3-pointers, Dan Miller added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Torin Francis had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Notre Dame beat Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis in the second round of the Guardians Classic. Josh Murray was the only Jaguar in double figures with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Chris Thomas had 11 assists and eight points for the Irish.
Texas-Arlington 59,Alabama St. 47
OMAHA, Neb. -- Roy Johnson scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack as Texas-Arlington beat Alabama State in a second-round game of the Guardians Classic. Derrick Obasohan had 12 points for the Mavericks (1-1), with Mack Callier adding 11 points and nine rebounds. Keith Howell scored 10 points. Alabama State (0-2) was led by Malcolm Campbell's 16 points and Lamar Clark with 10.
Creighton 82, Furman 57
OMAHA, Neb. -- Kyle Korver scored 20 points as Creighton won the Omaha half of the Guardians Classic. Korver was 5-for-9 on 3-pointers. Brody Deren finished with 16 points for Creighton and Larry House added 10. Karim Souchu led Furman with 22 points, while Guilherme Da Luz scored 13 for the Paladins.
Colorado St. 81, Florida Atlantic 56
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Andy Birley and Brian Greene each scored 16 points as Colorado State rolled in the BCA Invitational. Greene was 5-for-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Birley was 4-of-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line for Colorado State (2-0). Jeff Cowans and Robert Williams each had 13 points for Florida Atlantic (1-1).
Cleveland St. 78, IPFW 71
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Reserve Percell Coles hit seven 3-pointers and had a career-high 31 points to lead Cleveland State in the BCA Invitational. Pape Badiane added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Vikings (1-1), who shot 64 percent in the second half. Ric Wyand had 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting for IPFW (0-2).