Kansas rolls to 107-78 victory

Duke trounced its opponent, 121-56.

SSOCIATED PRESS

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Sherron Collins scored 22 points and led a 17-2 run early in the second half and No. 4 Kansas swamped Louisiana-Monroe 107-78 Friday night to win its 35th consecutive home opener.

The Jayhawks (1-0), who led 47-35 at halftime, went up 75-45 on an inside move by Darnell Jackson, who had a career-high 21 points. Consecutive 3-pointers by Collins raised the lead to 89-59 with 9:30 left. Then with 3:20 left, Jackson’s basket made it 101-68. Kansas had not scored 100 points in an opener since 1991.

Tony Hooper had 19 points for the Warhawks (0-1).

No. 7 Tennessee 80, Temple 63

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — JuJuan Smith scored 15 points and Ramar Smith added 14 to lead Tennessee.

JuJuan Smith was 5-for-9 from the field for the Volunteers (1-0), who have won nine straight openers overall and are 40-2 in home openers since 1965. Preseason All-America Chris Lofton had 10 points for Tennessee, eight from the free throw line.

Dionte Christmas had 12 points for the Owls (0-1), while Mark Tyndale added 11.

No. 13 Duke 121, N.C. Central 56

DURHAM, N.C. — Taylor King scored 20 points while fellow rookie Kyle Singler added 15 to lead the Blue Devils to their eighth straight season-opening victory.

Nolan Smith, a third freshman, added 16 points for the Blue Devils, who improved to 26-2 in openers under Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. Gerald Henderson scored 15 points as Duke (1-0) finished with seven players in double figures.

Bryan Ayala scored 18 points for the Eagles (0-1), who were playing their first game as a Division I independent.

No. 16 Texas A&M 73,
McNeese St. 50

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Josh Carter scored 14 points and freshman DeAndre Jordan had 12 as coach Mark Turgeon won in his Texas A&M debut.

It was Texas A&M’s eighth straight win in a home opener.

Turgeon, who came to Texas A&M from Wichita State, took over in April after Billy Gillispie left for Kentucky. The 42-year-old takes over a program that rose from the Big 12 basement to the NCAA tournament round of 16 in the three seasons under Gillispie.

Texas A&M (1-0) won a school-record 27 games in 2006-07, giving the Aggies three straight 20-win seasons.

Jarvis Bradley had 12 points for McNeese State (0-1).

No. 19 Arkansas 67, Wofford 45

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Patrick Beverley, held without a field goal in the first half, finished with 15 points and Darian Townes scored all 14 of his in the second half to lead the Razorbacks in the coaching debut of John Pelphrey.

Pelphrey was hired away from South Alabama after Arkansas fired Stan Heath. The Razorbacks went to the NCAA tournament the last two seasons but lost in the first round each time. They return all their top players from last season.

Drew Gibson led Wofford (0-1) with 12 points.

No. 22 Pittsburgh 103,
Houston Baptist 62

PITTSBURGH — Sam Young finished with 22 points and nine rebounds and DeJuan Blair had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four steals in his first college game to lead the Panthers.

Keith Benjamin added 16 points for Pitt (1-0), which held a 59-32 rebounding edge and had 16 steals to Houston Baptist’s four.

No. 25 Kansas St. 94,
Sacramento St. 63

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Freshman Michael Beasley had 32 points and a Big 12 Conference-record 24 rebounds in his first game at Kansas State.

Beasley broke the Big 12 mark of 23 rebounds set by Kevin Durant, who starred at Texas as a freshman last season, and Kansas’ Nick Collison.