Labaron Philon Jr. produced another strong performance with 25 points, as No. 15 Alabama took control late in the first half and withstood a comeback attempt by No. 5 St. John’s in an impressive 103-96 victory in New York Saturday afternoon.

Philon made 10 of 17 shots and had help from two players returning from injury. Aden Holloway added 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting after sitting out the season opener with a wrist injury, and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. finished with 17 after also missing the season opener with a finger injury.

Zuby Ejiofor scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half, but the Red Storm (1-1) had a 12-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden stopped. St John’s went on a 17-6 run, and Joson Sanon’s corner three-pointer put the team ahead 81-80 with 8:13 left.

However, the Crimson Tide (2-0) were able to regain the lead and effectively iced the game with a 9-0 run to take a 100-88 lead with 1:44 left.

No. 2 Houston 65, Towson 48

Kingston Flemings had 20 points and Chris Cenac Jr. finished with 13 rebounds as the Cougars beat the visiting Tigers.

Houston (2-0) held off Towson after allowing a 14-point first-half lead to slip down to three in the second half. Flemings made 8 of 10 from the field for the Cougars, who struggled offensively, making only 26 of 62 (41.9%) shots collectively and 8 of 32 from 3-point range. Joseph Tugler added 15 points and eight rebounds, and Milos Uzan finished with 11 points and six assists.

Towson (1-1) was led by Jack Doumbia Jr.’s 16 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Tejada had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Dylan Williamson finished with 13 points. The Tigers committed 18 turnovers that led to 22 points for Houston.

No. 6 Duke 95, Western Carolina 54

Cameron Boozer poured in 25 points as the Blue Devils rolled in their home opener against the Catamounts in Durham, N.C.

Twin brother Cayden Boozer came off the bench for 14 points, while Patrick Ngongba II and reserve Maliq Brown both scored 10 points for the Blue Devils (2-0), who won their 44th consecutive home opener. Duke opened up a 25-6 run less than 11 minutes into the game thanks to a 17-0 run.

Julien Soumaoro’s 14 points led Western Carolina (0-2), which committed 14 turnovers and shot 4-for-26 on 3-point attempts. Marcus Kell had 11 points and Abdulai Fanta Kabba added 10.

No. 8 BYU 98, Holy Cross 53

The Cougars shot 61.9% from the field, including 7-of-10 performances by AJ Dybantsa, Robert Wright III and Richie Saunders, in a runaway victory over the Crusaders in their home opener at Provo, Utah.

BYU (2-0) outscored Holy Cross 62-28 in the paint, making 84.2% of its shots inside the arc. Saunders finished with a game-high 20 points, Dybantsa had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Wright finished with 15 points.

Holy Cross (0-2) was led by Tyler Boston’s 12 points. It trailed by over 30 points for the entirety of the second half.

No. 22 Michigan State 69, No. 14 Arkansas 66

Freshman Cameron Ward had 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench as the Spartans held off the Razorbacks in East Lansing, Mich.

Coen Carr supplied 15 points and seven rebounds for Michigan State, while Jaxon Kohler added 10 points with seven rebounds.

Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas had 16 points apiece for Arkansas. D.J. Wagner tossed in 13 points.

No. 18 Tennessee 95, Northern Kentucky 56

Freshman Nate Ament scored a game-high 23 points to help lead the Volunteers to an easy victory over the visiting Norse.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 20 points, while J.P. Estrella chipped in 17 points and 11 rebounds for Tennessee (2-0), which shot 52.3% (34-for-65) from the field and outrebounded Northern Kentucky 47-25. Felix Okpara matched Estrella with a game-high 11 rebounds in the win. The Volunteers finished the game on a 14-0 run.

Kael Robinson and Donovan Oday led the Norse (1-1) with 14 points each, while Dan Gherezgher added nine points for Northern Kentucky, which made just nine of its 30 (30%) 3-point attempts and shot just 38.5% (5-for-13) from the free throw line.

No. 21 Gonzaga 83, Oklahoma 68

Graham Ike logged a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double and the Bulldogs led by double figures for the final 27:29 of their win over the Sooners in Spokane, Wash.

Tyon Grant-Foster came off the bench to add 14 points for Gonzaga (2-0), which punched the ball inside at will to create a 58-20 advantage in points in the paint. Braden Huff scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while reserve Jalen Warley contributed 13 points.

Xzayvier Brown paced Oklahoma (1-1) with 21 points but also committed five of its 16 turnovers. Nijel Pack added 18 points and Derrion Reid scored 11 for Oklahoma but the team couldn’t consistently hit shots. The Sooners made only 23 of 58 from the field (39.7%) and were 6 of 26 on 3-pointers (23.1%).

–Field Level Media

Graham Ike logged a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double Saturday night and No. 21 Gonzaga led by double figures for the final 27:29 of an 83-68 win over Oklahoma in Spokane, Wash.

Tyon Grant-Foster came off the bench to add 14 points for the Bulldogs (2-0), who punched the ball inside at will to create a 58-20 advantage in points in the paint. Braden Huff scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while reserve Jalen Warley contributed 13 points.

Xzayvier Brown paced the Sooners (1-1) with 21 points but also committed five of their 16 turnovers. Nijel Pack added 18 points and Derrion Reid scored 11 for Oklahoma but it couldn’t consistently hit shots. The Sooners made only 23 of 58 from the field (39.7%) and were 6 of 26 on 3-pointers (23.1%).

Oklahoma also couldn’t keep Gonzaga off the offensive glass. The Zags collected 18 offensive boards and cashed those in for 16 second-chance points, while also scoring 14 fast-break points. They earned a 46-39 rebounding advantage, giving up just eight offensive caroms.

The Sooners led 8-3 before Gonzaga, playing a rare home game off-campus at Spokane Arena, went to work. A 12-3 run, capped by Mario Saint-Supery’s layup off an Ike feed, gave the Zags control for good.

They blew the game open with a 15-2 burst starting at the half’s midway point. Except for a deep 3-pointer by Grant-Foster, every other point was a layup or a short shot in the lane as Gonzaga carved Oklahoma up inside.

The margin reached 49-30 at halftime after Grant-Foster found Emmanuel Innocenti for a 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining. The Zags finished the half 22 of 41 from the field while nearly doubling up the Sooners on the glass 26-14.

Oklahoma played better basketball the second half but was simply too far behind to really make Gonzaga sweat. It sliced a 24-point deficit to 75-62 on Pack’s 3-pointer with 3:24 left but Ike and Warley promptly converted point-blank looks to end any remaining suspense.

–Field Level Media

No. 8 BYU shot 61.9% from the field, including 7-of-10 performances by AJ Dybantsa, Robert Wright III and Richie Saunders, in the Cougars’ 98-53 victory over Holy Cross in their home opener at Provo, Utah on Saturday.

Saunders finished with a game-high 20 points.

Dybantsa had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Wright finished with 15 points.

Kennard Davis Jr. was 5-of-8 from the field, while Dawson Baker went 4-of-7. They each finished with 12 points.

BYU was 7-of-25 from 3-point range, but the Cougars were 32-of-38 (84.2%) within the arc.

The Cougars (2-0) outscored Holy Cross 62-28 in the paint.

They also committed only six turnovers while the Crusaders (0-2) had 15. BYU finished with a 24-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Holy Cross was led by Tyler Boston’s 12 points and Aidan Richard finished with 11.

BYU scored the first 10 points of the game, with Saunders scoring six of them.

The Cougars’ lead increased to 17-4 by the time Holy Cross made its first shot from the field, a jumper by Joe Nugent with 14:57 left in the first half.

A 14-0 run put BYU ahead 47-18 with 4:17 before halftime.

The stretch included four dunks, two by Dominique Diomande and one each by Keba Keita and Saunders.

The Cougars tallied 10 dunks in the game.

BYU led 58-25 at halftime with Wright, Dybantsa, and Saunders combining for 35 points to outscore the Crusaders at that point.

Holy Cross did not get closer than 30 points in the second half.

Its 8-0 run, which included two 3-pointers by Richard, cut the lead to 68-37 with 13:38 left.

BYU responded with seven consecutive points that included dunks in transition by Dybantsa and Diomande.

BYU tallied 20 assists in the game with Wright and Dybantsa each having three to lead the Cougars. Six others had two.

–Field Level Media

P.J. Haggerty had a double-double with 23 points and 11 assists as Kansas State defeated a pesky Bellarmine squad 98-71 Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan.

Bellarmine outscored K-State for much of the second half before the Wildcats went on a 17-4 run to close the game.

David Castillo had a career-high 19 points for Kansas State (2-0). Khamari McGriff scored 16 points, while Abdi Bashir Jr. added 15. The Wildcats were 14-of-23 from 3-point range (60.9%).

Bellarmine (0-2) also had four players in double figures, led by Michael Wilson Jr. with 19 points. Jack Karasinski had 18 points, while Brian Waddell added 11 and Jacob Wassler had 10. The Knights shot just 20% (4-of-20) from long range.

Bellarmine kept the game close early in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 17-13 in the first five minutes of the half. But they couldn’t get the deficit closer than 10 points.

Kansas State struggled to put the game away, as the Knights kept responding to its runs. But the Wildcats finally stretched the lead to a game-high 22 points with just more than two minutes remaining.

K-State used a 13-2 run midway through the first half to turn a tight contest into a comfortable margin, leading 28-14 at the under-8 timeout. The Wildcats’ lead never dipped back to single digits the rest of the half.

The Wildcats went to the locker room with a 46-30 lead. They held a 17-10 advantage on the boards, and connected on 8-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half.

Haggerty didn’t score his first point until nearly halfway through the first half, but he still scored 12 points in the half, tying him with Bashir for the game high for the Wildcats. Johnson, the third starting guard for the Wildcats, chipped in 7 first-half points.

Bellarmine had only 8 first-half turnovers, an improvement over the 22 the Knights committed in their first game of the season. Karasinski led the Knights with 11 points in the first half, and Wilson added 10.

–Field Level Media

Southern California returns to action in Los Angeles on Sunday when it hosts Manhattan, and the Trojans aim to carry over the red-hot offense from their season-opening win Monday.

USC (1-0) tipped off its campaign Monday with a 94-64 rout of Cal Poly in which the Trojans scored a whopping 57 points in the second half. USC relied on a balanced scoring attack, reminiscent of coach Eric Musselman’s first season at the helm when six Trojans averaged between 9.4 and 15.8 points per game. However, it was a new-look lineup sharing the wealth.

Musselman was faced with replacing 2024-25 leading scorers Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates III — both now at Big Ten Conference-rival Washington — as well as Chibuzo Agbo, Saint Thomas and Rashaun Agee.

In their places, Virginia transfer Jacob Cofie, Utah transfer Ezra Ausar and Maryland transfer Rodney Rice stepped up for 23, 21 and 21 points in Monday’s win.

According to Rice, “This is just the start.”

“I’m capable of playmaking, getting my teammates the ball where they want it and where they need it, and as the season goes on, I feel like I can improve in that as well,” the junior guard said.

Last season at USC’s Big Ten counterpart Maryland, Rice averaged 13.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

For Manhattan (1-0), Sunday’s matchup with USC marks a pitstop en route to Hawaii. The Jaspers play three contests in the Outrigger Rainbow Classic in Honolulu from Wednesday through next Saturday.

Manhattan opened its 2025-26 season with a 125-59 blowout of NCAA Division III program St. Joseph’s Brooklyn.

Terrance Jones shot 5 of 8 from 3-point range en route to 21 points, leading seven Jaspers who scored in double-figures. Jones transferred to Manhattan from perennial MEAC contender Norfolk State.

The Jaspers improved from seven wins in coach John Gallagher’s first season, 2023-24, to 17 victories a season ago. Their impending Western swing is a cornerstone for greater aspirations in 2025-26, Gallagher told the Riverdale Press.

“This standard keeps improving and the wins become a byproduct of it,” Gallagher said. “Instead of me sitting here saying, let’s go win 20-25 games and get into the tournament, let’s continue to make sure that we’re doing all the right things on and off the floor, and then the process will take care of itself.”

–Field Level Media

Terrence Brown scored 36 points and Don McHenry added 26 to rally Utah to a 92-89 overtime victory over Weber State on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Keanu Dawes added 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Utes (2-0), who narrowly avoided losing at home to the Wildcats for the first time since 2000. Utah scored 16 points off 15 turnovers.

Jace Whiting led Weber State with 15 points. Malek Gomma and Trevor Hennig added 14 points apiece. The Wildcats (1-1) outscored Utah 52-42 in the paint and finished with an 18-9 advantage in fastbreak points.

Utah rallied from a second-half double-digit deficit and forced overtime on McHenry’s corner 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in regulation for an 84-84 tie.

The Utes never trailed in overtime after Brown hit a pair of free throws and made a layup to put them in front 88-84.

Hennig made back-to-back baskets to ignite a 17-2 run that gave Weber State an early double-digit lead over Utah. Hennig’s third basket, a layup, punctuated the run and put the Wildcats up 26-15.

McHenry powered a Utah rally to erase the deficit. He scored three baskets and made a pair of free throws to level it at 39-39.

Weber State kept Utah from going in front before halftime. The Wildcats scored four baskets over the final two minutes of the first half and pushed their lead to 54-47 early in the second half on back-to-back baskets from Gomma.

Utah cut the deficit to one, 55-54, on three straight layups and a free throw from Brown. Then the Utes went cold, making a single field goal over an eight-minute stretch. Utah missed 12 of 13 shots, opening the door for Weber State to rebuild a double-digit lead.

The Wildcats went up 72-62 with 8:11 remaining in the second half when Tijan Saine Jr. hit a 3-pointer.

–Field Level Media