Coming off a sluggish season-opening setback, USC looks to regroup at home Thursday in Los Angeles when it hosts Alabama State.

The Trojans (0-1) went through multiple, lengthy scoring droughts in Monday’s 74-61 loss to coach Andy Enfield’s former team, Florida Gulf Coast. A stretch lasting more than eight minutes without USC managing a field goal proved to be the difference in the lopsided defeat.

“They have to score,” Enfield said in his postgame press conference. “Our big guys did their job tonight, but we have to be able to make plays for each other on the offensive end.”

Chief among USC’s offensive struggles was its inability to shoot the 3-pointer. The Trojans had just one successful attempt from deep until late in the second half and finished 3-of-19.

USC aims to rebound facing an opponent that struggled as much defensively in its opener as the Trojans struggled offensively.

Alabama State (0-1) gave up more than 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc and more than 58 percent from inside it in the Hornets’ 111-70 loss to UAB on Monday.

The blowout defeat marked the debut of first-year Alabama State head coach Tony Madlock. Madlock spent last season at South Carolina State after a stint as an assistant to Penny Hardaway at Memphis.

Along with a new coach, Alabama State tipped off 2022-23 with a largely new-look roster featuring a bevy of transfers and freshmen.

“Before I stepped on campus, I had 10 guys from the former team that jumped into the transfer portal,” Madlock told Sports Illustrated’s HBCU Legends. “You know how that works. I basically got a brand-new team.”

Among the newcomers is the coach’s son, TJ Madlock, who followed his dad from South Carolina State. TJ Madlock scored 25 points in his Alabama State debut. Alex Anderson, a transfer from South Alabama, debuted with eight points, five assists and a steal.

–Field Level Media

Bellarmine senior Garrett Tipton scored a game-high 21 points and the Knights held on for a season-opening 67-66 victory over host Louisville on Wednesday after the Cardinals missed two jump shots in the final seconds.

Tipton, who scored 12 second-half points, shot 9-for-16 from the field, while Bash Wieland made 11 of his 12 free-throw attempts to finish with 13 points.

Bellarmine earned its first win over a Power 5 school since joining Division I two years ago.

Ben Johnson scored eight points by sinking both his 3-point attempts and adding a pair of free throws, while Langdon Hatton and Alec Pfriem each added seven points apiece for the Knights.

Louisville, which trailed by 12 with 4:41 remaining, was led by Jae’Lyn Withers’ 17 points, while Mike James added 16 points. El Ellis had 14 points and five assists, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield recorded nine points and 10 rebounds.

After mustering just 10 first-half field goals to trail 41-30 at halftime, the Cardinals opened the second half by making six of their first 10 shots during a 16-9 run to pull to within 50-46 following Ellis’ layup with 12:57 remaining.

The Cardinals maintained their momentum and got to within 59-55 on Kamari Lands’ two free throws with 6:41 to go.

However, Tipton hit two free throws and followed with a layup, a fall-away jumper and a layup on consecutive possession to stretch the lead to 67-55 with 4:41 left.

Louisville made its final push by going on an 11-0 run to pull to within 67-66 on James’ 3-pointer with 1:02 remaining. Ellis missed the front end of a one-and-one with 43 seconds left that would have tied the game.

After a Bellarmine turnover with 27.3 seconds left, Lands missed a baseline jumper with eight seconds left and Roosevelt Wheeler’s follow from close range clanged off the rim with four seconds to play.

Bellarmine shot 21 of 43 (48.8 percent) from the field, including 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and scored 16 points off Louisville’s 13 turnovers.

Louisville outrebounded the Knights 32-26 but shot 22 of 52 (42.3 percent) from the field and 11 of 28 (39.3 percent) from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media

Adam Miller scored 18 points and KJ Williams had a double-double as LSU defeated Kansas City 74-63 in its season opener Wednesday night in Baton Rouge, La.

Miller and Williams were both making their Tigers debuts in Matt McMahon’s first game as head coach. Miller missed all of last season due to injury after transferring from Illinois. Williams, who finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, is the reigning Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year who followed McMahon from Murray State. Justice Hill added 13 points.

Shemarri Allen scored 19 points and Rayquawndis Mitchell added 15 to lead the Roos, who lost their second straight under first-year head coach Marvin Menzies.

Miller started the second-half scoring with a jumper, and added a 3-pointer between two dunks by Johnson for a 50-38 Tigers lead.

The Roos made just two field goals during the first five minutes following the break, but crept within 63-54 on Allen’s 3-pointer midway through the half.

LSU’s Trae Hannibal scored the next three points, but a 7-0 run pulled Kansas City within 66-61.

Derek Fountain made two free throws to end the Tigers’ 4 1/2-minute scoring drought and he added a dunk for a 70-61 lead with less than five minutes remaining.

The Roos made just one field goal in the final 7 1/2 minutes.

Mwani Wilkinson, the most prominent hold-over from last year’s Tigers team, began the scoring by making a 3-pointer and added another for a 12-4 lead.

Allen David Mukeba Jr. made a 3-pointer to pull Kansas City within 15-12, but the Tigers rebuilt the lead to nine on a layup by Justice Williams.

Mukeba’s layup got the Roos within 25-22, but LSU increased the lead to 34-25 on a jumper by Hill.

Kansas City crept within 34-32 on a layup by Precious Idiaru, but Hill made two free throws and hit a 3-pointer down the stretch as the Tigers took a 41-34 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Tray Jackson posted 12 points and five rebounds off the bench, freshman Tae Davis had 11 points and eight rebounds and Seton Hall stomped Monmouth 79-52 in both teams’ season opener Wednesday in Newark, N.J.

The Pirates (1-0) used a 15-0 run late in the first half to create plenty of separation from their New Jersey foes. Seton Hall shot 45.3 percent as a team while Monmouth (0-1) finished just 29.8 percent from the floor.

Tyrese Samuel had 11 points and five rebounds for Seton Hall. Clemson transfer Al-Amir Dawes added 10, as all 10 players in Seton Hall’s main rotation finished with at least two points.

It marked Shaheen Holloway’s debut as head coach of his alma mater after guiding Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight last March.

Monmouth forward Myles Foster led all players with 18 points (13 in the second half) and 15 rebounds. Both were career highs. Nine of his boards came from the offensive glass as he helped Monmouth outrebound Seton Hall in the first half, 26-19.

The Hawks lost 18 of their 23 total turnovers during the first half and shot 2 for 20 from 3-point range.

Tahron Allen drove for two layups to bring Monmouth within 20-15 with 7:49 left in the first half. Jackson responded by making a layup and foul shot, then converted a steal into a fast-break dunk — the first five points of Seton Hall’s 15-0 run. Saint Peter’s transfer KC Ndefo contributed a dunk during the extended stretch.

The Pirates led 36-17 at intermission. Monmouth shot just 5 of 29 from the floor before halftime and didn’t make a field goal for the final 7:49.

Foster led Monmouth out of halftime with an early layup to break the field goal drought, and a later bucket kept the Hawks within 46-27.

Seton Hall answered with a quick 10-0 run thanks to 3-pointers by Jamir Harris and Dawes and two layups from freshman Tae Davis. That gave Seton Hall a 29-point lead, and they would lead by as many as 30 in the final minutes.

–Field Level Media

Arizona State and visiting Northern Arizona head into their game Thursday between the intra-state schools in Tempe, Ariz., feeling very differently about their respective season openers.

The Sun Devils (1-0) are coming off a scare on Monday, when they outlasted Tarleton State 62-59, while the Lumberjacks (0-1) are feeling confident following a competitive loss at Michigan State the same night.

While Northern Arizona ended up losing by 18 points to the Spartans, 73-55, it played almost basket-for-basket with Michigan State in the second half in East Lansing, Mich.

A late 3-point play turned by Marcus Bagley, returning from a knee injury last year, followed a turnover that proved to be the difference for Arizona State.

Arizona State, led by Michigan transfer Frankie Collins’ 21 points, shot only 33.9 percent from the field and 14 of 29 from the free-throw line.

The Sun Devils recorded only 10 assists.

“They outplayed us, really,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “We were just fortunate enough to make some plays down the stretch and close the game out.”

Northern Arizona, playing its first game in a Big Ten arena, was led by Virginia Tech transfer Jalen Cone’s 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“The biggest thing our team took out of this is that you compete the whole time,” said Northern Arizona coach Shane Burcar, whose team shot 25.8 percent from the field in the first half when Michigan State built a 34-20 lead at halftime. “Something that Jalen has done since he transferred from Virginia Tech is he’s a great shooter, and he’s such a coachable young man.”

Northern Arizona and Arizona State will meet for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when the Sun Devils won 97-62.

The Lumberjacks upset Arizona State in the two previous matchups at Tempe — 75-71 in the 2006-07 season and 69-68 in 2011-12.

Hurley mentioned his team should be more focused for Northern Arizona coming off the close win against Tarleton State.

“I don’t think it was a real celebratory locker room and that’s on me, that’s on our staff,” he said. “We got to do a better job of making sure we’re prepared to play.”

–Field Level Media

The season didn’t start the way preseason No. 1 North Carolina wanted it to. Yes, the Tar Heels won their opener, but didn’t run away with the victory and looked fairly poor in multiple facets of the game.

“I think we all came out a little rusty,” said UNC’s Armando Bacot, the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Player of the Year. “It’s not easy winning a game. I’m glad it’s the first game and not later on in the season.”

Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels will aim to play sharper Friday night when they host the College of Charleston in Chapel Hill, N.C.

UNC (1-0) beat in-state foe UNC-Wilmington 69-56 on Monday but did not look like a team with aspirations of getting back to the national championship game. The Tar Heels finished with just four assists — its fewest in a single game since a 1980 double-overtime loss to Texas A&M in the NCAA Tournament.

Davis said those low assist numbers were a product of the Heels being off their game on the offensive end.

“I just felt like, especially on the offensive end, we were moving at such a nervousness, anxiousness type of pace that at times we couldn’t even catch the basketball,” Davis said. “My hope is that it was just the first game, anxiousness and nervousness that uncharacteristically put us in a position where we weren’t sharing the ball like we usually do.”

The good news is that UNC was sharp defensively, holding the visiting Seahawks to just three assists, the fewest by a Heels’ opponent since 1975. UNC-Wilmington shot just 29.3 percent from the floor.

RJ Davis and Caleb Love led the Heels in scoring with 17 points apiece, while Bacot had a near double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Bacot’s boards were enough to push him past Mitch Kupchak and Brad Daugherty on UNC’s all-time rebounding chart. The senior has 1,010 and needs just 17 to catch seventh-place Antwan Jamison.

“They held me to nine rebounds. I would say that’s probably a bad game for me and I didn’t think any of us played good today, specifically the starting five,” Bacot said. “We all kind of struggled with things, but we’re going to build on that. It definitely starts with me.”

The Charleston Cougars are 1-0 after opening with an 85-78 win over UT-Chattanooga. Sophomore guard Reyne Smith shot 5-for-10 from 3-point range on his way to scoring 24 points to lead the Cougars.

“(Smith is) an elite shooter and people make it hard for him to get looks,” Charleston coach Pat Kelsey told the Post and Courier. “He got lost a little bit. He doesn’t need a lot of space. He’s like a closer in baseball. He has such a short memory.”

Jaylon Scott and Dalton Bolon each added 11 points apiece. It was Scott’s debut as a Cougar, and he also added five rebounds. He transferred in from NAIA Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., where he was the conference Defensive Player of the Year three times.

Charleston went 17-15 last season in Kelsey’s first year as head coach.

–Field Level Media

Marquette’s second game of the season against visiting Central Michigan on Thursday night in Milwaukee will certainly have a more intimate feeling than a usual Golden Eagles home contest.

The nonconference matchup will be played at Marquette’s 3,700-seat Al McGuire Center on campus instead of the regular home court at the Fiserv Forum, also the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks with a basketball capacity of 17,385.

Marquette (1-0) defeated visiting Radford 79-69 in the nonconference season opener for each team on Monday. Central Michigan, which defeated Division II Northwood 88-61 in an exhibition game last Thursday, will be playing its first regular-season game.

Marquette, picked ninth in the Big East preseason poll, never trailed against Radford, but had difficulty putting away the Highlanders. A 16-0 run in the second half put the Golden Eagles up 69-50 with 8 1/2 minutes left, but Radford rallied within 75-69 down the stretch.

Junior forward Oso Ighodaro led the Golden Eagles with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 13 points as Marquette finished with a 42-20 advantage on points in the paint.

“When we were at our best, we were really, really good and connected on the defensive end,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. “There was a couple times where we put ourself in position where we could have really broken the game open and made a really big margin, but we didn’t make the next few plays after that.”

Central Michigan was picked 10th in the preseason poll in the 12-team Mid-American Conference after finishing 7-23 last season.

The Chippewas are led by sophomore point guard Kevin Miller, who averaged team-bests 13.1 points and 4.6 assists per game last season and was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.

Senior guard Brian Taylor averaged 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds last season. Junior transfer Jesse Zarzuela led Coppin State in scoring (14.7 ppg). New faces also include freshman guard Max Majerle, son of former Central Michigan and NBA standout Dan Majerle.

Central Michigan had four players in double figures in its exhibition win. Freshman Reggie Bass led with 19 points and Zarzuela added 17. Markus Harding, a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, posted 15 points and 11 rebounds while Miller finished with 15 points, 10 assists, and five steals.

“I was happy with the outcome and how we looked on the floor,” Central Michigan coach Tony Barbee said. “We looked like a team and we played together. Defensively, we got a little sloppy in spots and tried to gamble for steals and that got us out of position, but overall, I was pleased with the effort.”

Marquette last played Central Michigan in 2008, winning 81-67 at home.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton wasn’t terribly concerned that his team missed their first 11 3-point attempts in Monday night’s season opener, figuring the law of averages would eventually take over.

Sure enough, the Cowboys made 6 of their next 13 and eventually opened up a 31-point second-half lead in a 77-66 home win over Texas-Arlington.

Oklahoma State will try to put together a more consistent effort Thursday night when it hosts Southern Illinois in another nonconference clash in Stillwater, Okla.

What Boynton found most encouraging about his team’s response to not making shots was that they didn’t let it affect their defense. The Cowboys did enough to take a 27-22 halftime lead, then erupted for a 28-2 run to start the second half.

“That’s not always easy to do,” Boynton said. “Especially early when you’re coming in and there’s expectations on individual guys and the team to perform on the floor. We were able to put it together for a good stretch in the second half and get some separation.”

Bryce Thompson scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Oklahoma State, which hit 11 of 14 shots to open the second half and went more than six minutes without missing in one stretch.

Meanwhile, the Salukis started their season with a 94-63 rout of Little Rock in Carbondale. Eleven players scored and four were in double figures as SIU sank 58.2 percent of its field goals, including 12 of 28 on 3-pointers.

Lance Jones and reserve Dalton Banks tallied 14 points each, while Marcus Domask added 11. Jawaun Newton, one of four players out of the transfer portal playing key roles for the Salukis, came off the bench to net 10.

SIU finished with a whopping 51 points off the bench and dominated the boards 48-25.

“Our bench gave us a huge lift throughout the game,” said coach Bryan Mullins. “Different guys stepped up through the game on both ends of the floor.”

The Salukis own a 4-2 lead in the all-time series, although the teams haven’t played in 14 years.

–Field Level Media