C.J. Wilcher scored 21 points to lead host Nebraska to a 75-61 home win over in-state foe Omaha on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb.

Wilcher went 8-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Sam Griesel had 18 points and seven rebounds, Emmanuel Bandoumel supplied 18 points and six rebounds, and Blaise Keita had nine points and 12 rebounds for Nebraska (2-0).

Jaeden Marshall scored 16 points and Marquel Sutton had 14 points for Omaha (0-2), which lost its season opener to No. 5 Kansas.

Nebraska shot 50 percent (25 of 50) from the field and 36.8 percent (7 of 19) from 3-point range, which helped the Cornhuskers overcome an 18-of-31 performance at the free-throw line.

Omaha shot 41.4 percent (24 of 58) from the field and 29.4 percent (5 of 17) from distance 3-point range. The Mavericks committed 16 turnovers to 11 for Nebraska.

The rebounding battle was even at 35.

After leading 41-31 at halftime, Nebraska opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 51-35 lead with 14:18 remaining.

Omaha responded, cutting Nebraska’s lead to 55-48 with 9:36 remaining, but the Cornhuskers built their lead back up to double-digits at 60-48 with 8:43 left.

Shortly thereafter, Nebraska used a 6-0 run to grab a 66-51 lead with 5:45 remaining.

The Cornhuskers led by as many as 19 points with 2:01 left.

Nebraska wasted little time establishing itself, scoring the first 11 points of the game and taking a 21-6 lead with 11:22 remaining in the first half.

The Cornhuskers were up 29-12 before Omaha went on an 11-0 run of its own to shave the deficit to 29-23 with 5:15 to go in the first half.

Nebraska later went on a 7-1 run and led 41-29 lead with 17 seconds left until halftime.

–Field Level Media

Marcus Domask canned a corner 3-pointer with 21.6 seconds left Thursday night as Southern Illinois finished the game with a 10-1 run to beat Oklahoma State 61-60 in Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys had two chances to win the game, and they committed a turnover on their first. After Southern Illinois’ Troy D’Amico missed the front end of a one-and-one, Bryce Thompson’s 17-footer from out top went begging just before the buzzer.

Lance Jones scored a game-high 19 points for the Salukis (2-0), including seven in a row after Oklahoma State (1-1) owned a 59-51 lead with four minutes left.

Domask finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Southern Illinois won despite making only 38.3 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 9 of 31 3-point tries (29 percent), and getting outrebounded 43-31.

Thompson and Avery Anderson III scored 14 points each for the Cowboys, while Caleb Asberry came off the bench to net 13. Moussa Cisse added 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, but he missed three key foul shots in the final minute.

Oklahoma State made only 8 of 16 foul shots and committed 14 turnovers, canceling out its major advantages in size and quickness.

Southern Illinois got off to a fast start in the first seven minutes, using solid defense and the 3-point arc to build a 13-4 lead when Dalton Banks scored in transition at the 13:39 mark. The Salukis made three 3-pointers and hung with their taller opponent on the boards.

Oklahoma State finally got going on offense when Asberry came off the bench and drilled consecutive 3-pointers. The treys started a 12-2 run that gave the Cowboys their first lead of the game at the 8:05 mark on a short jumper by Cisse.

Anderson contributed six straight Oklahoma State points later in the half to give the Cowboys their biggest advantage at 25-19. After Southern Illinois drew within 30-28 on an AJ Ferguson corner 3-pointer in the last minute, Asberry sank one more trey to make it 33-28 at intermission.

–Field Level Media

Kevin Obanor and Jaylon Tyson scored 13 points apiece to help No. 25 Texas Tech to an easy 78-54 victory over Texas Southern on Thursday night at Lubbock, Texas.

De’Vion Harmon added 12 points as the Red Raiders (2-0) recorded their 23rd consecutive home win. Obanor was 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Zytarious Morlte had 12 points and three steals and Davon Barnes added 10 points for Texas Southern (0-2). John Walker III collected 12 rebounds for the Tigers.

Texas Southern played without PJ Henry (undisclosed injury), who scored 21 points in Monday’s season-opening loss at San Francisco.

Texas Tech shot 45.9 percent from the field but made just 29.4 percent (5 of 17) from 3-point range. The Red Raiders improved to 21-0 all-time against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The Tigers made only 35 percent of their attempts, including 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) from behind the arc. Texas Southern committed 19 turnovers to the Red Raiders’ 12.

A basket by Obanor pushed Texas Tech’s lead above 20 points for the first time at 56-35 with 11:27 remaining.

A short time later, Tyson converted back-to-back layups to make it 65-38 with 8:16 left.

Harmon made two free throws with 5:51 left to push lead over at 71-40 and the lead topped out at 32 as Texas Tech closed out the triumph.

Texas Southern trailed 15-13 after Kolby Granger’s basket with 11:20 remaining in the first half before the Red Raiders went on a 10-1 run to open up an 11-point lead.

Texas Tech later increased its advantage to 34-20 on Elijah Fisher’s short bank shot in the lane.

Harmon scored four straight points in the final minute of the half to give the Red Raiders a 19-point lead. But Isaiah Marin closed the half with a 3-pointer as the Tigers trailed 44-28 at the break.

Texas Tech shot 58.6 percent from the field in the first half, while Texas Southern shot 42.3 percent.

–Field Level Media

Jalen Wilson scored 11 points in the first eight minutes of the game as No. 5 Kansas demolished North Dakota State 82-59 Thursday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

Wilson finished the first half with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-4 from long range. He led the Jayhawks with 21 points for the game, though he sat much of the second half.

After a sluggish start in their season opener over Omaha on Monday, the Jayhawks (2-0) showed the advantage in athleticism with five first-half alley-oop dunks.

North Dakota State (0-2) played the second half even with the Jayhawks, but Kansas never led by less than the final margin of 23 in the second half. They led by as many as 34 points at 68-34. They also got scoring from 11 different players.

Kansas was Self-less for the second straight game, as head coach Bill Self served the second game of a four-game suspension imposed by the university related to an NCAA investigation into potential violations tied to KU’s relationship with Adidas. Norm Roberts is serving as interim coach.

Besides Wilson, who finished two points shy of his career high, Kansas got 12 points from Gradey Dick and 10 from MJ Rice.

North Dakota State relied heavily on the three-point shot. They took 32 of their 58 shots (nine of 21 makes) from behind the arc, including 20 of their 28 shots (five of seven makes) in the first half.

They were led by Grant Nelson with 11 points and Boden Skunberg with 10.

The Bison didn’t hit a field goal inside the arc until the 8:11 mark of the first half. The layup by Skunberg cut the Kansas lead to 26-11.

Kansas never trailed in the game. The Jayhawks extended the lead to 10 points (16-6) at the 12:43 mark.

–Field Level Media

David Joplin scored a career-high 23 points and four other players scored in double figures as Marquette took control early and rolled to a 97-73 nonconference victory over Central Michigan on Thursday night in Milwaukee.

Marquette (2-0), which struggled to put Radford away in a 79-69 season-opening win on Monday, gained command with a 20-2 run midway through the first half and pushed the lead to 30 points before Central Michigan rallied within 47-29 at the break.

The Golden Eagles outscored Central Michigan 22-11 to open the second half, pushing the lead back to 69-40 on Sean Jones’ 3-pointer.

Joplin, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, hit 8 of 12 shots, including 6 of 10 3-pointers. Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 13 points, Ben Gold and Chase Ross had 11 apiece, and Oso Ighodaro added 10.

Jesse Zarzuela had 17 points, Brian Taylor 15, and Kevin Miller 14 for Central Michigan, playing its regular-season opener after an 88-61 exhibition victory over Northwood.

Stevie Mitchell’s 3-pointer from the right corner capped a 12-point run that put Marquette in front 29-11 with 10:24 left in the first half.

After a jumper by Central Michigan’s Carrington McCaskill, the Golden Eagles ran off another eight points, pushing the lead to 37-13 on a breakaway jam by Prosper.

Tyler Kolek’s 3-pointer gave Marquette its biggest lead of the half at 45-15 with just under six minutes remaining.

Marquette shot 57 percent in the first half, scoring 11 points off 11 Central Michigan turnovers. Central Michigan made just 11 of 31 shots in the first half, including 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.

Central Michigan bounced back to shoot 56 percent in the second half. Marquette’s deficiencies were 14-of-27 free-throw shooting and allowing the Chippewas a 12-3 advantage in second-chance points.

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

–Field Level Media

Cormac Ryan’s layup with nine seconds left boosted Notre Dame to a 79-76 victory over visiting Radford in the Fighting Irish’s season-opener Thursday night.

Ryan scored in transition to lead 77-76 as Notre Dame took advantage of a 5-on-4 situation with Radford’s DaQuan Smith lying injured out of bounds after an unsuccessful drive to the basket.

The Highlanders had a chance to erase their one-point deficit, but senior Josiah Jeffers missed a 6-foot runner from the baseline with two seconds left.

Graduate student Nate Laszewski, who grabbed a defensive rebound and sank two clinching free throws with four-tenths of a second left, paced Notre Dame with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Trey Wertz added 18 points and Ryan finished with 10 points for the shorthanded Irish, who used just six players. Mike Brey boosted his record to 23-0 in Notre Dame home openers.

Freshman guard Kenyon Giles came off the bench to score 20 points for Radford (0-2), which led by as many as nine in the second half. Smith added 18 points.

Notre Dame established Laszewski early. He scored the team’s first nine points with a mix of 3-pointers, layups and free throws. But Radford scored on four of its first five possessions to prompt Notre Dame to ditch its man-to-man defense in favor of a zone.

Notre Dame clung to a 40-39 halftime lead, then missed eight of its first nine shots in the second half to help Radford build a 51-42 lead on Giles’ pullup jumper in transition with 13:22 to go.

Notre Dame’s comeback began with 9:36 left when Radford big man Shaquan Jules hit Laszewski in the face with a right elbow while making a move in the post. The officials ruled it to be a flagrant 1 foul, and Laszewski hit both free throws to cut Notre Dame’s deficit to 57-52. Ryan added two free throws on the ensuing possession.

The Irish finally regained a 72-71 lead on Dane Goodwin’s pair of free throws with 3:21 left, but Jeffers replied with consecutive driving layups to set up the riveting conclusion.

–Field Level Media

Aundre Hyatt scored 10 of his 19 points in the second half and Cam Spencer added 15 of his 18 in the first half as Rutgers took control in the opening minutes and cruised to an 88-50 rout of visiting Sacred Heart Thursday night in Piscataway, N.J.

Hyatt followed up a double-double in the season-opening 40-point win over Columbia by making five of seven shots and all seven of his free throw attempts.

After scoring 17 in his debut in the Columbia win, Spencer was even more productive on Thursday night. The Loyola of Maryland transfer made 6 of 10 shots, hit three 3-pointers and also collected seven rebounds and six assists.

Clifford Omoruyi scored on several inside moves and contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as the Scarlet Knights shot 51.7 percent and outrebounded Sacred Heart 36-31. Derek Simpson added 11 while Mawot Mag contributed eight and Paul Mulcahy nabbed four of Rutgers’ 17 steals.

Raheem Solomon scored 14 points and Nico Galette added 10 for the Pioneers (1-1), who shot 39.6 percent and missed 14 of 19 3-point tries. Gallette and Solomon also had four turnovers apiece as Sacred Heart allowed 29 points off 25 turnovers along with 22 fastbreak points.

Joey Reilly, who led the Pioneers with 23 points in their season-opening seven-point win over Hartford Monday, was held to five points.

Spencer scored 10 points in a 15-0 run and his putback layup staked Rutgers to a 19-7 lead with 13:01 remaining. A 3-pointer and a layup by Spencer upped the lead to 29-17 with 5:12 remaining and the Scarlet Knights held a 46-25 lead at halftime on consecutive dunks by Omoruyi and Simpson.

Spencer’s 3-pointer gave the Scarlet Knights a 58-29 lead less than three minutes into the second half, and Hyatt’s layup hiked the lead to 82-47 with just under five minutes to go.

–Field Level Media

Penn State picked up where it left off in its opening game, firing a barrage of 3-pointers at Loyola (Maryland) in a 90-65 victory Thursday night in State College, Pa.

Three nights after setting a program single-game record with 18 makes from long distance, the Nittany Lions (2-0) went 16 of 30 from beyond the arc.

In an equal-opportunity offense, nine Penn State players connected from distance, led by Camren Wynter, who made 3 of 4 on his way to a team-high 18 points.

Myles Dread came off the bench to make 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc to account for his 12 points. Jalen Pickett fed the well-spaced Nittany Lions offense with 11 assists.

Kebba Njie did the work inside for Penn State, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds. The Nittany Lions led in rebounding 33-26.

Jaylin Andrews led Loyola (0-2) with 23 points. Golden Dike added 10 points and six rebounds.

The Nittany Lions needed little time to warm up. Before the game was five minutes old, Andrew Funk, Seth Lundy, Dallion Johnson and Wynter drained 3-pointers as Penn State built a 14-4 lead.

With Andrews scoring inside and out, Loyola fought back. When Dike made layups on consecutive possessions, the Greyhounds were within 21-19 with 8:49 left in the half.

Penn State answered with another long-range assault. In just over five minutes, Dread made a trio of 3-pointers. Wynter and Johnson added one each as the Nittany Lions took their biggest lead of the half at 40-26.

Penn State opened the second half just as it did the first. With a 10-2 run, fueled by 3-pointers from Wynter and Caleb Dorsey, the Nittany Lions stretched their advantage to 50-31.

The Greyhounds never challenged again. They finished at 46.4 percent shooting from the floor, including 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Nittany Lions finished at 57.9 percent and 53.3 percent from distance.

Through two games, Penn State is shooting 50 percent (34 of 68) on 3-point attempts.

–Field Level Media

Julian Reese scored 19 points and sparked one of several Maryland scoring runs as the host Terrapins defeated Western Carolina 71-51 on Thursday night in College Park, Md.

Jahmir Young added 16 points and Hakim Hart had 10 points for Maryland (2-0), which was in control throughout its second straight home game to begin the season.

Tyzhaun Claude had 12 points for cold-shooting Western Carolina (0-2). The Catamounts made 27 percent of their shots from the field, with just six assists to their credit. With so many misses, their 14 offensive rebounds were enough to offset the shoddy shooting.

Reese made 7 of 9 shots from the field and 5 of 5 on free throws. He also pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Terrapins won despite 2-for-19 shooting from 3-point range.

Maryland was strong on defense for a second time this week after opening with a 71-49 victory against visiting Niagara. Western Carolina was charged with 17 turnovers to match its 17 field goals.

It took 11 minutes for the Terrapins to build a double-digit lead.

When Hart drained Maryland’s first 3-pointer with 15:51 to play in the second half, the Terrapins had a 41-21 lead.

Western Carolina’s inability to create sustained offense was a game-long issue. The Catamounts had a four-minute span without a field goal during the second half, enabling Maryland to maintain about a 20-point edge.

Reese scored seven points in Maryland’s 11-0 run that created a 61-31 spread while Western Carolina went another 4:16 between field goals.

Maryland held a 32-15 halftime lead, with Young and Reese combining for 21 points. Reese had his 10 points in the opening eight minutes.

In the first half, the Catamounts had 10 turnovers and six field goals while shooting 20 percent from the field. The offensive woes included two stretches of about five minutes without a point.

Maryland is 3-0 all-time against Western Carolina.

–Field Level Media

Mike White got a win in his first game as the Georgia coach but a second victory figures to be tougher to come by when his Bulldogs visit Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Friday night — one of two matchups pitting the Atlantic Coast Conference against the Southeastern Conference that night.

“An ACC road game in Game 2,” White said. “It’s not ideal, but an opportunity at the same time. They’re playing us early, too. We’ll find out really soon exactly where we’re at with our level of competition.”

South Carolina hosting Clemson is the other SEC-ACC matchup.

Georgia (1-0) opened with a 68-55 victory over Western Carolina to provide a successful debut for White, who spent the previous seven seasons as head coach at Florida. The media’s pick for 13th in the 14-team SEC, the Bulldogs return their leading scorer from last season in guard Kario Oquendo.

Oquendo, an all-SEC second-team pick two seasons ago, scored 18 points in the opener. Frank Anselem, a transfer from Syracuse, with 11 points was the only other Bulldog in double figures as Georgia had to fend off Western Carolina’s second-half rally after leading by 15 at halftime.

“We’ve got a little fight to us,” White said. “We’ve got to have a lot more fight to win in our league, of course, and we’ve got to execute better.”

Picked to finish ninth in the 15-team ACC, Wake Forest (1-0) opened with a 71-59 victory over Fairfield. Four players scored in double figures with Delaware transfer Andrew Carr, East Tennessee State transfer Daivien Williamson, and sophomore Cameron Hildreth scoring 14 points each. Freshman Bobi Klintman added 11.

Third-year coach Steve Forbes liked his team’s defense after it held Fairfield to less than 39-percent shooting and forced 13 turnovers. The Deacons had seven stops over the final four minutes of the first half and never trailed again.

“We didn’t get off to a great start offensively,” Forbes said, “but we didn’t let our offense dictate how we defended, and that kept us in the game.”

–Field Level Media