Washington State will play its second road game of the season on Tuesday night against Prairie View A&M in Prairie View, Texas.

The Pac-12 Conference’s Cougars (1-1) will try to come back from a 71-61 defeat at Boise State on Saturday night.

“You can’t have three assists and 15 turnovers and think you’re going to have a chance to win on the road,” Cougars coach Kyle Smith said.

Washington State also would be helped by shooting better. Through two games, the Cougars are shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3-point range.

Errant shooting helped DJ Rodman, son of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, grab a career-high 14 rebounds in Saturday night’s loss to the Broncos.

“For me, if I’m not going to shoot it well, I’m going to go as hard as I can to get us extra shots, because more shots mean more opportunities to make baskets,” Rodman said.

TJ Bamba, who scored a career-high 24 points against Boise State, and Mouhamed Gueye each are averaging at least 15 points a game.

“Bamba was able to get in there and make baskets and make plays and played hard,” Smith said of the guard’s effort Saturday night. “He’s also taking on their point guard, so he’d doing double duty — he has to guard the ball and then be counted on to make some big plays.”

Talented freshman Dylan Darling, who has been sidelined with a hip injury, remains questionable to play against Prairie View A&M.

The Southwestern Athletic Conference’s Panthers (2-0) defeated NAIA member North American University 95-68 on Wednesday night.

Will Douglas and Hegel Augustin each are averaging 15.5 points per game for Prairie View A&M through the first two contests.

The Panthers are averaging 94.5 points per game and allowing 73.5 via wins against Kansas Christian College and North American. They’ve shot 50 percent from the field overall, but only 33 percent from 3-point range.

–Field Level Media

No. 21 Dayton will look to keep its early-season momentum going when the Flyers travel to Las Vegas for a game with UNLV on Tuesday night.

Mustapha Amzil (17.0 points per game) and DaRon Holmes II (16.5) have led the Flyers in their first two wins, over Lindenwood and SMU. Amzil and Holmes each had 20 points in a 74-62 victory over SMU on Friday.

Holmes was 7-of-11 from the field against SMU; he also blocked five shots and grabbed seven rebounds while playing in 39 of the game’s 40 minutes. Holmes was pivotal in Dayton’s 15-3 game-ending run that helped the Flyers pull away for the victory.

“I would say the thing that impressed me about him, and our team, was they stayed poised,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “This was a back-and-forth, highly contested game. At one point, in the second half, we had a 13-point lead, and they erased it.

“They didn’t get rattled. We showed great poise as a group. Certainly DaRon, we went to him a lot. I thought he was aggressive to score. I thought he read the defense and made some outstanding passes to his teammates that led to open looks.”

UNLV also has won its first two games and is coming off an 88-63 home victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday. Tuesday’s game will be the third of a season-opening four-game homestand for the Rebels and is a huge step up in class against a ranked opponent.

Keshon Gilbert recorded a career high in scoring for a second consecutive game, with 23 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. Gilbert also chipped in with a career-high four steals.

Jackie Johnson III added 13 points for the Rebels, while Luis Rodriguez added 10 points with a career-high six steals, six rebounds and five assists. Gilbert, Johnson and Rodriguez combined to shoot 64 percent (16 of 25) from the field.

UNLV has forced at least 25 turnovers in each of its first two games. Southern committed 28 on Monday before Incarnate Word turned it over 25 times Saturday, leading to 29 points for UNLV.

“I thought it was a really great effort defensively,” UNLV coach Kevin Kruger said. “Again, forcing 25 turnovers is what gets things going for us. I’m really proud and happy for them. We shot it well, shared the ball, got it in the paint, kicked it out, swung it, drove it — a lot of good plays for each other.

“We were able to get downhill and get to the free-throw line, so that’s going to have to be our m.o. offensively, just sharing it, driving and kicking, relocating. But all-in-all I thought it was a pretty good night for us.”

UNLV dominated from the free-throw line, attempting 29 to Incarnate Word’s three. After converting just 4 of 26 from 3-point range against Southern, UNLV recovered to drain 7 of 15 against Incarnate Word and has made at least one 3-pointer in an NCAA-record 1,163 straight games.

–Field Level Media

The South Alabama Jaguars nearly pulled off an upset against Alabama last year.

Now they get another chance, but this time the Jaguars will be at home.

That’s the set-up for Tuesday night, when the 18th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (2-0) visit the Jaguars (1-1) in Mobile, Ala.

Last season, Alabama was ranked 14th when the Jaguars visited Tuscaloosa and lost a close contest, 73-68. The Jaguars led at halftime and the score was tied 62-62 with 3:00 left in the game before Alabama pulled away.

The Jaguars played that game without their top two point guards, Tyrell Jones and Greg Parham II. However, both guards are available Tuesday night.

The Jaguars are coming off an 80-74 road loss at New Mexico. But Jaguars coach Richie Riley is looking at the bigger picture when it comes to the team’s nonconference schedule.

“I think it will prepare us very well for Sun Belt play,” Riley said. “I think we have a group with the maturity level and the approach to really take a lot from this slate besides wins and losses. We have a group that can take a lot from it and better prepare us to have a chance to win a league championship, because that’s what it’s about.”

Parham has averaged 13.0 points per game and Jones is at 9.0 points. Isaiah Moore leads the Jaguars in scoring (16.5) and assists (9.0). The team’s other double-figure scorers are Kevin Samuel (13.0) and Jamar Franklin (12.0).

The Jaguars finished last season 21-12, failing to make the NCAA Tournament. They did advance to the semifinals of The Basketball Classic.

Meanwhile, Alabama has to play two more mid-major teams — the Jaguars and Jacksonville State — before the Crimson Tide get their first major test of the season in a neutral-site game against Michigan State on Nov. 24.

Alabama started this season by shooting just 3 of -28 (10.7 percent) on 3-pointers in a 75-54 win over Longwood. In Alabama’s second game — a 95-59 win over Liberty — the Tide shot a sizzling 45.5 percent (10-for-22) on 3-pointers.

“I wasn’t concerned with our 3-point shooting,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “I’ve seen us make shots a lot in practice. We just told them when to take the right shots. Shoot in rhythm and trust your work.”

Brandon Miller and Mark Sears lead Alabama in scoring (17.0 points per game each). Miller tops the team in rebounds (10.5) and Sears is second (9.0).

Rylan Griffen (15.0) and Jaden Bradley (10.5) are Alabama’s other double-figure scorers. Sears leads the team in assists (4.5), and Griffen tops the squad in steals (2.0).

Miller, Griffen and Bradley are all true freshmen and part of a terrific recruiting class. Miller and Bradley were also McDonald’s All-Americans, and Sears is a transfer from Ohio, where he shot 40.8 percent on 3-pointrers.

Beyond the numbers, Alabama seems to have improved its chemistry from last season, when the Tide went 19-14, taking an upset loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Oats has let it be known that last season’s Tide players didn’t truly play for each other.

“We had guys last year that played with the sole purpose of improving their draft stock,” Oats told Fieldof68.com. “If that’s your sole purpose, it’s going to go backwards. But if you help us win games, your draft stock will go up.”

–Field Level Media

Stanford’s challenging non-conference schedule will continue Tuesday night when the Cardinal host No. 17 San Diego State at Palo Alto, Calif.

The Cardinal (1-1) are looking to bounce back from a 60-50 loss to Wisconsin on Friday at American Family Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers.

Forward Brandon Angel scored 14 points to lead Stanford, while guard Michael Jones added nine and forward Spencer Jones tallied eight points and four blocks. Stanford made just 1 of 16 3-point attempts in the unusual setting.

After hosting San Diego State, Stanford is headed to a Thanksgiving week tournament at Florida that includes a matchup against Ole Miss. The Cardinal also will face Texas at Dallas next month.

“The schedule’s extremely challenging,” Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. “We understand you need to be a big-time team to try and tackle it, but we want to be aggressive with it.

“We have big-time dreams and goals, and if you want to try to get to the top, you have to play really good teams.”

San Diego State qualifies in that category. The Aztecs improved to 2-0 with an 82-75 victory over BYU on Friday.

They were led by a pair of newcomers in TCU transfer Jaedon LeDee, who scored 23 points, while Seattle transfer Darrion Trammell added 21.

San Diego State was held to 40 percent shooting from the field and 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range, but the Aztecs forced 20 turnovers and took control down the stretch.

“I don’t know if it was poetry,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said, “but it was hard-fought basketball. We continue to play hard, even though we don’t play great all the time. We just made enough plays to get a win.”

Stanford and San Diego State will meet for the first time since 1997, with the Cardinal winning all four of the teams’ previous matchups.

The Cardinal were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 and boast a veteran squad led by Michael Jones, who scored a career-high 31 points in an 88-78 win over Pacific last Monday.

Stanford is shooting 23.7 percent from beyond the arc through two games.

“I do think at the end of the day, we’re going to have a fantastic 3-point-shooting team, and we’ll be a very efficient offensive team,” Haase said. ”Obviously that wasn’t the case (against Wisconsin).”

Stanford forward Harrison Ingram, the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, was held to six points on 2-of-8 shooting vs. Wisconsin. The 6-foot-7 forward will need an improved effort against San Diego State’s imposing front line.

Aztecs forward Nathan Mensah received Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors last season and finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocks against BYU.

San Diego State’s deep roster also includes a player familiar to Stanford in senior guard Matt Bradley. The Cal transfer averaged 16.9 points and 5.4 rebounds while starting all 32 games for the Aztecs last season.

–Field Level Media

No. 25 UConn’s season-opening, five-game homestand will continue with Buffalo visiting Hartford on Tuesday night.

The Huskies (2-0) rolled past Massachusetts foes Stonehill and Boston University last week, winning the latter game 86-57 Friday in Storrs, Conn.

Junior forward Adama Sanogo has paced UConn in both games. The Big East Preseason Player of the Year logged 27 points and 15 rebounds last time out, recording his 11th career double-double and connecting on his first two career 3-pointers.

“(Sanogo) has spent a lot of time growing his game and being able to step away,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “Sometimes play at the nail or the 3-point line, either to face up or drive it. … He can get the ball at different parts of the court.”

Sanogo is averaging 23 points (on 20-of-26 shooting) and 10.5 rebounds through the two games, which the Huskies have won by an average of 30 points.

With starting big man Samson Johnson (foot) and guards Andre Jackson (finger) and Jordan Hawkins (concussion) all injured, Sanogo’s hot start has been even more crucial. Redshirt freshman forward Alex Karaban stepped up against Boston University, posting 10 points and four assists.

“Each game, the opponent is getting better for us,” Hurley said. “But if we can figure out just to win these games and grow the roles of (four) transfers and get them some confidence, and get Alex a ton of experience and confidence, when we do get healthy it could have put us in a position where we’re better for it.”

Jackson and Hawkins might return this week, but their status for Tuesday remains unknown. The Huskies also will host UNC Wilmington on Friday in Storrs.

On Monday, UConn returned to the AP Top 25 after finishing last season ranked 20th.

Also, Sanogo was named Big East Player of the Week and Karaban earned Freshman of the Week honors. Karaban averaged 11.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the two wins.

UConn has won the past four games with Buffalo, and eight of nine all-time. The most recent meeting was a 79-68 Huskies win on Nov. 21, 2019, at the Charleston Classic.

After beating Patriot League favorite Colgate in their opener, the Bulls (1-1) fell 97-62 to an undefeated James Madison team that scored 100 points in its first two games.

Sophomore Curtis Jones led Buffalo with 13 points and six rebounds vs. James Madison, while the defense logged 16 steals.

Jones is one of nine newcomers on the roster, six of whom are transfers. The newness of the roster is not changing the expectations for coach Jim Whitesell, however.

“The schedule, people say, it’s a tough schedule, and we’ve always had a good, challenging nonconference schedule,” Whitesell said. “But you want to compete. Compete for championships and compete for postseason play, and I don’t think that’s changed in our minds at all.”

Buffalo was picked to finish sixth out of 12 teams in the Mid-American Conference.

–Field Level Media

It is a small sample size against small-school competition, yet positive encouragement to Brandon Murray that he leads Georgetown with 15 assists and four steals entering Tuesday’s visit from Northwestern in the Big Ten-Big East Gavitt Tipoff Games.

“I think that’s just me making the right play, the right read throughout the game,” Murray said. “It is nothing specific I’ve been working on. I can just make the right reads and see the court really well. That has been helping me.”

Murray showed strong potential at LSU last season, averaging 10 points in 31 minutes per game as a freshman before transferring to Georgetown.

He is off to a solid start for the Hoyas (2-0), averaging 18.5 points per game while shooting 6-for-9 from 3-point range. Murray was among four Hoyas in double figures during Saturday’s 92-58 victory against Wisconsin-Green Bay, scoring 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting while adding seven assists and four rebounds.

“(Murray) can score at all three levels and is also a lockdown defender,” Hoyas coach Patrick Ewing said, “But it’s not about the scoring, it’s about defense. … He makes all the right plays.”

Northwestern (2-0) also excelled defensively in the first week of the season. The Wildcats stifled Northern Illinois during Friday’s 63-46 home victory, holding the Huskies to 33.3 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers.

“I thought defensively, we really did the job when we needed to,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. “Holding this team to 19 points in the second half. They have dangerous scorers.”

Robbie Beran led Northwestern with 15 points, Boo Buie scored 13 and Ty Berry contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Collins likes the Wildcats’ perseverance and focus thus far.

“It’s not easy to win at this level,” Collins said. “It’s not. All these teams have good players. They have veteran guys, and if you’re not ready to play at a high level, you can lose to anyone. You have to respect your opponents, and I thought we did.”

Tuesday marks the first meeting between Georgetown and Northwestern.

–Field Level Media

Barely one week into the college basketball season, Michigan State prepares for a second game with an opponent ranked in the top five.

First, the Spartans took on No. 2 Gonzaga on an aircraft carrier in San Diego last Friday. On Tuesday, Michigan State takes on No. 4 Kentucky in the first game of the annual Champions Classic in Indianapolis.

The Spartans nearly pulled off the upset against Gonzaga, falling 64-63.

Michigan State led by seven at halftime and by 12 points in the second half before Gonzaga rallied, but the Spartans hope the near-win over Gonzaga will give them confidence against the Wildcats.

“Well, it’ll instill a lot of confidence, but it’s no moral victory because you still gotta win games in this,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “But we did do a lot of things right. And most of them you wouldn’t see because they were scouting report things. That’s what you look for.”

The biggest question for Kentucky is the status of returning National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe, who hasn’t played in the first two games of the season after undergoing a knee procedure in October.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari wasn’t sure of Tshiebwe’s status after Friday’s 77-52 win over Duquesne.

“He’s ahead of schedule, but you’ve got to be able to stop and turn,” he said. “It’s not a ligament or anything like that. But there was an operation where they went inside that area to where it will still be sore for a minute. We’ll have to see.”

Even if Tshiebwe doesn’t play, as per tradition under Calipari, Kentucky has other weapons.

Senior point guard Sahvir Wheeler led the SEC in assists the last two seasons, senior guards Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick provide shooting and scoring, while Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston are highly touted freshmen.

“This game will be a rough time,” Calipari said of playing Michigan State. “Offensive rebounds, you are going to have to work like crazy because they are going to hold blockouts. You are going to have to fight. They are going to fight through screens, they are going to be up in you and they are going to collapse defensively.”

The Spartans are the only unranked team in the Champions Classic with No. 7 Duke and No. 6 Kansas part of the nationally televised doubleheader.

Maybe the biggest revelation for Michigan State against Gonzaga was the play of junior center Mady Sissoko.

Little used during his first two years in the program, Sissoko had 14 points, seven rebounds and more than held his own against Gonzaga star Drew Timme.

Frontcourt size and depth was a concern all offseason for a Michigan State team deep with ball handling guards such as A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins, so more performances such as that from Sissoko could elevate the Spartans to another level.

“Yeah I told you all summer, I told everybody he’s worked his tall off,” Izzo said of Sissoko.

This will be the first meeting between the teams since the 2019 Champions Classic, when Kentucky won 69-62.

–Field Level Media

Providence hosts a new Division I opponent on Tuesday as Stonehill makes the quick trip to Rhode Island’s capital city.

The Friars (2-0) will close a three-game homestand against coach Ed Cooley’s alma mater after downing Northeastern 89-65 on Saturday.

Guard Jared Bynum had a game-high 21 points and nine assists to lead Providence, which used a 20-3 run in the second half to take control.

“I thought Jared Bynum became Superman in the second half,” Cooley said. “That’s what first-team all-conference players do, they lead the right way.”

Clifton Moore added 15 points, stepping up while senior forward Ed Croswell left the game temporarily with a finger injury. Sophomore Bryce Hopkins had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Cooley is happy with the contributions from both newcomers and veterans, but there is plenty to improve upon before tougher challenges at the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off this weekend.

“We’re still trying to figure our team out,” Cooley said. “It’s one game at a time. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re just a work in progress trying to improve, trying to build an identity and a chemistry.”

The Friars are 81-5 in nonconference home games under Cooley.

A Northeast Conference newcomer, Stonehill (1-2) started a six-game road trip with its first-ever victory as a Division I program, 82-77 against Army on Saturday at West Point.

Andrew Sims scored 21 points and Isaiah Burnett had 19. Sims has at least 21 points in back-to-back games.

“We talked about competing and leaving it all out there for 40 minutes and that’s what it took to get the win,” Stonehill coach Chris Kraus said. “It took our group to be tough and together to win at such a prestigious place like West Point.”

The Skyhawks opened the season with an 85-54 loss at UConn and also play at Boston College before the start of the conference schedule.

Though Providence and Stonehill haven’t played a regular-season game since 1979, they played in several exhibitions, including a 95-71 Friars’ victory on Oct. 21, 2021.

Cooley is a Stonehill Hall of Famer, 1994 graduate and three-time captain. The school is located in Easton, Mass., less than an hour from Providence.

–Field Level Media