NEW YORK (AP) — Ochai Agbaji scored a career-high 29 points and No. 3 Kansas beat Michigan State 87-74 at the Champions Classic on the opening night of college basketball. Remy Martin added 15 points and David McCormack had 10 for the Jayhawks, who returned four starters from last season’s squad that lost to USC in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were missing forward Jalen Wilson, who was suspended last week for the first three regular season games after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving last month. A.J. Hoggard scored 17 points and Julius Marble added 13 for the Spartans.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Sasha Stefanovic made 5 of 6 3-pointers and finished with 23 points to lead No. 7 Purdue past Bellarmine 96-67. Zach Edey added 16 points, Isaiah Thompson had 15 points, Brandon Newman 14 and Jaden Ivey 11 for the Boilermakers. C.J. Fleming and Dylan Penn each scored 14 points for Bellarmine. The Boilermakers made 16 of 34 3s and led by as many as 36 points in the second half.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zed Key saved No. 17 Ohio State from a season-opening embarrassment on Tuesday night, catching a sharp pass from freshman Malachi Branham in the paint and laying in a buzzer-beater to give the Buckeyes a 67-66 win over Akron. Akron was in position for the upset thanks to Ali Ali, who was fouled on a step-back 3-pointer and converted the four-point play to put the Zips ahead 66-65 with 6 seconds left in a game that was tied six times in the second half. E.J. Liddell led Ohio State with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Ali had 17 points and K.J. Walton 16 for the Zips.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Eric Ayala scored 13 points to surpass 1,000 for his career, and No. 21 Maryland beat Quinnipiac 83-69. Qudus Wahab added 17 points for the Terrapins, who led by 16 at halftime and never let Quinnipiac closer than the final margin of 14. Maryland won its 45th consecutive home opener and improved to 28-2 against current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Matt Balanc scored 25 points and Tyrese Williams added 19 for Quinnipiac, which took on Maryland for the first time.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Keegan Murray scored 22 of his career-high 24 points in the first half when Iowa broke the game open and went on to beat Longwood 106-73 to win its 11th straight season opener. Murray scored eight straight points in the midst of a 23-3 run to start the game. He scored 12 points in a 16-2 streak later in the half for a 33-point lead before the Hawkeyes went into the break ahead 56-29 with Murray already surpassing his career high of 14. Jordan Bohannon, the Hawkeyes’ leading returning scorer at 10.6 points per game, finished with 18, making six 3-pointers. Isaiah Wilkins scored 19 points with eight rebounds and Leslie Nkereuwem added 17 points for Longwood.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Trenton Massner scored 21 points and he and Luka Barisic hit 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds to rally Western Illinois to a 75-74 victory over Nebraska in a season opener. The Leathernecks had a two-point lead after George Dixon’s layup with 3:48 left, but Alonzo Verge Jr. hit a free throw and a layup, and Trey McGowens capped the 5-0 spurt with a dunk to give Nebraska a 72-69 lead with 2:07 to play. C.J. Wilcher hit 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to four before Massner buried a 3-pointer to get Western Illinois within 73-72 with 20 seconds remaining. Verge sank 1 of 2 free throws before Barisic hit the game-winner with 7 seconds left.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jacob Grandison scored a career-high 20 points as short-handed No. 11 Illinois opened the season by rolling past Jackson State 71-47. Grandison and Da’Monte Williams, both fifth-year seniors, were the only returning starters on the floor, but the Illini didn’t look out of sync. Sophomore Coleman Hawkins had a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds for the Illini. Illinois guard Andre Curbelo was ruled out shortly before the game with an injury. Star center Kofi Cockburn, Trent Frazier and Austin Hutcherson were also sidelined. Cockburn is serving a three-game suspension.
