LAS VEGAS (AP) — Boogie Ellis had 24 points and eight rebounds as No. 21 Southern California defeated Kansas State 82-69 in the season opener for both teams. The Trojans led by 19 with 6:33 left, but that margin was trimmed to eight with 1:41 remaining before USC held on. Touted freshman Isaiah Collier made his USC debut with 18 points, including 15 in the first half. He added six assists and received a standing ovation when he went to the bench after fouling out with 4:50 to play. Kobe Johnson finished with 16 points for the Trojans, and Joshua Morgan had 11. Tyler Perry led Kansas State with 22 points, and Cam Carter scored 15.
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and eight rebounds in the Michigan transfer's debut to lead top-ranked Kansas to a 99-56 rout of North Carolina Central on Monday night. Kevin McCullar Jr. hit four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points for the Jayhawks, who have won 51 straight home openers. Kansas used a 20-2 run midway through the first half and led 59-17 by the break. Ja'Darius Harris scored 12 points to lead the Eagles.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) – Four Shockers finished in double figures and Wichita State led nearly wire-to-wire in a 76-59 win over Lipscomb Monday night to open the 2023-24 season. Head coach Paul Mills saw his offense blitz the Bisons in his Wichita State coaching debut. Wichita State (1-0) has won 27 of its last 28 home openers and improved to 29-2 in season openers since 1992.
WACO, Texas (AP) — Dre’una Edwards scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and No. 19 Baylor pulled away in the second half to beat Southern 85-53 in the season opener for both teams. Jada Walker scored 15 points, Sarah Andrews had 14 with seven assists and Madison Bartley added 12 points. Walker and Andrews each hit three of Baylor’s eight 3-pointers. Baylor scored nine of the first 12 second-half points to push its lead into double figures for good and used a 14-0 run to make it 60-34 late in the third quarter. Soniyah Reed led Southern with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Taylor Williams added 11 points. Baylor shot 53% from the field, outscored the Jaguars 15-3 from the free-throw line and scored 24 points off 14 Southern turnovers.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Ithiel Horton scored 17 points and No. 18 Texas unveiled its new transfer-heavy lineup with an 88-56 season-opening romp over Incarnate Word. Texas made it to the Elite Eight last season, and then rebuilt the team with five transfers. The Longhorns needed little time to find their on-court chemistry as a 21-0 run opened up an early 26-6 lead. Five Longhorns scored in double figures. Texas led 48-17 at halftime. Sky Wicks scored 26 for Incarnate Word.
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Ali Abdou Dibba scored 15 points and Hunter Jack Madden scored 14 points and Abilene Christian upset Oklahoma State 64-59 in a season opener for the teams. Connor Dow missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left and a chance to tie it. Madden made a pair of foul shots to seal it. His layup with nine minutes to go gave Abilene Christian a 53-40 advantage before the Cowboys rallied. Bryce Thompson scored 19 points and Mike Marsh 13 for Oklahoma State. The Wildcats’ lone win in the overall series prior to Monday happened in 1966, a 67-52 victory.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Day Day Thomas scored 14 points, two reserves reached double figures, and Cincinnati defeated UIC 69-58 in a season opener. Thomas, a veteran point guard, added three steals, three assists and three rebounds. Dan Skillings Jr. had 13 points and eight rebounds and fellow reserve CJ Fredrick, a transfer from Kentucky, added 11 points. Big 12-newcomer Cincinnati held the Flames to two points over one 4-minute stretch of the first half and led 40-30 at the break. UIC was within 41-36 early in the second half but was held to two points in a 6-minute stretch, leaving Cincinnati ahead 52-38 at the under-12 timeout. Cincinnati’s largest lead was 63-47.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Quinn Slazinski scored 18 points, Jesse Edwards had 13 points and 13 rebounds, and West Virginia beat Missouri State 67-59. It took a while, but the Mountaineers were able to put a tumultuous offseason behind after the resignation of coach Bob Huggins following a drunken driving arrest. West Virginia made only four first half-field goals, then went ahead by as many as 11 points after halftime. Chance Moore led Missouri State with 24 points. He hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to trim the deficit to 61-59. But the Bears didn’t score again. West Virginia’s Seth Wilson scored all 11 of his points after halftime.
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Javian McCollum knocked down three 3-pointers and scored a team-high 19 points in his Oklahoma debut and returning starter Otega Oweh added 18 to lead the Sooners to an 89-59 win over Central Michigan. McCollum, who last played at Siena, is one of six transfers to join a half-dozen returners on the Oklahoma roster.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Injured Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers has resumed throwing again and been upgraded as “day to day,” coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. The coach didn't say when Ewers might return. The No. 7 Longhorns play at TCU this week. Second-year freshman Maalik Murphy has started the last two games. Texas won both but Murphy struggled after a good start in an overtime win over Kansas State. He threw two interceptions and had two more passes dropped by defenders.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Derius Davis returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown, Austin Ekeler ran for two scores and Joey Bosa and Los Angeles’ defense stifled Zach Wilson and the New York Jets’ bumbling offense in the Chargers’ 27-6 victory. Justin Herbert was 16 of 30 for just 136 yards, but became the fastest player in NFL history to 1,500 completions as the Chargers snapped the Jets’ three-game winning streak. Keenan Allen had eight catches for 77 yards to reach 10,000 career yards receiving. Los Angeles forced New York to fumble four times and recovered three of them and sacked Wilson eight times.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs have hired manager Craig Counsell away from Milwaukee, landing the former big leaguer with a record-breaking contract and firing David Ross in a tandem of surprising moves. The 53-year-old Counsell became the majors’ highest paid manager with a five-year contract worth more than $40 million. That's according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms weren’t announced. Ross went 262-284 in four seasons with Chicago, winning the NL Central in 2020 in his first year in charge. Counsell led the budget-conscious Brewers to five playoff appearances in the last six years.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets are hiring Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as their manager, according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had not been announced. Mendoza spent the past four seasons across town as Aaron Boone’s bench coach with the New York Yankees. He replaces Buck Showalter, who was fired by the Mets at the end of last season. It's the first high-profile hire by new Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who took over his hometown team early last month.
NEW YORK (AP) — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani was among seven players given $20,325,000 qualifying offers by their former teams as the free agent market opened for 168 players. All seven players are likely to turn down the offers by the Nov. 14 deadline to accept in favor of multiyear contracts on the open market. In addition to the Los Angeles Angels’ offer to Ohtani, the others to receive qualifying offers were outfielder Cody Bellinger, pitchers Josh Hader and Blake Snell, Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray and third baseman Matt Chapman. By making a qualifying offer, a team could receive draft-pick compensation when high school and college players are selected next July
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A former college football staffer shared documents with Michigan that showed a Big Ten opponent had spreadsheets of the Wolverines’ signs last year obtained before his team played Michigan. The material relied on intelligence gathered from multiple conference schools that had already played the Wolverines, according to the former staffer. He says he has since given Michigan the material along with screenshots of text-message exchanges with staffers at other Big Ten schools. The alleged actions are potentially in violation of the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy. Michigan is under NCAA investigation for impermissible scouting.
MONDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final L.A. Chargers 27 N-Y Jets 6
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Kansas 99 NC Central 56
Final (2)Duke 92 Dartmouth 54
Final (3)Purdue 98 Samford 45
Final James Madison 79 (4)Michigan St. 76
Final (5)Marquette 92 N. Illinois 70
Final (6)UConn 95 N. Arizona 52
Final (7)Houston 84 Louisiana-Monroe 31
Final (9)Tennessee 80 Tennessee Tech 42
Final (12)Arizona 122 Morgan St. 59
Final (13)Miami 101 NJIT 60
Final (14)Arkansas 93 Alcorn St. 59
Final (15)Texas A&M 78 Texas A&M Commerce 46
Final (16)Kentucky 86 New Mexico St. 46
Final (17)San Diego St. 83 Cal St.-Fullerton 57
Final (18)Texas 88 Incarnate Word 56
Final (19)North Carolina 86 Radford 70
Final (21)Southern Cal 82 Kansas St. 69
Final (22)Villanova 90 American 63
Final (23)Saint Mary's (Cal.) 107 CS Stanislaus 28
Final (24)Alabama 105 Morehead St. 73
Final (25)Illinois 80 E. Illinois 52
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Golden State 120 Detroit 109
Final Indiana 152 San Antonio 111
Final Philadelphia 146 Washington 128
Final Dallas 117 Orlando 102
Final New York 111 L.A. Clippers 97
Final Miami 108 L.A. Lakers 107
Final Milwaukee 129 Brooklyn 125
Final Chicago 130 Utah 113
Final Houston 122 Sacramento 97
Final Oklahoma City 126 Atlanta 117
Final OT Minnesota 114 Boston 109
Final Denver 134 New Orleans 116
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final OT Florida 5 Columbus 4
Final OT Toronto 6 Tampa Bay 5
Final Boston 3 Dallas 2