Top 25 Summary: No. 6 Gonzaga bullies No. 8 Baylor in the opener

Nolan Hickman led a balanced attack with 17 points as No. 6 Gonzaga beat No. 8 Baylor 101-63 in the main game of the opening night of the men's college basketball season on Monday in Spokane, Wash.

It was the Bulldogs' largest win against a top-10 team and surpassed their previous mark of 20 points.

Graham Ike added 15 points and eight rebounds for Gonzaga in a rematch of the 2021 NCAA title game, which the Bears won 86-70. Braden Huff scored 14 points, Khalif Battle added 12 and Dusty Stromer had 11 for the Bulldogs. Ryan Nembhard provided a game-high 11 assists.

Miami native Norchad Omier led Baylor with 15 points and nine rebounds. The Bears' prized freshman VJ Edgecombe scored just four points on 2-for-11 shooting from the field.

No. 1 Kansas 87, Howard 57

Zeke Mayo scored 19 points in his team debut, leading the Jayhawks to an easy victory over the Bison in Lawrence, Kan.

Mayo transferred to Kansas from South Dakota State and helped the Jayhawks to their 52nd straight home opener. At Kansas, Hunter Dickinson (16 points) and Flory Bidunga (13) also scored in double figures.

Blake Harper led Howard with 16 points. Anwar Gill and Marcus Dockery each scored seven points for the Bison.

No. 2 Alabama 110, UNC Asheville 54

Mark Sears scored 20 points in 24 minutes to help the Crimson Tide defeat the Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Clifford Omoruyi, a transfer from Rutgers, hit all six of his shots and had 16 points and eight rebounds for Alabama. Latrell Wrightsell Jr. added 13 points, Mouhamed Dioubate and Aden Holloway each had 11 and Jarin Stevenson and Labaron Philon each had 10.

Jordan Marsh scored 13 points, Toyaz Solomon added 11 and Kameron Taylor had 10 for UNC Asheville.

No. 4 Houston 97, Jackson State 40

LJ Cryer scored 16 points and J'Wan Roberts added 14 points and six rebounds as the Cougars started their season in style with a win over the visiting Tigers.

Mylik Wilson converted a late scoring drive into 15 points and Milos Uzan had eight points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals as the Cougars won their season opener for the 16th straight year.

Jalen Tatum scored 14 points and Romelle Mansel added seven points and six rebounds for the Tigers. Jackson State went 15-17 overall a season ago and was picked to finish fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

No. 5 Iowa State 83, Mississippi Valley State 44

Keshon Gilbert scored 17 points, Tamin Lipsey added 16 and the Cyclones earned an easy win in Ames, Iowa, over the Delta Devils in both teams' season openers.

Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic each scored 10 points for Iowa State, which led by double digits most of the game. Dishon Jackson had nine points and six rebounds.

Donovan Sanders scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Mississippi Valley State. Greg Moore scored 10 points and Antonio Sisk nine.

No. 7 Duke 96, Maine 62

Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 15 of his 22 points in the first half and Cooper Flagg scored 18 points in his highly anticipated collegiate debut as the Blue Devils opened the season with a win over the Black Bears in Durham, North Carolina

Duke entered the 2024-25 season with typically high expectations, entering its third season under coach Jon Scheyer. Flagg, a Maine native who was the highest-rated recruit among this year's college freshmen, was 6 of 15 from the field and had a team-high seven rebounds, as well as five assists and three steals.

Quion Burns had 15 points and Keelan Steele finished with 11 for Maine.

No. 9 North Carolina 90, Elon 76

American RJ Davis sank two huge shots and the Tar Heels earned a victory over the Phoenix in Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The Tar Heels finished the game with a 21-5 run. They scored 11 straight points after falling behind 71-69 on two free throws from TJ Simpkins with 6:48 left.

Elon trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and trailed 69-57 with 10:58 left before going on a 14-0 run that also included two three-pointers from Nick Dorn. Dorn finished the game with 17 points and was 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Simpkins led the Phoenix with 18 points off the bench.

No. 10 Arizona 93, Canisius 64

Caleb Love, Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis combined for 46 points, 14 assists and just one turnover to lead the Wildcats to a season-opening victory over the Golden Griffins in Tucson, Arizona.

Love finished the game with 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and no turnovers for Arizona. Bradley had 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field, and Lewis scored 14 points while also adding four rebounds and four assists.

Canisius was playing its first game under coach Jim Christian, a 19-year veteran of previous stops at Kent State, TCU, Ohio State and Boston College. The Golden Griffins were led by Paul McMillan IV with 20 points.

No. 12 Tennessee 80, Gardner-Webb 64

Chaz Lanier scored 18 points in his team debut, leading the Volunteers to a season-opening victory over the Runnin' Bulldogs in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Volunteers never trailed and led by as many as 27 in the second half. Lanier, a transfer from North Florida, made seven of his 12 shot attempts.

Darryl Simmons II played well and finished the game with 22 points on 8 of 16 shooting to give Gardner-Webb the lead.

UCF 64, No. 13 Texas A&M 61

Benny Williams scored his only points on a dunk with 45 seconds left, and the Knights erased a nine-point deficit in the final five minutes to upset the Aggies in Orlando.

The Knights closed the game on a 14-2 run and stunned the Aggies, who led for most of the contest and extended their lead to 59-50 on Wade Taylor IV's 3-pointer from the UCF logo with 4:52 left. UCF fans stormed the court after A&M missed three attempts at a potentially game-winning 3-pointer on the final possession of the game.

UCF's Darius Johnson scored a game-high 24 points and had five assists. Pharrel Payne led the Aggies with 15 points and grabbed six rebounds.

No. 14 Purdue 90, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 73

Fletcher Loyer scored 21 points and Braden Smith had 15 assists as the Boilermakers held off the Islanders in the second half to secure a season-opening victory in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Trey Kaufman-Renn added 15 points for Purdue, which also got 14 points off the bench from Myles Colvin. Daniel Jacobsen, a 7-foot-4 freshman center filling in for the departed Zach Edey, contributed 13 points and seven rebounds.

Four players scored in double figures for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, led by Owen Dease with 20 points. Garry Clark added 14 while Isaac Williams scored 12.

No. 18 Marquette 102, Stony Brook 62

Kam Jones scored 32 points to lead the Golden Eagles to an easy victory over the Seawolves in Milwaukee.

Jones hit 14 of 16 shots from the field, falling two points shy of his career high. Marquette's Chase Ross scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

Joe Octave paced Stony Brook with 12 points, while Ben Wight had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Ohio State 80, No. 19 Texas 72

Bruce Thornton scored 20 points as the Buckeyes defeated the Longhorns in the Hall of Fame Series in Las Vegas.

Ohio State never trailed and took a seven-point lead at halftime. Texas cut the deficit to three points with 7:34 to play, then Ohio State went on a 10-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Devin Royal, and the Buckeyes held on.

Micah Parrish added 17 points for Ohio State, while Royal had 16 and John Mobley Jr. scored 14 off the bench. Tre Johnson scored a game-high 29 points for the Longhorns, setting a team mark for most points scored by a freshman in his debut.

No. 20 Cincinnati 109, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 54

Simas Lukosius led six players in double figures with 20 points, while Dan Skillings Jr. contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds to help the host Bearcats defeat the Golden Lions.

Jizzle James also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists, while Texas transfer Dillon Mitchell made his Cincinnati debut with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Dante Sawyer was the only Golden Lion in double figures, finishing with 11 points.

No. 21 Florida 98, South Florida 83

Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard combined for 54 points as the Gators fought for a victory over the Bulls in an emotional season opener at the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational.

Clayton had 29 points and Richard added 25 for Florida, which trailed by 13 points in the first half but outscored South Florida 59-43 after halftime.

Jamille Reynolds finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds for the Bulls, who were playing just 11 days after head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim's sudden death at age 43 while undergoing medical treatment. The Gators wore warmup shirts with Abdur-Rahim's last name on the back.

No. 22 UCLA 85, Rider 50

Tyler Bilodeau scored 18 points, Kobe Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds and the Bruins cruised past the visiting Broncs in Los Angeles.

The Bruins never trailed and took a 6-0 lead. Their lead never decreased to less than 19 points in the second half and remained at 30 or more until the final 4:19, when Dylan Andrews' 3-pointer marked the end of a seven-point lead for the UCLA guard . He finished the race with 14 points.

Rider got 15 points from TJ Weeks Jr., who shot 4 of 7 from 3-point range. The rest of the Rider lineup shot a combined 1 of 13 from distance.

No. 23 Kentucky 103, Wright State 62

Otega Oweh scored 21 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field and Koby Brea scored 18 points, leading the Wildcats to a comfortable win over the Raiders in Lexington, Kentucky, in the debut of new Kentucky head coach Mark Pope.

Lamont Butler had a strong performance, scoring 14 points and leading the Wildcats with five assists. Amari Williams added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Wright State had abysmal shooting performance in the first half, shooting 10 of 36 from the field and 3 of 17 from 3-point range. Brandon Noel topped the Raiders with 20 points and eight rebounds.

No. 24 Ole Miss 90, Long Island 60

Hot-shooting Jaylen Murray scored 24 points and the Rebels cruised past the Sharks in the season opener for both teams in Oxford, Miss.

Murray made 7 of 10 field goal attempts, 5 of 8 3-point attempts and 5 of 5 free throws. Jaemyn Brakefield added 12 points for the Rebels.

Malachi Davis, a transfer from Arizona State who was named to the Preseason All-Northeast Conference team, and Brent Davis each scored 19 points to lead the Sharks.

–Field level media