Boo Buie had a career-high 30 points and four assists and Northwestern led by double digits throughout the second half while stunning No. 4 Michigan State 79-65 in the Big Ten opener for both teams in Evanston, Ill., on Sunday.
Pete Nance supplied 15 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten) and Ty Berry added 12 points. Northwestern hadn’t beaten a Top 5 team since 1979, which also came against the Spartans. Michigan State had won the last 12 meetings between the schools.
Aaron Henry led the Spartans (6-1, 0-1) with 11 points. Gabe Brown and Malik Hall tossed in 10 points apiece.
The Wildcats shot 52.9 percent from the field while the Spartans shot 38.8 percent.
No. 6 Houston 88, Alcorn State 55
Quentin Grimes paired a season-high 27 points with a career-best 10 rebounds while Reggie Chaney added a career-high 18 points as the Cougars cruised to a victory over the visiting Braves.
Houston (5-0) had only nine players available in its first game in two weeks after pausing team activities following a COVID-19 outbreak. The Cougars were without sophomore guards Caleb Mills and Marcus Sasser, yet they rode Chaney, Grimes and freshman Jamal Shead, who chipped in 10 points plus three assists.
Alcorn State (0-2) trailed 35-18 at the break in its first game following six consecutive cancellations. The Braves were without leading scorer Kurk Lee but received 23 points from Troymain Crosby and 16 from David Pierce.
No. 9 Creighton 76, Connecticut 74 (OT)
Christian Bishop scored 19 points and Damian Jefferson forced overtime with a short jumper with 0.2 seconds left in regulation as the Bluejays spoiled the Huskies’ return to the Big East in a victory in Storrs, Conn.
James Bouknight single-handedly kept UConn in the game by scoring 40 points on 13-of-24 shooting. The game was the first Big East contest for the Huskies (3-1, 1-0 Big East) since 2012-13 when they left for the American Athletic Conference.
After Jefferson’s heroics, Denzel Mahoney scored the first three overtime points for Creighton (6-2, 2-1) until Marcus Zegarowski drove the lane and tossed an alley-oop to Bishop, who caught it and banked it in for a 71-68 lead with 48 seconds left.
No. 11 Texas 77, Oklahoma State 74
Greg Brown scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Longhorns shrugged off a ragged start, rallied and then held on for a win over the Cowboys in Big 12 Conference play in Austin, Texas.
It was the third double-double of Brown’s eight-game college career and the seventh time he’s been in double-figure scoring. Andrew Jones added 22 points for Texas (7-1, 1-0 Big 12) while Matt Coleman III scored 15.
Cade Cunningham, the Cowboys’ freshman star, led all scorers with 25 points. Bryce Williams added 13 for Oklahoma State (6-2, 0-2) and Avery Anderson III hit for 11.
No. 19 Rutgers 91, No. 13 Illinois 88
The Scarlet Knights, playing in their first Top 20 matchup since 1979, shrugged off a slow start and held on to beat the Illini in Big Ten play in Piscataway, N.J.
Harper scored all of his game-high 28 points over the final 27 minutes as Rutgers (6-0, 2-0 Big Ten) transformed a 10-point deficit late in the first half into a 12-point lead with seven minutes to go.
Ayo Dosunmu produced 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists to pace Illinois (5-3, 1-1), which never had possession with a chance to tie after Rutgers’ big surge midway through the second half. Sophomore 7-footer Kofi Cockburn added 17 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th career double-double, and Trent Frazier contributed 19 points and five assists.
–Field Level Media
