Top 25 roundup: No. 8 Florida swamps Gardner-Webb

Nov 16, 2017 - 5:58 PM GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Egor Koulechov scored 23 of his game-high 34 points in the first half as No. 8 Florida opened its season with a 116-74 victory over Gardner-Webb on Monday night in Gainesville, Fla.

The graduate transfer made 6 of 9 3-pointers and eight baskets overall in that first half, which saw the Gators jump out to a 55-32 lead at the break. That earned a standing ovation from the home crowd. Koulechov made 11 of 17 shots from the field and finished with five assists and five rebounds in just 26 minutes.

Jalen Hudson also helped the Gators on offense with 16 points. Deaundrae Ballard added 14. This was the highest number of points a Florida team scored since the Gators posted 125 versus Florida A&M in December 2000.

D.J. Laster led Gardner-Webb with 19 points.



No. 6 Wichita State 81, College of Charleston 63

WICHITA, Kan. -- Shaquille Morris scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and No. 6 Wichita State rolled past visiting College of Charleston.

The Shockers broke open the game midway through the first half and cruised to their second straight blowout victory to open the season. Wichita State has won its first two games by an average margin of 35 points.

Rauno Nurger scored 16 points off the bench, and Darral Willis Jr. finished with 14 points for Wichita State. Grant Riller scored 20 points and Joe Chealey added 17 points to lead the Cougars, who started cold and were overwhelmed by the Shockers in the first half.



No. 10 USC 75, North Dakota State 65

LOS ANGELES -- Bennie Boatwright scored a career-high 28 points to lead No. 10 USC over North Dakota State at the Galen Center.

USC (2-0) survived a sloppy game and never led by more than five points until the game's final three minutes. North Dakota State (0-2) took advantage of a dismal 17-of-31 free-shooting from USC to stay close.

Freshman guard Cameron Hunter led the Bison with a career-high 24 points.



No. 12 Cincinnati 102, Western Carolina 51

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- Jarron Cumberland needed just 23 minutes to score a game-high 20 points, Cane Broome came off the bench to add 15 and the 12th-ranked Cincinnati rolled to a non-conference win over Western Carolina.

Kyle Washington also reached double figures with 14 points and Keith Williams finished with 10 for Cincinnati (2-0), which never trailed or was tied and led the unranked Catamounts by as many as 53 points in the final minute, delighting a crowd of 7,051 at Northern Kentucky University's BB&T Arena.

Cincinnati reached triple figures in points for the second time in two games and scored at least 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 17 and 21, 2011.



No. 13 Notre Dame 88, Mount St. Mary's 62

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Bonzie Colson scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his 25th career double-double, and No. 13 Notre Dame pulled away from Mount St. Mary's in its home opener.

Rex Pflueger notched 14 points and 10 rebounds to earn his first career double-double for the Fighting Irish. Matt Farrell scored 12 points and matched a team high with five assists.

Notre Dame improved to 18-0 in home-opening games under coach Mike Brey since 2000-01. Junior Robinson had 14 points and three assists to lead Mount St. Mary's, which fell to 1-29 all-time against ranked opponents.



No. 14 Minnesota 86, Providence 74

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Jordan Murphy scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Nate Mason scored 17 points to lead No. 14 Minnesota over Providence in the Dave Gavitt Tipoff.

Murphy, who had 35 points and 15 rebounds in the Gophers' opening win over South Carolina Upstate, was steady throughout but then took the game over with clutch baskets late. He was 10 of 15 from the floor in the 23rd double-double of his career. He also had three blocked shots and two assists.

Minnesota trailed by six in the second half after blowing an early 10-point lead, and went on a 26-12 second-half run with Amir Coffey hitting three 3-pointers during the spurt. Kyron Cartwright led the Friars with 12 points and nine assists.



No. 15 Xavier 101, Rider 75

CINCINNATI -- Trevon Bluiett scored 26 points and Tyrique Jones had 19 points and eight rebounds, lifting No. 15 Xavier over Rider.

Bluiett, who scored 25 points in Friday's season opener against Morehead State, was limited by a shoulder issue throughout the preseason. But the national player of the year candidate has made 17 of 26 shots and has 51 points in two games.

J.P. Macura scored 14 points, Paul Scruggs had 13 and Kaiser Gates added 12 for Xavier, which scored more than 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since 2009.



No. 20 Northwestern 75, St. Peter's 66

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Bryant McIntosh scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help No. 20 Northwestern defeat St. Peter's in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament.

Dererk Pardon added 15 points and Gavin Skelly had 14 points and six rebounds as all five Northwestern starters reached double-digit scoring. Vic Law finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Nick Griffin had a game-high 19 points, going 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and Cameron Jones and Samuel Idowu each added 14 points for the Peacocks.



No. 21 Saint Mary's 92, New Mexico State 74

MORAGA, Calif. Emmett Naar scored 22 points and had five assists to lead No. 21 Saint Mary's past New Mexico State.

Naar, Jock Landale and fellow senior Calvin Hermanson accounted for 58 points while making 23 of 36 shots from the field (63.9 percent). Landale had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hermanson finished with 16 points.

New Mexico State was led by Zach Lofton's 18 points.



No. 25 Baylor 70, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 46

WACO, Texas -- No. 25 Baylor shook off a sluggish first half and raced past Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after halftime.

Manu Lecomte kick-started the Bears in the second half when he took over on the offensive end. Lecomte scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes.

Terry Maston and Nuni Omot each scored 12 points to join Lecomte in double digits. Joseph Kilgore scored 10 to lead Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.