There were no marquee matchups between top 25 teams on college basketball's opening day, but there were plenty of major storylines and some drama to follow as a new season tipped on Monday. One of the night's most-fascinating matchups came at Cameron Indoor Stadium, where No. 7 Duke faced -- and handled -- some adversity in in its first game since the retirement of legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The Blue Devils started slow with their top two freshmen out but ultimately cruised to a 71-44 win over Jacksonville in Jon Scheyer's head coaching debut. With No. 2 overall prospect Dereck Lively and No. 3 overall prospect Dariq Whitehead sidelined due to injury, it was a slightly less-heralded freshman, Mark Mitchell, who paced Duke with 18 points.
Junior point guard Jeremy Roach, the program's lone returning rotation player from last season's Final Four squad, added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists while freshman big man Kyle Filipowski contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Mitchell and Filipowski were five-star prospects in their own right and looked the part while fellow freshman Tyrese Proctor struggled in his debut.
Duke led just 25-21 with five minutes left in the first half against a Jacksonville squad picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun, but the Blue Devils closed the half on a 14-2 run to seize control and never looked back. Fellow blue bloods No. 4 Kentucky and No. 16 Villanova also overcame the absences of key players to post double-digit wins on opening night.
The Wildcats outlasted Howard 95-63 with reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe, veteran point guard Sahvir Wheeler and sophomore rotation player Daimion Collins all out. Villanova cruised past La Salle 81-68 in coach Kyle Neptune's debut despite being without key freshman Cam Whitmore and veteran stalwart Justin Moore, who is expected to miss the season's first several weeks.
Things were a bit more tense for a couple other ranked squads on opening night. No. 14 TCU trailed Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 11 at halftime before rallying and withstanding a buzzer-beater attempt for a 73-72 win over a SWAC foe that won just seven games last season. Though the Horned Frogs avoided disaster, their performance was nonetheless concerning against a low-major program that entered just 15-71 over the past three seasons.
No. 9 Creighton also struggled in surprising fashion before closing on a 16-3 run for a 72-60 win over St. Thomas program beginning its second season at the Division I level. The Blue Jays hit just 8 of 34 attempts from 3-point range but got a pair of clutch outside makes from South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman to spark their late run.
There were upsets outside of the Top 25, however. Stetson defeated Florida State 83-74 as the Hatters snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Seminoles. FSU hadn't lost at home to Stetson since 1953.
In another upset, Sam Houston sophomore Lamar Wilkerson buried his fifth 3-pointer of the game with four seconds remaining to give the Bearkats a 52-51 victory vs. Oklahoma.
No. 5 Baylor 117, Mississippi Valley State 53 -- Recap
No. 4 Kentucky 95, Howard 63 -- Recap
No. 22 Michigan 75, PFW 66 -- Recap
No. 16 Villanova 81, La Salle 68 -- Recap
No. 7 Duke 71, Jacksonville 44 -- Recap
No. 13 Indiana 88, Morehead State 53 -- Recap
No. 11 Tennessee 75, Tennessee Tech 43 -- Recap
No. 15 Auburn 70, George Mason 52 -- Recap
No. 3 Houston 83, Northern Colorado 36 -- Recap
No. 10 Arkansas 76, North Dakota State 58 -- Recap
Memphis 76, Vanderbilt 67 -- Recap
No.5 Kansas 89, Omaha 64 -- Recap
No. 9 Creighton 72, St. Thomas 60 -- Recap
No. 1 North Carolina 69, UNC-Wilmington 56 -- Recap
No. 2 Gonzaga 104, North Florida 63 -- Recap
No. 12 Texas 72, UTEP 57 -- Recap
Check out the entire opening night scoreboard
It won't go down as a *ranked* upset, but it's a stunning result nonetheless in Norman, where Sam Houston State takes down Oklahoma 52-51. Lamar Wilkerson hit this transition 3-pointer in the final seconds to cap a rally from 14 down for the Bearkats, who were down 43-29 with less than nine minutes to play before closing on a 23-8 run.
The No. 14 Horned Frogs narrowly avoid disaster on opening night as they outlast Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-72 after trailing 46-35 at halftime. The Lions entered ranked No. 361 at KenPom on the heels of a 7-24 season. Would have been a catastrophic loss for TCU, which hit just 4 of 21 attempts from 3-point range. Pine Bluff had a decent look at the buzzer from Trejon Ware that just bounced off. If senior forward Chris Greene hadn't fouled out with 12:29 remaining, this ending could have been much different. He was the Lions' second-leading scorer.
What a finish for Belmont! Cade Tyson drills this 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Bruins to a 70-69 win over Ohio. Tyson scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half. The 6-foot-7 freshman apparently doesn't even have a 247Sports recruiting page, but it appears the Bruins found a diamond in the rough. The younger brother of Clemson forward Hunter Tyson was not in the starting lineup, but he tied for the team-high in scoring tonight and won't forget his collegiate debut anytime soon.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff, which is 15-71 over the past three seasons, leads No. 14 TCU 46-35 at halftime. Lions are No. 361 at KenPom entering the season. There's your potential opening night stunner! Shaun Doss has 18 points on 4 of 4 shooting from 3-point range for UAPB.
For as much hype as there is surrounding Duke's freshmen class -- and there is plenty! -- it's great to see veteran point guard Jeremy Roach leading the way for the Blue Devils tonight. He's got a team-high 16 points with a few minutes left to go with four assists and six boards. Preseason First Team All-ACC pick who is flying very below the radar but will be a key piece for Duke in its first year under Jon Scheyer.
Traditional powers Duke, Kentucky and Villanova each faced some potentially challenging circumstances on opening night. Duke was without five-star freshmen Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively for coach Jon Scheyer's debut. Villanova was without key freshman Cam Whitmore in addition to veteran guard Justin Moore (who will miss significant time recovering from an Achilles injury) for coach Kyle Neptune's debut. And Kentucky was without Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler and Damion Collins against Howard. But all three are taking care of business. Kentucky up 90-56 over Howard late, Villanova up 80-62 on La Salle with under a minute left and Duke leading Jacksonville 56-34 midway through the second half.
The Illinois State transfer shot 39% from 3-point range on 5.9 attempts per game last season and is off to a good start from the outside in a Kentucky uniform. Reeves is 5 of 10 from deep and leads the Wildcats with 19 points as they hold an 82-48 lead on Howard at the U8 timeout. Encouraging performance all around for UK tonight with Tshiebwe, Collins and Wheeler all out of the lineup tonight.
No. 11 Tennessee leads Tennessee Tech just 27-16 at halftime. The Volunteers as something like a 33-point favorite but have turned in a clunky offensive effort thus far as they finished the half 1 for their final 10 from the field. Indiana State transfer Tyrese Key has been the Vols' best player thus far with 11. On the positive side, UT's defense has been quite stellar as the Golden Eagles made just 4 of 22 attempts from the field.
Duke leads Jacksonville, a formidable A-Sun foe, 42-26 at the break in Jon Scheyer's debut. That was a strong close to the first half for Duke after the Blue Devils after they led just 25-22 at the 6:42 mark. Playing without five-star freshman Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively, the Blue Devils have been led by junior point guard Jeremy Roach with 11 and freshman forward Mark Mitchell, who has 9. Jaylen Blakes, who is a rare returner on this roster, has also made some nice contributions off the bench.
The No. 22 Wolverines forced 12 turnovers while jumping out to a 40-28 lead over Purdue Fort Wayne, which is expected to be among the better Horizon League teams. Hunter Dickinson has 13 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks in 14 minutes.
In Villanova's first game without Jay Wright as coach in more than two decades, the No. 16 Wildcats -- under first year coach Kyle Neptune -- are in the process of smacking LaSalle at home. They went up double digits less than 10 minutes into the game and it's been smooth sailing thus far. Even without five-star freshman Cam Whitmore, who is expected back soon, and Justin Moore, who is expected back around conference play, this team looks like a machine. Great sign in the early going. Heavy dose thus far of Caleb Daniels and Eric Dixon doing the trick.
The Kentucky freshman center was a late addition to this recruiting class, but he's getting some early run in the season opener amid the absences of Oscar Tshiebwe and Daimion Collins. In his first six minutes on the floor, he blocked two shots and altered at least one more .Kentucky leads 23-14 at the under 8 timeout. Freshman guard Adou Thiero is also in the rotation tonight in another sign of how thinly UK is stretched to begin the season.
Sahvir Wheeler, Oscar Tshiebwe and Daimion Collins are all out tonight for Kentucky as the Wildcats get going against Howard. SHOULDN'T be an issue for this team, but never forget Saint Peter's. Five-star freshmen Cason Wallance and Chris Livingston both in th starting with CJ Fredrick as he makes his long-awaited debut after sitting out last season with injury following his transfer from Iowa.
Because the three best players returning to college basketball this season are all bigs — namely Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky), Drew Timme (Gonzaga) and Armando Bacot (North Carolina). It would be silly to vote any of them anything other than a First Team All-American. And the ballots from our voters reflected as much, which is why the three frontcourt stars — from three preseason top-five teams — represent 60% of the CBS Sports All-America First Team. Marcus Sasser (Houston) and Jamie Jaquez (UCLA) rounded out the First Team.
The spring months have officially given way to the summer months, and the summer months have officially given way to the fall. That can only mean one thing as the sports calendar turns: college basketball season is here. In a year expected to be dominated by upperclassmen -- all five First Team All-Americans, for instance, are seniors -- it should come as no surprise that our Top 100 And 1 players ranking is littered with upperclassmen.
"November means that college football is in the home stretch, but it also means basketball season is right around the corner. We are four days from the season officially tipping off. There's no time like the present for preseason Bracketology and a projection of the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket. There are some familiar names at the top of the bracket, but also one that we are not used to seeing in this position." Here's a look at Jerry Palm's preseason Bracketology.
"The fact that four different schools got first-place votes in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, compared to just two last year, is the latest indication that we should be in for a fun and unpredictable season of college basketball. According to Caesars Sportsbook, North Carolina and Kentucky are the co-favorites to win the 2023 NCAA Tournament at +900. Then it's Gonzaga and Houston at +1000, UCLA at +1200, Arkansas at +1500, Baylor at +1600, and Duke at +1800." Here are our predictions for the Final Four.
Disappointing news out of Fayetteville today as Arkansas announces that freshman guard Nick Smith will be held out of tonight's opener against North Dakota State because of a knee injury. Smith was the nation's No. 1 prospect, according to 247Sports, and is obviously a lottery-level talent expected to play a key role for a new-look Arkansas squad. There is still plenty of talent on Eric Musselman's roster, but the Bison may be a formidable foe this evening. Well-established Summit League program that went 23-10 last season.
"The 2022-23 college basketball season starts today and every school in the CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 And 1 is in action. Hooray! Now, the bad: Exactly zero ranked teams are playing each other, and every ranked team is a double-digit favorite against what should be an out-classed opponent. Boo!" Here is our Gary Parrish's ranking of the nation's top 26 teams as the season gets underway.
