All but one team won their second contests of the year.
Only Colorado lost, falling to San Diego State 77-66 in the Bill Walton Classic. No. 8 Houston won the only other neutral-site game, beating California 86-68 in the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic. The other 14 programs beat mid-major opponents.
Associated Press Top 25 poll changes
- No. 8 Houston jumps two spots from No. 10
- Wins over La Salle, California
- No. 12 Arizona falls seven spots from No. 5
- Loss to then-No. 22 UCLA, win over Cal Poly
- No. 15 Kansas jumps two spots from No. 17
- Wins over Fordham, Middle Tennessee
- No. 16 Texas Tech jumps three spots from No. 19
- Wins over Jackson State, Bethune-Cookman
- No. 23 BYU jumps two spots from No. 25
- Wins over Ohio State, Omaha
- Iowa State falls out of the top 25 from No. 18 (received 57 votes)
- Loss to Memphis, win over Southern Mississippi
- Baylor (14) and TCU (13) both received votes after 2-0 starts
Big performances
Thursday night featured big games from Arizona’s Motiejus Krivas (30 points, 8 rebounds) and Ivan Kharchenkov (16 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals), Cincinnati’s Myles Colvin (31 points) and Texas Tech’s Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (25 points).
The weekend produced even more.
West Virginia freshman Miles Sadler scored 25 points (11-for-16 FG, 3-for-6 3PT) with three rebounds and six assists. UCF’s Dior Johnson poured in another 28 points on 9-for-17 shooting, pushing his early envelope as the conference’s top scorer. Iowa State’s Tre Singleton scored 28 points (10-of-17 FG) and added nine rebounds. Kansas State’s Brandon Rechsteiner scored 26 points (8-of-17 FG, 6-of-15 3PT) with five assists. Baylor’s Isaac Williams IV had 26 points (7-of-13 FG).
TCU’s Brock Harding (10 points) dished 12 assists (1 turnover) in the conference’s first individual double-digit assist performance this season. Oklahoma State’s Jacob Walker (7 points, 4 rebounds) had nine assists. Houston’s Dedan Thomas Jr. (20 points) had eight assists.
Horned Frogs’ big Xavier Edmonds (13 points) pulled down 11 rebounds. WVU’s Amadou Seini (8 points) and UCF’s Elijah Hulsewe (10 points) had 10.
Arizona State’s Paulius Murauskas (5 rebounds) and Colorado’s Barrington Hargress (2 assists) both went for a weekend-high 33 points. Hargress reached 33 points on 20 shots and canned five 3s in a loss. Murauskas took 18 shots and hit two 3s in a win.
Big 12 Starting Five (Week 1)
- Ivan Kharchenkov, Arizona
- Paulius Murauskas, Arizona State
- Robert Wright III, BYU (Player of the Week)
- Dior Johnson, UCF
- Miles Sadler, West Virginia (Freshman of the Week)
Neutral-site games
Colorado loses to San Diego State, 77-66
The Buffs took the only loss of the Big 12’s end-of-week slate. They lost 77-66 to a solid San Diego State team.
While the loss wasn’t surprising for a team expected to finish at the bottom of the conference, Colorado produced the top offense from opening night. So, when it shot 20% from the field in the opening half against the Aztecs, it couldn’t have been a bigger turnaround.
Still, Barrington Hargress (33 points, 2 assists) scored more points than he ever has in a Buffaloes uniform. And that sparked a better second half. CU outscored SDSU by seven in the second half and shot 55.6%.
Yet, with foul trouble and a small interior, the Buffs ultimately couldn’t get things going against the Aztecs. San Diego State guards Latrell Davis and Chance Gladden combined for 38 points as SDSU shot 48.9% from the field and made eight of its 15 3-point attempts.
Who’s next: vs. San Diego (11/10 - 8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
No. 8 Houston defeats California, 86-68
Houston had its way in the Caesars Lake Tahoe Classic. It led California by 11 points at the half and outscored the Golden Bears by seven in the final 20 minutes.
The Cougars delivered on both ends, shooting 52.2% from the field while keeping Cal to 43.9%. UH played well in the half-court. Dedan Thomas Jr. had 20 points and eight assists. The bigs, Joseph Tugler and Delrecco Gillespie, combined for 29 points against Cal’s interior. Chase McCarty played just 12 minutes and had 11 points. But Houston really made the difference with 16 forced turnovers; the Cougars scored 11 more points off giveaways than the Golden Bears. Tugler had four blocks, and Mercy Miller and Chendall Weaver both had three steals.
California still grabbed 10 offensive boards, but UH grabbed 11 of its own.
Golden Bears guard Michael Cooper scored 19 points off the bench, leading his team in scoring.
Who’s next: vs. Jacksonville State (11/11 - 7 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
UCF 2-0 despite another close game
The Golden Knights found another close game after an overtime win over Florida Gulf Coast in the opener. Yale led UCF 42-39 at the half. But Central Florida figured things out and outscored the Bulldogs by 15 in the second half. It won 87-75.
UCF fans enjoyed another big showing from Dior Johnson. He had 28 points after 41 in the opener, and currently leads the Big 12 in scoring. Johnson kept the Knights close in the first half against Yale, hitting isolation baskets and a tough 4-point play. He had big buckets in the second half.
Beyond him, though, the production has been intermittent.
Fifth-year returner Riley Kugel scored 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting and missed all six 3-point attempts against Yale. That was after scoring zero points against FGCU. Transfer big Isaiah Malone minimally played in his debut because of foul trouble but had a big second half against Yale, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds. Those two will need to produce more for the Knights.
Wofford transfer Cayden Vasko also fell out of the starting five for Oklahoma State transfer Aturo Dean. Dean has been solid, especially in playmaking for his teammates. But with Vasko a non-factor so far and Dean an inefficient scorer, UCF’s season already may look different than expected.
Defensively, UCF has allowed 45% shooting to two mid-major teams. While better against Yale, the Bulldogs still scored 75 points. Plus, for the second straight game, the Knights have allowed a taller forward to have a big game; Yale’s Riley Fox scored 24 points after FGCU’s Bryson Lucas scored 25.
Of course, it has only been two games. But head coach Johnny Dawkins and the Knights have had closer contests than they would’ve hoped to start the season. The nice thing is that Yale plays Baylor next and could show that it is legit.
Who’s next: vs. South Alabama (11/10 - 6 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
Other weekend results
- Cincinnati 81, Green Bay 64
- Utah 67, Towson 57
- No. 16 Texas Tech 76, Bethune-Cookman 58
- No. 12 Arizona 104, Cal Poly 84
- Arizona State 90, Northern Colorado 63
- Baylor 109, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53
- West Virginia 91, Stetson 53
- TCU 106, Southern 54
- Iowa State 83, Southern Mississippi 57
- Kansas State 95, Cal State Northridge 78
- No. 15 Kansas 89, Middle Tennessee 45
- No. 23 BYU 108, Omaha 67
- Oklahoma State 118, Queens (NC) 68
- Arizona State 90, Northern Colorado 63
- Colorado 66, San Diego State 77 (Neutral)
- No. 8 Houston 86, California 68 (Neutral)
Upcoming games to watch
- Cincinnati vs. Minnesota (11/9 - 6 p.m. CT - ESPN+): Cincinnati is 2-0, enjoying big showings from Myles Colvin. MJ Collins has also been a big addition for Cincy. Yet, Minnesota is also 2-0 with a very deep lineup. It should be a solid test between Big 12 and Big Ten programs.
- No. 16 Texas Tech vs. No. 3 Illinois (11/10 - 7 p.m. CT on Peacock): In a true home game for Texas Tech, it has a perfect opportunity to knock off a top-three team in the country. Transfers Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn and Cruz Davis have played well to start the year. But with Illinois returning Andrej Stojakovic, among others, and welcoming five-star Quentin Coleman and former Providence guard Stefan Vaaks, head coach Brad Underwood appears to have more firepower, especially with no JT Toppin for TTU.
- No. 15 Kansas vs. No. 24 Kentucky (Neutral) (11/10 - 8:30 p.m. CT - ESPN): Two of college basketball’s blue bloods face off in Chicago on Tuesday. Kansas is 2-0, beating easy opponents. The Jayhawks returned Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. and welcomed top freshman Tyran Stokes. Former All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn also joined before the season. Kentucky boasts some solid transfers in Milan Momcilovic, Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins. But with just an 89-80 win over James Madison, the Wildcats fell in the AP poll.
Next contests
Nov. 9
- Cincinnati vs. Minnesota (6 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
Nov. 10
- UCF vs. South Alabama (6 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Baylor vs. Yale (7 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Iowa State vs. Southern (7 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- No. 16 Texas Tech vs. No. 3 Illinois (7 p.m. CT - Peacock)
- No. 23 BYU vs. Queens (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- TCU vs. Loyola Marymount (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- No. 12 Arizona vs. Northern Arizona (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Colorado vs. San Diego (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Utah vs. Weber State (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Kansas State vs. Creighton (8 p.m. CT - FS1)
- Arizona State vs. Hofstra (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- No. 15 Kansas vs. No. 24 Kentucky (Neutral) (8:30 p.m. CT - ESPN)
Nov. 11
- No. 8 Houston vs. Jacksonville State (7 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
Nov. 12
- West Virginia vs. Mercer (6 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- Oklahoma State vs. Texas A&M (7 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
- No. 23 BYU vs. Montana State (8 p.m. CT - ESPN+)
