The Blue Devils got off to a slow start with their top two freshmen out, but eventually 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 out with injury, it was a slightly lesser-known freshman, Mark Mitchell, who paced Duke with 18 points. Junior point guard Jeremy Roach, the program’s lone player from last season’s Final Four team, added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, while freshman Kyle Filipowski contributed 10 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Mitchell and Filipovski were five-star prospects in their own right and looked the part, while freshman Tyrese Proctor struggled in his debut. Duke led just 25-21 with five minutes left in the first half against a Jacksonville team picked to finish second in the Atlantic Sun, but the Blue Devils closed the half on a 14-2 run to take control and not they ever looked back. Blue bloods No. 4 Kentucky and No. 16 Villanova also overcame the absence of key players to post double-digit wins on opening night. The Wildcats outscored Howard 95-63 with national player of the year Oscar Chibue, veteran point guard Sahvir Wheeler and second rotation starter Daimion Collins. Villanova topped La Salle 81-68 in head coach Kyle Neptune’s debut despite being without key freshman Cam Whitmore and veteran guard Justin Moore, who is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season. Things were a little more tense for a couple of other teams during opening night. No. 14 TCU trailed Arkansas-Pine Bluff by 11 at halftime before rallying and holding on for a buzzer-beater for a 73-72 victory over a SWAC opponent that won just seven games last season. Although the Horned Frogs avoided disaster, their performance was nonetheless troubling against a low-major program that had gone just 15-71 over the past three seasons. No. 9 Creighton also struggled in surprising fashion before closing in on a 16-3 run for a 72-60 win over St. Thomas beginning his 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 runs off South Dakota State transfer Baylor Scheierman to spark a late their course. Outside the Top 25 there were upsets though. Stetson defeated Florida State 83-74 as the Hatters snapped an 18-game losing streak to the Seminoles. FSU had not 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 left to give the Bearkats a 52-51 victory against Oklahoma.
College basketball scores, schedule
No. 5 Baylor 117, Mississippi Valley State 53 — RecapNo. 4 Kentucky 95, Howard 63 — Recap No. 22 Michigan 75, PFW 66 — RecapNo. 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. 17 Auburn , George Mason 52 — RecapNo. 3 Houston 83, Northern Colorado 36 — RecapNo. 10 Arkansas 76, North Dakota State 58 — RecapMemphis 76, Vanderbilt 67 — RecapNo.5 Kansas 89, Omaha 64 — RecapNo. 9 Creighton 72, St. Thomas 60 — RecapNo. 1 North Carolina 69, UNC-Wilmington 56 — RecapNo. 2 Gonzaga 104, North Florida 63 — RecapNo. 12 Texas 72, UTEP 57 — RecapView the full opening night scoreboard
