DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman forward Cameron Boozer scored 23 of his season-high 35 points in the first half as No. 4 Duke put together three double-figure scoring runs on the way to beating Indiana State 100-62 on Friday night.
Boozer, who also had 12 rebounds and five assists, finished 13 for 16 from the field after connecting on nine of 10 first-half shots. He made both his 3-point attempts and went 7 for 11 at the foul line.
Caleb Foster added 14 points and Dame Sarr had 10 for Duke (4-0), which geared up for Tuesday’s showdown against No. 25 Kansas in New York City by reaching 100 points in consecutive games for the first time in nearly eight years.
Sterling Young’s 14 points, Ian Scott’s 13 and Camp Wagner’s 11 paced Indiana State (2-2), which committed 12 of its 18 turnovers in the opening half.
Boozer’s 35 points tied for the second-most by a Duke freshman behind Cooper Flagg’s 42 last season vs. Notre Dame.
NO. 9 KENTUCKY 99, EASTERN ILLINOIS 53
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Mouhamed Dioubate scored a season-high 20 points to lead Kentucky to a win over Eastern Illinois.
Dioubate, an Alabama transfer, completed a double-double with 11 rebounds and led five players in double figures. Denzel Aberdeen scored 13 points, Otega Oweh added 12, and Malachi Moreno and Andrija Jelavic finished with 11 points apiece.
Coming off a 96-88 loss at No. 12 Louisville on Tuesday, the Wildcats (2-1) rebounded from the setback in impressive fashion. Kentucky led from start to finish and held Eastern Illinois scoreless during a pair of double-digit runs to put the game out of reach in the first half.
Kentucky had a 23-2 run and limited the Panthers to just one field goal and four points in the final 10 minutes of the opening frame. Eastern Illinois had a six-minute scoreless streak and scored just 19 points in the first half.
NO. 11 TEXAS TECH 80, MILWAUKEE 63
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Christian Anderson had 18 points to lead five players scoring in double figures for Texas Tech, and the Red Raiders extended their nonconference home winning streak to 41 games with a victory over Milwaukee.
Texas Tech (3-1) went ahead for the first time, and never trailed again, with a 19-6 run in about 3 1/2 minutes. Donovan Atwell, who finished with 17 points and five 3-pointers, hit a 3 with 7:40 left in the first half to make it 24-23.
Atwell’s go-ahead 3 came came on the possession after preseason AP All-American forward JT Toppin’s three-point play that started a stretch of 11 consecutive points, when he was fouled making a tip-in of a missed 3 and added the free throw. Toppin finished with only seven points on 3-of-10 shooting, but grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Red Raiders, coming off an 81-77 loss at No. 14 Illinois on Tuesday night, haven’t dropped a nonconference home game since an overtime loss to No. 15 Kentucky in January 2020. They are 19-0 in such games under third-year coach Grant McCasland.
Tyeree Bryan added 13 points and Jaylen Petty scored 11 — all of them during that 19-6 run when he drained a trio of 3s. LeJuan Watts had 10 points and nine rebounds. Anderson also had seven assists.
NO. 14 ILLINOIS 84, COLGATE 65
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — David Mirkovic scored 27 points, 19 in the second half, and grabbed 21 rebounds Friday night as Illinois stayed undefeated with a victory over Colgate.
Mirkovic, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Montenegro, became the first Illinois player to have 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Nick Weatherspoon in 1972.
Keagon Wagler added 19 points and six rebounds and Kylan Boswell scored 11 for the Fighting Illini (4-0), who outrebounded Colgate 49-29 and had 22 offensive boards that led to 22 second-chance points.
Boswell, a senior, has 1,012 career points — 504 at Illinois and 508 at Arizona. The Champaign native scored his 1,000th point Tuesday in the Illini’s win over No. 11 Texas Tech.
Alex Alekseyenko had 21 points for Colgate (1-3) and Jalen Cox added 12. Both pulled down six rebounds.
NO. 18 NORTH CAROLINA 97, NC CENTRAL 53
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman forward Caleb Wilson scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half and added 13 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, leading North Carolina past North Carolina Central.
Henri Veesaar contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, and Luka Bogavac scored 13 for the Tar Heels (4-0). Zayden High had 11 points off the bench.
Wilson blocked four shots and was 7 of 8 from the floor, with all but one of those attempts coming before halftime. He played only four minutes in the second half with the Tar Heels leading comfortably.
Ramondo Battle II scored 14 points for NC Central (1-4), which shot only 24.2%. Gage Lattimore added 12.
The Tar Heels made 11 3-pointers and shot 54.5% overall.
NO. 21 ARKANSAS 79, SAMFORD 75
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr. led five players in double figures with 20 points as Arkansas held off Samford at Bud Walton Arena.
The Razorbacks (3-1) were up by 15 in the second half before staving off a late Samford rally.
Freshman guard Meleek Thomas had 17 points and eight rebounds for Arkansas. Senior forward Trevon Brazile contributed 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard DJ Wagner and sophomore wing Billy Richmond IIII each scored 10.
Brazile returned to action after missing the Razorbacks’ 93-56 win over Central Arkansas on Monday due to minor back spasms.
Samford (2-2) was led by guard Cade Norris and reserve forward Zion Wilburn as each scored 15 points.
Arkansas dominated fast-break scoring (22-9) while tallying more points in the paint than the Bulldogs (40-32).
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 84, MARYLAND EAST SHORE 45
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Jasen Green and Blake Harper scored 14 points apiece and Creighton pulled away from Maryland Eastern Shore for a victory after a clunky first half.
The Bluejays (2-1) shot miserably in the second half of a 27-point loss at No. 19 Gonzaga on Tuesday, and their struggles continued over stretches of the opening 20 minutes against the Hawks (1-4) of the Mid-East Athletic Conference.
Creighton went 7 for 8 while getting out to a 16-2 lead and 6 of 25 the rest of the half. Big man Owen Freeman, who took only two shots against Gonzaga, had a dunk and a layup on consecutive possessions early but then missed back-to-back layups and a couple other short shots. He finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Creighton made only two field goals over a nearly eight-minute span of the first half, allowing the Hawks to get within eight points.
The Bluejays came out of halftime much sharper. Green, who had 12 points in the second half, dunked and hit a couple of 3-pointers and Kerem Konan dunked twice as they extended their lead to 28 midway through the final period. Creighton shot 58% in the second half and 49% for the game.
The Associated Press
