ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Morez Johnson Jr. scored a career-high 29 points, including 17 in the first half, and No. 2 Michigan beat No. 24 Southern California 96-66 on Friday night.
Roddy Gayle Jr. added 12 points for the Wolverines (13-0, 3-0 Big Ten), and Will Tschetter, Trey McKenney and L.J. Cason each scored 10.
Michigan is off to its best start since it won 17 straight games to start the 2018-19 season.
Jaden Brownell scored 16 points and Erza Ausar added 15 for the Trojans (12-2, 1-2), whose only previous loss was by eight points against Washington on Dec. 6. Chad Baker-Mazara, who came into the game averaging 21 points, was hampered by early foul trouble and finished with 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
NO. 3 IOWA STATE 80, WEST VIRGINIA 59
AMES, Iowa (AP) — Milan Momcilovic made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points, Joshua Jefferson had a triple-double and Iowa State beat West Virginia in its Big 12 opener.
The Cyclones’ 14-0 start matched the 2013-14 team for the best in program history.
Iowa State broke open a close game late in the first half, going on a 20-7 run that Blake Buchanan started and finished with dunks.
Jefferson had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to become the ninth player in Iowa State history to record a triple-double. Buchanan finished with 14 points and Tamin Lipsey had 12.
Chance Moore led the Mountaineers (9-5, 0-1) with 17 points.
NO. 7 GONZAGA 80, SEATTLE 72, OT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Tyon Grant-Foster made three straight baskets in overtime to give Gonzaga its first lead since early in the first half, and the Bulldogs rallied for a win over Seattle in the first meeting between the cross-state programs since 1980.
Braden Huff scored 28 points and Graham Ike added 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (15-1, 3-0 West Coast Conference), who trailed by eight points at halftime and by 13 early in the second half. Gonzaga won its eighth straight game since being blown out by current No. 2 Michigan in the Players Era Festival in late November.
Grant-Foster finished with 19 points. His layup with 2:25 left in overtime put Gonzaga ahead 70-68, and he added two more buckets for a six-point advantage.
Brayden Maldonado scored 17 points for Seattle (12-4, 1-2 WCC), which is in its first season as a member of the WCC and is off to its best start since rejoining Division I in 2008.
NO. 13 NEBRASKA NO. 9 MICHIGAN STATE
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Rienk Mast hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:51 left and finished with 19 points to lead Nebraska to a victory over Michigan State.
It was the lowest-scoring game of the season for both teams in what was the first ranked vs. ranked matchup in Lincoln since 1991. The game was hyped as a measuring stick for Nebraska, the only power-conference team to have never won an NCAA Tournament game. The Huskers met the moment.
What started as a slog quickly turned into a battle of bigs shooting 3-pointers. The 6-foot-10 Mast made five of his first seven from distance and finished 6 of 13. Michigan State’s 6-10 Jaxon Kohler made a career-high five on six attempts and finished with 19 points.
Pryce Sandfort had 13 points and Jamarques Lawrence added 12 for the Huskers. Jeremy Fears Jr. had 14 for the Spartans and Kur Teng, who started in place of Divine Ugochukwu (illness), added 12.
Michigan State was just 6 of 24 from the field in the second half and its 19 turnovers were its most since it committed the same number against Nebraska four years ago.
STANFORD 80, NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 76
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Freshman Ebuka Okorie scored 28 points, Benny Gealer made a crucial pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left, and Stanford beat Louisville.
Okorie shot 9 of 18 and went 8 of 10 on free throws in 38 minutes to pace Stanford (12-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to its first win over a ranked opponent since beating then-No. 4 Arizona on Dec. 31, 2023.
It was Stanford’s first victory in five meetings with Louisville, an ACC rival as of last season.
Chisom Okpara scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half for Stanford, and Ryan Agarwal added 12 points.
Ryan Conwell scored 18 points on 6-of-21 shooting for Louisville (11-3, 1-1), which fell short in coach Pat Kelsey’s first attempt at his 300th victory. Isaac McKneely added 17 points, Sananda Fru scored 15 and J’Vonne Hadley had 14.
The Associated Press
