Louisiana-Lafayette 79, No. 12 Mississippi State 76
STARKVILLE, Miss. Brad Boyd scored a career-high 33 points and made nine three-point shots in lifting the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns mens basketball team to a 79-76 upset victory over No. 12 Mississippi State here Saturday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The win is Louisiana-Lafayettes first over a ranked team since a 87-83 win over Oklahoma on March 20, 1992 at the NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz., and the first season-opening road win since Nov. 24, 1989 when UL Lafayette downed Ole Miss 94-83 in Jackson, Miss.
With the Cajuns trailing 69-68 with just under four minutes to play, Boyd drilled his eighth three pointer of the night with 3:25 remaining in the game to give the Cajuns the lead at 71-69. UL Lafayette would not relinquish that lead.
The Bulldogs would tie the score though at 71-71 on two Derrick Zimmerman free throws at the 2:07 mark. As he did all night long, Boyd made another impressive three pointer with 1:14 left and gave the Cajuns lead for good at 74-71.
Clutch free throw shooting by Anthony Johnson, who was the teams second leading scorer with 26, down the stretch sealed the win for the Cajuns. Zimmeran pulled MSU (0-1) back within two points at 78-76 on a jumper with four seconds left.
Chris Cameron made one of two free throws with 2.4 seconds left on the clock and a last second desperation heave by the Bulldogs fell short at the buzzer.
Boyd finished the night 12-of-24 from the field and 9-of-18 from three-point range. His nine three point shots are the most ever against a MSU team and set a Humphrey Coliseum record. The Cajuns were 14-for-32 on the night as a team from beyond the arc, which tied a Humphrey Coliseum mark.
Chris Cameron had a double-double in his first regular season game in a Cajuns uniform as he tallied 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, five on the offensive glass
Florida International 60, Morris Brown 52
MIAMI - FIU men's basketball wins its first game of the season, 60-52, over Morris Brown in the FIU/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Classic at Golden Panther Arena.
Junior Matias led all scorers with 19 points, going 13-for-15 from the free throw line, as four Golden Panthers finished in double figures. Nikola Novakovic was one rebound away from a double-double finishing with 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Also in double figures were Eulis Baez with 13 points and Al Harris with 11.
FIU had a 42-32 rebounding advantage for the game, as Harris and Baez grabbed eight apiece and Matias brought down seven.
FIU (1-0) scored 31 of its 60 points from the free throw line, ending the game 31-for-44.
The Morris Brown (0-1) defense gave the Golden Panthers all kinds of trouble in the first half, limiting FIU to 22-percent (6-for-27) from the floor, for a 26-26 tie.
The second half was a different story as FIU started on a 7-0 run in the first four minutes. The Golden Panthers ran their lead to 16 points, 57-41, before the Wolverines closed the game with an 11-3 run for a 60-52 win.
The Wolverines were led by Anthony Adams' 16 points and Reshard Alonza's seven rebounds.
"Our team was excited," said FIU head coach Donnie Marsh. "(The coaches) had to calm them down. We really stepped up in the second half. It's a goal for us this season to go to the free throw line alot. From a defensive perspective, I thought we really clamped down when we needed to."
New Orleans 107, St. Leos 57
NEW ORLEANS, LA. (Nov. 23, 2002) -- The University of New Orleans mens basketball team scored the most points ever during a regulation game at Lakefront Arena as they defeated the Lions of Saint Leo University, 107-57 to capture its second straight Fall Homecoming game.
The Privateers (1-0) were led by senior forward Hector Romeros (Barcelona, Venezuela) first double-double of the season (18th of his career) with 24 points and 10 boards as he led four players in double figures. Junior Johnell Smith (Melrose, Fla.) had 20 points in his first game as a Privateer, while junior Kyle Buggs (Memphis, Tenn.) had 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds while freshman Billy McDade (Largo, Florida) had 11 points. A.J. Meredith (Macon, Georgia) added six assists.
Saint Leo (0-2) connected for only four points in the first eight minutes of the game as the Privateers jumped out to a 19-4 lead. Javier Veloso scored 14 points off the bench as he connected on four of nine three-pointers. Larry Henderson had 13 points while Colin Shaw had 12 points.
New Orleans forced 27 turnovers while snagging 18 steals. scored 14 points off 14 turnovers in the opening frame and went on to outscore the Lions 37-9 in points off turnovers for the entire game.
New Orleans came within two seconds of tying the teams all-time scoring margin of 52 points (set Dec. 1, 2000 against Loyola {La.}), as the Lions trailed 107-55 with two seconds remaining. Scott Siefert connected on two-of-three free throw attempts for the final margin.
Wyoming 85, Denver 65
DENVER A hot-shooting first half and second shots propelled the University of Wyoming to an 85-65 win over the University of Denver in non-conference mens basketball action Nov. 23 at Arena Auditorium in the Pioneers 2002-03 season opener.
The win is Wyomings first, while the Pioneers fall to 0-1. Junior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.) led the Pioneers with 13 points, and junior center Brett Starkey (Lakewood, Colo.) added eight points and seven rebounds. Marcus Bailey led all scores with 23 points.
The start proved to be the difference as Wyoming shot 48 percent (13-of-27) in the first half. This was a falloff from the 88 percent the Cowboys were shooting in the first eight minutes. Wyomings marksmanship from the floor, coupled with Denvers cold hand, 28 percent (9-of-29) in the first frame, allowed the Pokes to break the game open at 32-12. The Cowboys took a 38-19 lead into the locker room at the half.
The teams would go back-and-fourth in first 10 minuets of the second half, as Wyoming held their big lead. Yet the Pioneers would continue to battle, getting strong play from junior guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) and senior guard B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas).
Despite the Pioneers hard work the Cowboys would build a 29-point lead (69-40) with nine minutes to play.
Wyoming is a good basketball team, and I know they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament come March, said head coach Terry Carroll. We are not interested in moral victories, though. I wont be happy about this until Tuesday when we have another chance to get our there and fight.
No. 1 Arizona 107, No. 19 Western Kentucky 68
Tucson, Ariz. Hassan Adams had 22 points in his collegiate debut to lead seven Arizona players in double figures Saturday as the top-ranked Wildcats defeated No. 19 Western Kentucky, 107-68, in a non-conference mens basketball game at the McKale Center.
David Boyden countered with a career-best 26 points for the Hilltoppers (0-1) 22 of which came in the second half to pace all scorers.
It was the first meeting between the two schools. UA (1-0) collected its ninth consecutive season-opening victory while the Hilltoppers fell to 2-8 in the last 10 regular-season debuts.
Adams led a Wildcat attack that shot 56.2 percent from the field for the contest and outrebounded WKU, 42-25. Rick Anderson collected 14 points, while Will Bynum, Jason Gardner and Luke Walton chipped in with 12 apiece. Channing Frye added 10 points and nine rebounds, leading all players in the latter category.
We had trouble containing their offense and struggled with early foul trouble, said WKU head coach Dennis Felton. We went to a zone defense that worked for a while until they starting hitting some threes.
WKU took its only lead when Mike Wells hit the first basket one minute into the game. The Wildcats then proceeded to score 18 of the next 20 points and led 18-4 with 13:12 to go. The Hilltoppers would cut their deficit to 10 points on two occasions following an Anthony Winchester three-pointer and a dunk from Boyden, but UA followed the second basket with a 21-2 spurt to put the game away.
Pandov had 12 points in 23 minutes to go along with five rebounds tying Boyden for the team lead but left with a knee injury early in the second half.
We broke their press early, but missed a lot of layups and open jumpers that allowed them to continue to be confident we werent making them pay, Felton said. The two key factors were their offense they can score so much so fast and their ability to press. Our turnovers further ignited their offense.
Tulsa 71, New Mexico State, 61
Brandon Mason scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, but it wasnt enough as New Mexico State fell to Tulsa Saturday, 71-61.
The Aggies (1-1) caught fire early in the first half and led by as many as 10 (30-20) with 4:36 remaining. But Tulsa rallied and closed the gap to 37-33 going into halftime.
The Aggies came out a little flat in the second half as the Tulsa shooters started to heat up. The Golden Hurricane (1-0) shot 61% percent in the second half, compared to 42% in the first. They took the lead for good at 50-48 on a jumper by Dante Swanson. Swanson led Tulsa with 23 points.
The Aggies never came closer than two the rest of the way and fell behind by as many as 13 (65-52) at the 7:41 mark.
James Felder and Kelsey Crooks both had positive games for the Aggies, as they scored 12 points each. Will Morris chipped in nine points in the loss.
Jason Parker had 21 for Tulsa, and Kevin Johnson scored 19 points and pulled down eight boards.