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Men's College-Basketball Roundup: VMI pulls a shocker; WSSU loses opener
State/area men
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Published: November 15, 2008
State/area men
VMI 111, Kentucky 103: Virginia Military Institute handed Kentucky an early-season stunner with a victory last night in Lexington, Ky.
The upset came just more than a year after Gardner-Webb's 84-68 victory against the Wildcats in Billy Gillispie's second game as coach.
The Keydets hadn't beaten a program from a major conference since knocking off Virginia Tech 72-66 on Dec. 4, 2004.
It looked like a blowout early when VMI led by as many as 26 points. But Kentucky used a furious comeback to take the lead with five minutes left before giving it back up.
Georgia Tech 92, Winston-Salem State 47: Gani Lawal had career highs with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Moe Miller scored 17 pooints with 10 assists in Georgia Tech's win against Winston-Salem State last night in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets (1-0) took a 78-37 lead on Zach Peacock's runner with 7:10 remaining.
Jamal Durham scored 11 points to lead Winston-Salem State (0-1). The Rams hit 26.2 percent of 65 shots from the field, and they were 7 for 23 on free throws.
Lawal, a 6-9 sophomore, matched his career high of 17, set in last year's loss at Indiana, in the first half.
UNC Wilmington 108, Appalachian State 101 (OT): Johnny Wolf and Chad Tomko each scored 27 points to help lead UNC Wilmington past visiting Appalachain State in overtime last night.
Tomko added eight steals and Dominique Lacy chipped in 23 points for the Seahawks (1-0), who overcame a 51-36 halftime defecit to clinch the win.
Donald Sims paced the Mountaineers (0-1) with 24 points, and Eduardo Bermudez added 18 points in a losing effort.
The Seahawks outscored the Mountaineers 60-45 in the second half, and then went on a 12-5 run in the extra frame to seal the victory.
UNC Wilmington hit 12 3-pointers, including Tomko's shot with his squad trailing 96-93 with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Clemson 98, Hofstra 69: Trevor Booker scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Clemson past Hofstra last night in the first round of the Charleston Classic.
The Tigers (1-0) will play Texas Christian tonight.
Clemson was in control from start to finish leading 15-3 early and 39-24 at the half.
The Tigers led by 22 with 14:03 to play and continued to pull away from the Pride.
Clemson also got 15 points from Terrence Oglesby and 13 from Raymond Sykes.
Charles Jenkins led Hofstra with 21.
Davidson 107, Guilford 83: Stephon Curry scored 29 points and set career highs with 10 assists and nine steals to lead Davidson past visiting Guilford last night.
The Wildcats started out as a ranked team for the first time since 1969-70 and won behind their preseason All-America.
Davidson led by 12 points at halftime, then went on a 23-5 burst capped by Curry's three-point play for a big cushion.
Clay Henson scored 21 for the Division III Quakers.
Davidson led by as many as 39 points en route to winning their 17th straight home opener. Andrew Lovedale added 16 points, Brendan McKillop 14 and Bryant Barr 11.
UNC Charlotte 77, UNC Greensboro 59: Lamont Mack had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead UNC Charlotte past visiting UNC Greensboro last night.
An'Juan Wilderness scored 15 for UNC Charlotte (1-0), and Rashad Coleman chipped in with 14. UNC Charlotte, which led throughout, scored 27 points off turnovers.
Landon Clement led UNCG with 13 points, including 3-for-6 shooting on 3-pointers.
Landon Clement contributed 12 points for the Spartans. UNC Greensboro (0-1) committed 21 turnovers and dropped to 0-9 in the all-time series.
Duquesne 84, High Point 55: Damian Saunders was dominating at both ends of the court with 21 points, six steals and three blocked shots, helping Duquesne open a 28-point lead at halftime en route to a win against High Point last night in Pittsburgh.
Top 25 men
No. 2 Connecticut 81, Western Carolina 55: Hasheem Thabeet scored 23 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead Connecticut to a season-opening win against Western Carolina last night in Storrs, Conn.
No. 12 Oklahoma 83, American 54: Blake Griffin had 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to lead Oklahoma past American last night in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners shot 53.8 percent from the field and have won 22 of their last 24 season openers, including six in a row.
No. 16 Marquette 95, Houston Baptist 64: Wesley Matthews scored a career-high 27 points and Marquette rolled past Houston Baptist last night in Milwaukee.
No. 19 Florida 80, Toledo 58: Dan Werner scored 19 points, Nick Calathes added 16 points and seven assists and Florida beat Toledo last night in Gainesville, Fla.
The Gators, trying to rebound from missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in a decade, won their 18th consecutive season opener and improved to 51-6 under Coach Billy Donovan in November.
More importantly, Florida looked much improved on defense. The Gators, who finished 10th in the Southeastern Conference in field-goal defense and ninth in rebounding last season, forced four 10-second violations and held the Rockets to 43.8 percent shooting.
Jonathan Amos led Toledo with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Werner and Calathes led the way for Florida on offense, with some help. Alex Tyus, called on to replace Marreese Speights, had 11 points. Walter Hodge, the team's lone senior, added 10.
Toledo kept it close for most of the first half — until Florida began making 3-pointers. The Gators missed their first eight shots from behind the arc, then reeled off four in row to spark a 16-2 run that started with about 3:30 to play and spanned halftime.
Allan Chaney, one of four freshmen making their official debut for the Gators, started the 3-point barrage. Hodge, Calathes and Werner followed.
The Gators finished 7 of 19 from 3-point range and shot 53 percent from the floor. They were even better on defense, forcing 25 turnovers and finishing with 12 steals.
Florida was up 56-31 early in the second half and cruised from there, even without two players. Donovan had just nine scholarship players because Adam Allen (knee) and Eloy Vargas (ankle) missed the game with injuries.
The Rockets played most of the game a man down, losing Terrance Tubbs to a shoulder injury early on. Toledo also got in foul trouble early, having seven players pick up two fouls in a first half that ended with 27 fouls called and 36 free throws taken.
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