Basketball roundup: No. 5 Kansas wins squeaker as UNC, NC State women roll on

Published 12:00 am Friday, December 18, 2020

Associated Press

LUBBOCK, Texas — Ochai Agbaji made the go-ahead layup with 13 seconds left and finished with 23 points as No. 5 Kansas beat No. 14 Texas Tech 58-57 on Thursday night, giving the Jayhawks a win in their conference opener for the 30th season in a row.

Agbaji made four 3-pointers but got the game-winning points for the Jayhawks (7-1, 1-0 Big 12) when he worked inside and took an inbound pass from Marcus Garrett.  Texas Tech (6-2, 0-1) had one more opportunity, but Terrence Shannon Jr., who had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Red Raiders, had his mid-range jumper blocked by Jalen Wilson to end the game.

Garrett had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Kansas, which has never lost a Big 12 opener, and last lost a conference opener during the 1990-91 season in the old Big Eight Conference.

Mac McClung led Texas Tech with a season-high 21 points, but didn’t score in the last 11 minutes.

No. 9 Creighton 94, St. John’s 76

NEW YORK (AP) — Marcus Zegarowski scored 20 points, shooting 6 for 7 from 3-point range as Creighton cruised.

Denzel Mahoney had 16 points and freshman center Ryan Kalkbrenner added 15 off the bench to help the Bluejays (5-2, 1-1 Big East) bounce back from a home loss to Marquette in their conference opener.

Julian Champagnie led the Red Storm (5-4, 0-3) with 17 points.

App. State 87, Greensboro 47

BOONE (AP) — Donovan Gregory registered 18 points as Appalachian State romped past Division III Greensboro. Adrian Delph added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Mountaineers, and Deshon Parker chipped in 10 points. James Lewis Jr. had eight rebounds for Appalachian State (5-2). Matthew Brown had 12 points for the Pride, who played the game as an exhibition.

No. 4 NC State women top Wake

RALEIGH (AP) — Jakia Brown-Turner scored 14 of her 23 points in the first quarter and the No. 4 Wolfpack used sizzling early shooting to beat Wake Forest 79-65. Elissa Cunane added 17 points and 10 rebounds to help N.C. State (7-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) cruise just a few days after needing a huge fourth-quarter comeback at Boston College.

The Wolfpack made 13 of 15 shots, including 6-for-6 on 3-pointers, in racing to a 33-14 lead late in the first quarter.

“That first quarter, in particular, was really nice,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “We struggled Sunday and it was good to get off to a great start and maybe gain a little confidence. I thought our starting five played extremely well. That’s exciting to see.”

Kayla Jones had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Raina Perez provided 10 points for N.C. State.

Christina Morra led Wake Forest (4-2, 1-1), which had a four-game winning streak snapped, with 13 points. Jewel Spear scored all of her 12 points in the first half on 4-for-4 shooting on 3s.

“We felt like we were playing well and were prepared,” Wake Forest coach Jen Hoover said. “We came out and hit a red-hot team that in the first quarter kind of buried us. … It’s hard to recover from that because it’s deflating.”

Wake Forest plays Sunday at North Carolina for the second meeting between the teams in 11 days.

N.C. State is at home Sunday against Miami in a schedule change announced prior to Thursday’s game.

Tar Heel women rout No. 18 Orange

CHAPEL HILL (AP) — Janelle Bailey scored 25 points and North Carolina ran away from No. 18 Syracuse 92-68. Petra Holesinska added 21 points for the Tar Heels (6-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who lost their first two league games on the road by a total of seven points. Deja Kelly scored 22 points and had eight assists.

Emily Engstler scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Kamilla Cardoso added 11 points and 13 boards, her first double-double, for the Orange (4-1, 1-1). Kiara Fisher also had 11 points, a career high as the Syracuse bench played extensive minutes.

North Carolina outscored Syracuse 21-9 in the first period and 24-15 in the third to control the game.  The Orange went 3 of 18 from the field (17%) in the first quarter.