High-Scoring Duo Keys Iowa Victory

Jacob Jaacks scored a career-high 29 points and Dean Oliver had a career-best 27 to help No. 22 Iowa defeat Eastern Illinois, 95-79, Sunday night at Iowa City.

Jaacks and Oliver combined to score 19 of the last 25 points for the Hawkeyes (2-1).

Jaacks’ previous best was 20 points against then-No. 1 Connecticut in the first round of the IKON Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Nov. 11. Oliver’s previous best--24 points--came at Minnesota on Jan. 16.

The Panthers (0-1) trailed, 41-40, at halftime.

“We had a fun halftime. They gave me my first headache of the season,” first-year Iowa Coach Steve Alford said. “When you do so much talking without breathing, you get a headache. But the kids responded.”

No. 3 Auburn 100, Arkansas Pine Bluff 44--Mamadou N’diaye had career highs of 21 points and 18 rebounds and Chris Porter scored 20 as the Tigers (2-0) overwhelmed the Golden Lions (0-1) at Auburn, Ala. Porter opened the game by scoring nine of Auburn’s first 11 points, helping the Tigers take an 11-4 lead.

No. 6 Temple 60, Miami of Ohio 47--Mark Karcher scored 18 points and Pepe Sanchez keyed a stifling defense before leaving because of an injury as the Owls defeated the RedHawks at Philadelphia in both teams’ season opener. Sanchez led the Owls’ matchup zone with seven steals before suffering a sprained right ankle with 15 seconds left.

No. 25 Gonzaga 76, Montana 61--Casey Calvary scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Bulldogs over the Grizzlies in the season opener for both teams at Missoula, Mont. Gonzaga started the second half with an 11-2 run, keyed by seven points from Calvary.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 91, Simon Fraser 78--Mike Wozniak scored 25 points to lead the Mustangs to a season-opening victory over Simon Fraser (1-6) at San Luis Obispo.

Oklahoma 75, California 58--Eduardo Najera started the game with a slam dunk and went on to score 23 points and pull down eight rebounds as the Sooners (3-0) defeated the Golden Bears (2-1) at Fairbanks, Alaska to win the Top of the World Classic.

Notre Dame 73, St. Francis (Pa.) 60--Troy Murphy’s career-high 35 points lifted the Fighting Irish (3-0) to victory over the Red Flash (1-1) at South Bend, Ind., giving the Irish their best start since the 1988-89 season.

San Francisco 78, Nevada 73--Senior Kenyon Jones scored 37 points, 29 in the second half, as the Dons (1-1) rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat the Wolf Pack (1-1) at Reno, Nev. Jones, who had played three seasons at California before transferring to San Francisco, had never scored more than 15 points in a college game.

Virginia 98, Virginia Military Institute 57--The Cavaliers (2-0) took a 32-9 lead, and went on to force 30 turnovers with a full-court press to easily handle the Keydets (2-1) at Charlottesville, Va. It was the 20th consecutive victory for Virginia over the VMI, dating to 1964.

Nevada Las Vegas 92, Fairfield 68--Trevor Diggs scored 19 points, including five-for-seven shooting from three-point range, as the Runnin’ Rebels (2-0) defeated the Stags (0-2) at Las Vegas. Diggs is a junior college transfer playing only his second game for the Rebels.