St. Bonaventure Starts With a Win

Marques Green scored 28 points to lead St. Bonaventure to a 78-76 victory over Robert Morris on Friday night at Olean, N.Y., in the Bonnies’ first game after last season’s troubled finish.

Green scored 17 points in the second half, helping the Bonnies overcome a 61-50 deficit during the final eight minutes. Ahmad Smith made the key defensive play, blocking Maurice Carter’s potential game-tying basket, an eight-footer as time ran out.

The Bonnies forfeited their final two games when the Atlantic 10 Conference barred the team from postseason play after forward Jamil Terrell was ruled ineligible for failing to meet junior college transfer guidelines.

No. 3 Michigan State 64, Bucknell 52 -- The Spartans took advantage of poor free-throw shooting by the Bison at East Lansing, Mich. Playing the highest-ranked team in its history, Bucknell missed 16 of 17 free throws. In the final 8:40, the Bison missed all eight of their free-throw attempts.

No. 6 Kansas 90, Tennessee Chattanooga 76 -- Bill Self won in his debut after replacing Roy Williams, who returned home to take over at North Carolina. Self took over the Jayhawks after three seasons at Illinois. The Jayhawks ended the first half on a 28-6 run en route to their 31st consecutive season-opening win.

No. 10 Kentucky 64, Winthrop 44 -- The Wildcats opened the second half with a 16-3 run to take control at Lexington, Ky. They are 25-3 in season openers at Rupp Arena.

No. 14 Oklahoma 69, Eastern Washington 59 -- The Sooners, who trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half, finished the game with a 10-1 run in the first round of the Sooner Invitational at Norman.

No. 15 Wisconsin 64, Pennsylvania 53 -- Devin Harris made only four of 14 shots, but his three-point play with 2:55 left gave the Badgers a seven-point lead and they held off the Quakers at Philadelphia.

No. 16 Gonzaga 84, Idaho 63 -- Leading, 55-48, the Bulldogs went on an 18-0 run that spanned seven minutes as they improved to 56-3 at Spokane, Wash., over the last five seasons.

No. 23 Marquette 79, Savannah State 41 -- The Tigers trailed at halftime, 37-15, and never mounted a comeback in the second half against the taller, quicker Golden Eagles in the first round of the Blue & Gold Classic at Milwaukee.

No. 24 North Carolina State 71, North Carolina Asheville 46 -- Junior Julius Hodge scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Wolfpack to a season-opening victory at Raleigh.

No. 25 Oklahoma State 90, Northwestern State 62 -- The Cowboys forced 27 turnovers in winning their 29th consecutive nonconference game at Stillwater, Okla. The overmatched Demons started five sophomores.

OTHER GAMES

Oregon 80, Fresno State 67 -- Luke Jackson scored 20 points to lead the Ducks at Eugene, Ore., in their season opener. They made 14 three-point baskets -- two short of the school record.

Washington 73, Portland State 65 -- Hakeem Rollins’ layup with 8:40 left capped an 11-4 run that broke the game’s final tie, giving the Huskies the lead for good at Seattle.

Washington State 66, Virginia Military Institute 46 -- The victory late Friday night at Fairbanks, Alaska, in the first round of the Top of the World Classic was the first for the Cougars under Coach Dick Bennett, who led Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000 and retired eight months later.

Villanova 73, Temple 48 -- The season opener for both teams tipped off at 12:03 a.m. EST in Philadelphia because of a scheduling conflict between the schools.

NCAA rules state that Friday was the first day teams could play a nonexempt game. Since the Wildcats play four games in five days starting today at Redlands, the late starting time was the only option.