Kansas is off to a good start

Preseason All-American Brandon Rush scored 21 points and No. 3 Kansas got its season off to a roaring start Saturday night with a 91-57 victory over visiting Northern Arizona.

Five players scored in double figures for the Jayhawks, who return all five starters and almost 86% of their scoring from the team that went 25-8 last season and won the Big 12 championship.

Northern Arizona, which has four starters back from last year’s Big Sky Conference champion, was outclassed from start to finish as the Jayhawks made 10 of their first 12 shots and used a 19-4 run to take a 41-17 lead.

No. 7 Ohio State 87, Loyola of Chicago 75 -- Ron Lewis scored the first seven points of each half and finished with 27 to lead the host Buckeyes (2-0) in the BCA Classic. They will play Kent State tonight in the championship game.

Lewis, a 6-4 senior, also had 11 rebounds and three assists. He was eight of 14 shooting, including four of six from three-point range. He also made all but one of his eight free throws.

No. 8 Georgetown 69, Hartford 59 -- The host Hoyas trailed in the second half and didn’t gain any separation until Roy Hibbert’s three-point play with 4:59 left put them up, 59-54.

Until then, Georgetown’s problems on offense (it shot 42%) and Hartford’s reliance on three-point baskets kept the score close.

No. 20 Syracuse 78, Pennsylvania 60 -- The Orange (2-0) forced 20 turnovers and had 14 steals and eight blocked shots in holding the visiting Quakers to 38.5% shooting in the Black Coaches Assn. Invitational.

OTHER GAMES

Sophomore Anthony Goods scored 30 points and 7-foot freshman Robin Lopez made an impressive debut with 14 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks to lead Stanford past visiting Siena, 92-72.... Southeastern Louisiana beat host Oregon State, 65-63, in the Oregon Rain Invitational. Terry Bryant made the go-ahead jumper with 15 seconds left.

Washington State improved to 2-0 with a 74-54 victory over Wisconsin Milwaukee in the John Thompson Foundation Classic at Milwaukee.... Leemire Goldwire made 10 consecutive free throws in the final 67 seconds to help Charlotte open the season by holding off visiting Hofstra, 88-82.