College basketball: No. 7 North Carolina beats Stanford 90-72 in home opener

Kenny Williams scored 12 points after starting the season by missing his first 10 shots, and No. 7 North Carolina dominated the first half en route to a 90-72 victory over Stanford in its home opener Monday.

Williams scored on a layup less than 90 seconds into the game, then followed with a three-pointer a few minutes later.

“It was a big relief,” Williams said. “I wasn’t doing anything different to my shot. Like I told you guys, it just wasn’t going in.”

Cameron Johnson had 17 points to lead four players in double figures for the Tar Heels (3-0), who shot 60% in the first half. Luke Maye’s three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer gave North Carolina a 52-26 lead.

The Cardinal (2-1) got no closer than 15 points in the second half.

at No. 2 Kansas 84, Vermont 68: Kansas guard Lagerald Vick followed his underwhelming performance against Michigan State with what Bill Self called the best offensive performance of anybody he’s ever coached. Vick went eight for eight from three-point range and finished with a career high 32 points.

“He was fabulous,” Self said. “He was great. He carried us.”

Vick got help from Udoka Azubuike, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Devon Dotson, who kept finding Vick open on the perimeter while adding 10 points and 10 assists. Vick finished 12 of 14 from the field in helping Kansas (2-0) win its 46th straight home opener.

Anthony Lamb had 24 points, Ernie Duncan added 17 and Stef Smith scored 13 for the Catamounts, who have lost nine straight to ranked teams dating to a win over Boston College in 2006.

at No. 12 Kansas State 64, Denver 56: Barry Brown scored 15 of his 25 points in the second half as the Wildcats (2-0) held off the pesky Pioneers.

Dean Wade and Xavier Sneed each had 12 points for Kansas State, which shot just 38% from the field, including six of 27 from three-point range. The Wildcats were terrible at the foul line, too, going 12 for 27.

But the Pioneers (1-1) were hurt by 17 turnovers.

No. 25 Buffalo at Southern Illinois: Montell McRae and Jeremy Harris each scored 11 points for Buffalo, which avoided a shutout despite shooting 35.5% from the field, including eight of 28 from three-point range.

Davonta Jordan had nine points and five assists for the Bulls (3-0), who entered the top 25 for the first time in school history following its win over West Virginia.

Kavion Pippenhad 18 points for Southern Illinois (0-2), which played without forward Armon Fletcher, its top returning scorer from last season. Fletcher hurt his knee in the season-opening loss at Kentucky.

at Minnesota 78, Utah 69: Freshman Gabe Kalscheur had 19 points on five-for-six shooting from three-point range as all five Minnesota starters scored in double digits.

Jordan Murphy had 11 points, 17 rebounds and five assists for the Golden Gophers (2-0), who shot 51.8% from the field.

Sedrick Barefield and Vante Hendrix each scored 14 points for the Utes (1-1).

at Washington 66, San Diego 63: Jaylen Nowell scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, Noah Dickerson added 16 points, and Washington held off a late rally to beat San Diego 66-63 on Monday night.

Washington led 55-47 with 10 minutes left, but watched the Toreros turn the final seconds into an uncomfortable finish for the home team. Nowell’s two free throws with 25 seconds left ended up giving the Huskies (2-1) the cushion they needed and forced San Diego to try a contested 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Tyler Williams had a look at a corner 3-pointer for the Toreros, but it hit off the front rim and the Huskies were able to escape with the victory.

Nowell hit 6 of 11 shots, but Washington’s offense again lagged. Nahziah Carter added 11 points off the bench.

SOUTHLAND

at Arizona State 90, Long Beach State 58: Remy Martin scored 15 points and Luguentz Dort added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Sun Devils (3-0). The 49ers (1-2) made only six of 31 shot attempts in the first half and went two stretches of more than four minutes without a point.

at UC Irvine 87, Life Pacific 53: Collin Welp and Robert Cartwright each scored 15 points for the Anteaters, who built a 26-point halftime lead and cruised to their third straight win. Welp also had eight rebounds and two steals.