Around College Basketball’s Opening Night

Notable news from the opening night of college basketball:

• Kevin Ollie made his case in his first career game, topping Michigan State legend Tom Izzo and his 14th ranked Spartans, 66-62.  Shabazz Napier led the way with 25 points, while Ryan Boatright played through an ankle injury to net 13 points with four assists, four rebound and five steals.  Michigan State shot below 40% from the field and made only 2-17 from three point range.
• John Calipari chooses who he wants at Kentucky, but it was former walk-on Jarrod Polson (10 points) who made all of the big plays down the stretch for the Wildcats in a 72-69 win over Maryland in Brooklyn.  The Teprs rebounded from an atrocious shooting first half to outscore Calipari’s group by 10 in the second, and highly-touted freshman Nerlens Noel (4 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals 2-6 from the field, 0-3 at the line) was outplayed by Maryland sophomore Alex Len (23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks).
• Ugly stuff from Rhode Island in Dan Hurley’s debut, as the Rams shot only 28% in a 67-55 loss to Norfolk State in which they were outscored by 17 in the second half.
• Former Friar Duke Mondy scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting in Oakland’s blowout win over Albion.
• It was a tough night for NBC Sports who was set to feature a double header including Marquette versus #4 Ohio State followed by Georgetown and #10 Florida.  Marquette and Ohio State never took to the floor due to condensation on the aircraft carrier court they were set to play on, while Georgetown and Florida got through a half before calling it for the same reason.
• Poor start for one of the supposed better teams in the ACC, as #25 Florida State fell to South Alabama 76-71.  Virginia also lost to George Mason.
• Freshman Steven Adams had 8 points (4-5 shooting), 8 rebounds and 4 blocks in his collegiate debut in Pittsburgh’s romp over Mount St. Mary’s.
• Rutgers was upset by St. Peter’s at home, 56-52, after managing a mere 22 first half points.  Purdue also lost to Bucknell.
• Both Seton Hall and Villanova won convincingly against District of Columbia and UMKC.
• Massachusetts product Georges Niang had 15 points (2-2 from three) and 12 rebounds in his collegiate debut in an Iowa State win.  The Cyclones were struggling early, but Niang hit a three right before the first half concluded to give them a 41-39 lead over Southern.  They rolled from there.  Niang had 7 points and 8 rebounds by halftime coming off of the bench.
• Brandon Young and Cleveland Melvin combined for 36 points in DePaul’s runaway 91-59 win over UC Riverside.
• Trevor Lacey hit a three pointer at the horn to give Alabama a 70-67 win over South Dakota State.
• Holy Cross topped Old Dominion, 46-45.
• In a matchup of potential mid-major All Americans, Doug McDermott (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Creighton defeated Tony Mitchell (18 points, 7 rebounds) and North Texas, 71-51.
• Waterbury, CT native, and Friarbasketball favorite point guard Anthony Ireland shot an efficient 8-10 on his way to 19 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in a Loyola Marymount victory.

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