Men

No. 2 Baylor 111, La.-Lafayette 82

Baylor hadn't been on a basketball court for a game in 266 days, until Saturday night.

And it showed — for a moment.

The Bears shook off a sluggish start to the season, MaCio Teague scored 21 points and won its delayed season opener over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Baylor, which adjusted its opening schedule after coach Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19, shot 45-for-80 (56.3%) from the floor, including 15-for-27 (55.6%) from 3-point range. The Bears' 15 3-pointers were their most in a game since last year’s season opener, when they made 18 against Central Arkansas.

“The first three or four minutes of the game you could see the guys really winded,” said Baylor assistant coach Jerome Tang, who served as head coach for Drew. “Game speed is so much different than practice. ... I felt like we got our legs underneath us and focused in a little bit more. Our depth, too ... I just felt like we got better when we subbed."

Davion Mitchell finished with 18 points for the Bears (1-0). Jared Butler and LJ Cryer each scored 17 and Adam Flagler chipped in 12.

“Anyone can go off any night,” Mitchell said. “Just spreading the ball (and) passing the ball, we’re gonna share the sugar, we’re gonna have fun.”

Cedric Russell led the Ragin Cajuns (0-1) with 26 points. Theo Akwuba scored 22 and Brayan Au added 16.

The Bears were supposed to open the season with two games in Connecticut but didn’t make the trip to the Empire Classic where they would have played No. 18 Arizona State and No. 3 Villanova.

Baylor had also been scheduled to play Seton Hall on Sunday, but the schools mutually agreed to cancel the game in Las Vegas. Drew stayed home in Waco, Texas.

In an earlier game in Las Vegas on Saturday, Air Force defeated Cal State Northridge, 66-61. There are two games scheduled for Sunday and another Monday.

The games were part of a string of opening-week contests being played in neutral cities without spectators. So, rather than a thunderous two-handed slam dunk by Baylor’s Flo Thamba with 11:55 left in the first half igniting a crowd, it took the sounds of Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Baby or Drake to make the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights’ home arena vibrate during timeouts.

The Bears came out sluggish in the first half, allowing Louisiana-Lafayette to hang around. The Ragin’ Cajuns hit five of their first six free throws, including four straight at the midway point, cutting Baylor’s lead to one, 21-20.

The Bears went on a 32-20 run and carried a 53-40 lead into the intermission.

Led by Mitchell, who was a 6-for-6 from the floor en route to 13 first-half point, Baylor shot 56.4% (22 of 39) from the field, including 9 of 15 (60%) from 3-point range. The Bears had eight players contribute to the scoring in the first 20 minutes.

“I felt like we took a lot of uncontested shots and that was teammates creating shots for each other,” Tang said. “I’m pretty sure when we break down this film, there won’t be too many, especially in the second half, what we would grade as a tough shot.”

Baylor, which returns four All-Big 12 players from last year’s 26-4 team, appears to have carried offensive and defensive prowess over from last season. The Bears, who built a double-digit lead in 24 of 30 games last season, never relinquished their double-digit advantage over Louisiana-Lafayette after taking a 33-22 lead with 5:33 left in the first half. Baylor, which forced 15 or more turnovers in 18 of its 30 games last year, forced 19 on Saturday.

After starting his collegiate career at UNLV, redshirt-sophomore transfer Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua was back in Las Vegas for his first game with Baylor after sitting out last season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules. The 6-foot-8 forward from Cameroon, who averaged 3.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 31 games (11 starts) as freshman at UNLV, finished the night with six points and seven rebounds for the Bears.

Vegas Bubble officials reported more than 400 rapid antigen or PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests for six men’s teams and two women’s teams with no positive COVID results from any team members traveling to Las Vegas. With cancellations running rampant, a sports representative with promoter bdGlobal confirmed other teams have expressed interest in playing games in the Vegas Bubble over the next week.

After No. 1 Gonzaga opened the season with two dominating wins against Kansas (102-90) and Auburn (90-67), the Bears should be locked into No. 2, provided it gets by Washington on Sunday.

No. 9 Duke 81, Coppin State 71

Freshman Jalen Johnson had 19 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks and No. 9 Duke overcome a turnover-filled performance to beat Coppin State in the delayed season opener for both teams.

The 6-foot-9 Johnson made all eight of his shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, and both of free throws. He also had five assists. Fellow freshman DJ Steward scored 24 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:02 left that helped keep Duke in control during an unexpectedly tight finish.

Duke was playing without its rowdy fans in the famously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Blue Devils shot 53% but committed 22 turnovers.

DeJuan Clayton and Anthony Tarke each scored 22 points for the Eagles.

No. 13 Michigan State 80, Notre Dame 70

Aaron Henry had 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists to help Michigan State beat Notre Dame.

The Spartans (2-0) closed the first half with a 17-0 run over seven-plus minutes and scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 22-point lead.

Joey Hauser had 10 points and 12 rebounds, Rocket Watts had 13 points and six assists, and Marcus Bingham added seven points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots for the Spartans.

Prentiss Hubb had 23 points for Notre Dame in its opener.

Women

No. 24 Missouri State 81, No. 12 Maryland 72

Brice Calip scored a career-high 26 points and Missouri State rallied from a 16-points deficit to beat Maryland at the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Jasmine Franklin had 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals for Missouri State (2-0). The Bears shot just 41.8% from the field but scored 25 points off 24 Maryland turnovers.

The Terrapins had won 18 straight games — by an average of 25.1 points — dating to a 77-49 win at No. 24 Michigan on Jan. 12.

Calip had seven points in a 16-5 spurt that gave the Bears a 79-68 with 32 seconds left. Maryland was 2-of-8 shooting and committed three turnovers during that 5-plus minute span.

Katie Benzan hit four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for the Terrapins and Angel Reese had 15 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three blocks.

Missouri State, which has won 52 of its last 59 games overall, has at least one victory over a Power Five school in seven consecutive seasons, with 11 such wins over that span.

Channise Lewis hit a 3-pointer to give the Terrapins a 16-point lead with 1:53 left in the second quarter but Missouri State scored 23 of the next 25 points while Maryland committed seven turnovers in the next six minutes.

No. 1 South Carolina 81, South Dakota 71

Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke each scored 19 points, and top-ranked South Carolina beat South Dakota in the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic.

Henderson finished two points shy of a career high. She was 8 of 13 from the floor and had nine rebounds for the Gamecocks (2-0)

Chloe Lamb led South Dakota (0-1) with 18 points, and Hannah Sjerven added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 13 Texas A&M 93. No. 19 DePaul 91

Kayla Wells scored 22 points, N’dea Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Texas A&M edged DePaul.

Wells made two free throws with 4.9 seconds left to put Texas A&M (2-0) up 93-90. The Aggies shot 61%, making all three of their 3-pointers.

Dee Bekelja had 24 points for DePaul. The Blue Demons played with masks in their opener.

No. 14 Arkansas 86, Florida Gulf Coast 80

Chelsea Dungee scored 19 of her 25 points in the second half, 10 in the fourth quarter, and Arkansas made four free throws in the final 11 seconds to beat Florida Gulf Coast in the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Makayla Daniels added 15 points for the Razorbacks (3-0). Ramirez and Destiny Slocum each had 12 and Taylah Thomas had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Tishara Morehouse had 35 points for the Eagles (1-2).

South Dakota 76, No. 15 Iowa 69

Haley Greer scored 20 points and Myah Selland added 19 to help South Dakota State beat Iowa in its opener.

Greer, a graduate transfer from Colgate, had three of her four 3-pointers in the first half. South Dakota State went 13 for 13 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and 23 of 26 overall to hold off the Cyclones for its 12th victory over a ranked opponent.

All-American Ashley Joens had 35 points and 12 rebounds for the Cyclones (1-1). They played without coach Bill Fennelly because of COVID-19 protocol.