North Carolina guard Derek Dixon (3) drives to the basket against SMU guard Jaron Pierre Jr. (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

DALLAS (AP) — Boopie Miller had 27 points and 12 assists and SMU beat No. 12 North Carolina 97-83 on Saturday, giving the Mustangs their first win over a ranked team for second-year coach Andy Enfield.

Corey Washington added 23 points, while B.J. Edwards scored 15 points and had six assists for the Mustangs (12-2), who are in their second Atlantic Coast Conference season. Jaron Pierre had 13 points and Jaden Toombs 12.

After leading by nine points three times before the game was tied at halftime, SMU never trailed after the break in its ACC opener. The Mustangs shot 60% overall (36 of 60) and 52% (14 of 27) on 3-pointers.

NO. 1 ARIZONA 97, UTAH 78

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Tobe Awaka and Jaden Bradley each scored 18 points and Arizona cruised past Utah to remain undefeated.

Brayden Burries had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Koa Peat also scored 17 and Ivan Kharchenkov 13 for the Wildcats (14-0, 1-0 Big 12 Conference), who extended their best start to a season since beginning the 2013-14 campaign with a 21-0 mark.

Terrence Brown scored 26 and Don McHenry and Keanu Dawes each scored 15 for Utah (8-6, 0-1).

NO. 5 PURDUE 89, WISCONSIN 73

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Braden Smith became the Big Ten’s career assists leader, Fletcher Loyer scored 20 points and Purdue defeated Wisconsin.

Smith had 12 assists to increase his career total to 893 and break the record formerly held by Cassius Winston, who compiled 890 career assists with Michigan State from 2017-20.

Smith is averaging 9.6 assists per game and entered Saturday leading all Division I players in that category. The large contingent of Purdue fans at the Kohl Center chanted “Braden Smith!” and gave him a standing ovation after he broke Winston’s record.

The 6-foot senior also had 14 points as Purdue (13-1, 3-0 Big Ten) continued its hot streak.

Since losing 81-58 to No. 3 Iowa State on Dec. 8 — a defeat that dropped Purdue out of the No. 1 ranking — the Boilermakers have won each of their last five games by an average margin of 26.6 points.

C.J. Cox had 14 points, Oscar Cluff 12 and Trey Kaufman-Renn 11 for Purdue. Cluff also had 11 rebounds.

Nick Boyd scored 24 points for Wisconsin (9-5, 1-2), while Nolan Winter added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

NO. 6 DUKE 91, FLORIDA STATE 87

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Isaiah Evans scored a career-high 28 points to lead Duke to a victory against Florida State.

The sophomore guard shot 6 of 14 from 3-point range, surpassing his career-best 23 points set in the opener against Texas on Nov. 4. Evans’ six 3-pointers were also a career-high.

Cameron Boozer had 17 points and season-bests in assists with nine and steals with four for Duke (13-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Florida State (7-8, 0-2) battled from start to finish and closed the deficit to 87-85 on Kobe MaGee’s 3-pointer with 23 seconds to go. The Seminoles were forced to foul, and Evans made a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left. MaGee missed a contested, off-balance 3-pointer with seven seconds to go and Duke rebounded to secure the win.

NO. 8 HOUSTON 67, CINCINNATI 60

CINCINNATI (AP) — Milos Uzan scored 18 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining, and Houston rallied in the second half for a victory over Cincinnati in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams.

Kingston Flemings led Houston with 19 points as it won its seventh straight. The Cougars (13-1) extended Division I’s longest active road winning streak to 15 games.

Day Day Thomas led Cincinnati (8-6) with 15 points, 12 in the first half, and Moustapha Thiam scored 13. The Bearcats have lost four of six and have dropped 13 straight to the Cougars, dating to when both were members of the American Conference.

The game was tied at 60-all when Uzan hit his fourth 3-pointer to put Houston on top for good. Joseph Tugler’s jumper with 54 seconds left made it a two-possession game.

NO. 10 BYU 83, KANSAS ST 73

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — A.J. Dybantsa had 24 points to offset seven turnovers in his Big 12 Conference debut, Robert Wright III added 18 points and BYU held off Kansas State to extend the Cougars’ longest winning streak since 2010.

Richie Saunders had 13 points and Keba Keita pulled down 16 rebounds for the Cougars (13-1, 1-0), whose 10th win since a two-point loss to fourth-ranked UConn in late November is their best unbeaten stretch since Jimmer Fredette’s senior season.

P.J. Haggerty led the Wildcats (9-5, 0-1) with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Abdi Bashir Jr. added 16 points, David Castillo scored 13 and Khamari McGriff finished with 12 points and eight boards.

Not only was the game a rare matchup of BYU and Kansas State — just the 11th time the schools met — it was a showdown between Dybantsa, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 23.1 points per game, and Haggerty, who came in third at 22.9 per game.

NO. 11 VANDERBILT 83, SOUTH CAROLINA 71

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Tyler Tanner had 19 points and a career-high 14 assists, AK Okereke scored 17 and Vanderbilt improved to 14-0 with a victory over South Carolina.

The Commodores (1-0 Southeastern Conference) are off to their best start since the 2007-08 team opened 16-0. They did it against the Gamecocks (9-5, 0-1) without leading scorer Duke Miles, who missed his second straight contest with an undisclosed injury.

Miles absence didn’t slow down Vanderbilt one bit. It used an early 13-0 run — which started on Okereke’s 3-pointer — to lead 15-4 over the first six minutes. When South Carolina closed 34-30 with 4:13 before the half, Vanderbilt ended the period with an 8-4 run sparked by another three from Okereke to lead 42-34.

Vanderbilt ended any chance of a Gamecocks’ rally with a 12-3 run to start the second half and were never pressured the rest of the way.

NO. 14 ALABAMA 89, KENTUCKY 74

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Aden Holloway tied a career-high with 26 points, Labaron Philon Jr. added 17 points and Alabama beat Kentucky 89-74 on Saturday.

Kentucky fought back from a 21-point deficit, cutting the lead to single digits, 77-68, with 5:38 to play. But the Wildcats were outscored 12-6 down the stretch, with all but two of the Crimson Tide’s points being scored by Holloway and Philon.

Holloway, who had five assists, hit 7 of 11 shots, including six of the 15 3-pointers made by Alabama (11-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference). The Tide entered the game ranked No. 3 in the country in 3-pointers per game at 13.1.

Houston Mallette scored 14 and Amari Allen had 11 points and nine rebounds as the Crimson Tide won its fourth straight game over the Wildcats.

NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 102, OKLAHOMA ST. 80

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — JT Toppin had 23 points and 14 rebounds for his 39th career double-double, Christian Anderson had 19 points and a career-high 13 assists, as Texas Tech beat Oklahoma St.

The Red Raiders (11-3, 1-0 Big 12) never trailed after the game’s opening minute.

LeJuan Watts finished just shy of Tech’s third double-double of the game at 19 points and nine rebounds. Donovan Atwell had 15 points on five 3-pointers, and Jaylen Petty had 12 points on four 3s.

UCF 81, NO. 17 KANSAS 75

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Riley Kugel had 19 points and a crucial three-point play with less than 10 seconds remaining to lead UCF over No. 17 Kansas.

Themus Fulks had 16 points and Jordan Burks scored 14 for UCF (12-1, 1-0 Big 12), which is off to its best start since 14-0 in 2010-11.

Kansas (10-4, 0-1) played most of the second half without star guard Darryn Peterson, who scored 23 of his 26 points in the first half. Peterson missed the previous two games with cramps and missed seven prior games with a hamstring injury.

Without him, the Jayhawks struggled to find much offense. He checked out for the final time with the game tied at 59 and 10:55 remaining.

Kansas found itself enough to tie the game with 3:02 to play after a 9-0 run. Burks made a 3-pointer to pull UCF ahead for good.

NO. 18 ARKANSAS 86, NO. 19 TENNESSEE 75

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored a career-high 29 points, including a key 3-pointer with just over two minutes left in the second half, to help Arkansas to a win over Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Arkansas (11-3) used a 18-5 run over a 6-minute, 37-second span midway through the second half to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 5:40 left. Tennessee shot just 2 for 10 from the field during Arkansas’ run, missing eight shots in a row before finally scoring.

The Volunteers (10-4) took advantage of an Arkansas cold shooting spell — the Razorbacks picked up 12 of their 18 points during the run from the free-throw line — to close within two points with under four minutes to play. Acuff made a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:09 remaining to give the Razorbacks a 79-68 lead.

Tennessee shot 49% from the field and was outscored at the line, going 12 for 23 while Arkansas shot 29 for 33.

Acuff was the only Arkansas player to shoot better than 50% from the floor, going 9 for 16. The Razorbacks shot 42% overall. Acuff was joined in double-digit scoring by Meleek Thomas, who scored 18 points. Malique Ewin added 12 points and Karter Knox 11.

Amari Evans’ 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting led three Tennessee players in double figures.

No. 20 ILLINOIS 73, PENN STATE

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — David Mirkovic had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kylan Boswell scored 18 points to lead Illinois to a win over Penn State at the Palestra.

Keaton Wagler scored 16 points and Zvonimir Ivisic added five blocked shots for the Illini (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) in the first of a 12-day stretch in which they play three of four conference opponents on the road.

Kayden Mingo scored 16 points for a Penn State, which is trying to end a two-year run of missing the NCAA Tournament. Penn State (9-5, 0-3) tried to pull off the win with the long ball, but missed 30 of 38 3-point attempts and had every small run derailed by wildly off-target shots.

NO. 21 VIRGINIA 76, NC STATE 61

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sam Lewis matched his career high with 23 points, Thijs De Ridder took over after halftime as Virginia beat N.C. State.

Lewis had 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting by halftime for the Cavaliers (12-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who never trailed three days after losing in triple overtime at Virginia Tech. Lewis helped Virginia go up 20 by halftime, then De Ridder took charge after the Wolfpack tried to rally.

The 6-9 De Ridder, a top international prospect from Belgium, had 12 of his 14 points after the break.

That included one terrific stretch that began when he flew in to snag an airballed 3-pointer by Malik Thomas and scored to beat the shot clock. He followed with a 3-pointer, then got a defensive stop and pushed the ball in transition to help set up Lewis’ corner 3 for a 66-44 lead with 8:53 left.

MISSOURI 76, NO. 22 FLORIDA 74

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Anthony Robinson II had 19 points and eight rebounds as Missouri held off Florida in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

Mark Mitchell added 14 points, Jacob Crews had 13 and Trent Pierce scored 10 off the bench in his first game this season for the Tigers (11-3, 1-0). Jayden Stone scored Missouri’s first eight points and finished with nine after missing the previous seven games with a hand injury.

Thomas Haugh had 24 points and seven rebounds for the Gators (9-5, 0-1). Alex Condon added 14 points, six assists and five boards.

NO. 23 GEORGIA 104, AUBURN 100 OT

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Jeremiah Wilkinson scored 31 points, including two 3-pointers in overtime, and Georgia kept up its high-scoring pace as the Bulldogs held off Auburn in the Southeastern Conference opener for each team.

Auburn’s Keyshawn Hall made two of three free-throw attempts with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation. Kevin Overton rebounded the missed third attempt and sank a buzzer-beating jumper to send the game to overtime at 92-92.

Marcus “Smurf” Millender scored 24 points for Georgia (13-1, 1-0), which began the day leading the nation with 99 points per game. The Bulldogs blocked eight shots, including five by Somto Cyril, who had 15 points. Georgia’s 7.9 blocked shots per game entering the game also led the nation.

NO. 25 IOWA 74, UCLA 61

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Bennett Stirtz scored 27 points and Iowa held off a second-half comeback attempt by UCLA.

The Hawkeyes (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) led by as many as 24 points in the first half and 20 points early in the second half before the Bruins (10-4, 2-1) stormed back.

UCLA went on an 18-2 run early in the second half and closed within 61-57 with 3:13 remaining before Iowa pulled away. The Hawkeyes closed the game with a 13-4 run, capped by Stirtz’s long 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring with four seconds left.

Iowa, which won its fourth consecutive game, made just 8 of 22 shots in the second half.

Alvaro Folgueiras scored 13 points for the Hawkeyes. Isaia Howard had 11 points.

Donovan Dent led UCLA with 25 points, including 20 in the second half.

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News from © The Associated Press, 2026