Thijs De Ridder scored 20 points, Malik Thomas scored 12 and Virginia beat North Carolina Central 81-62 Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena.

Sam Lewis and reserve Ugonna Onyenso each scored 10 and Johan Grunloh tallied 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who owned a 48-34 rebounding advantage.

Gage Latimore scored 25 points and Khouri Carvey scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for NCCU (0-2).

UVA (2-0) built a 15-5 lead in the first five minutes and never trailed. Onyenso rebounded his own miss for a putback and made it 26-5 with 11:14 before halftime.

The Cavaliers led 42-25 at the half. Midway through the second half, De Ridder made a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 65-34 with 10:39 to go.

Virginia Wesleyan 87, Keene State 84: VWU, ranked 14th nationally in the preseason by d3hoops.com, outlasted Keene State of New Hampshire in a season opener at the TowneBank Tipoff Tournament in Virginia Beach.

Omari DeVeaux scored 25 points for the host Marlins, who will play for the title at 4 p.m. Saturday against No. 7 Wisconsin-La Crosse. The third-place game, No. 17 Hampden-Sydney versus Keene State, will be at 2 p.m.

Neither team ever led by double digits. The Marlins pulled ahead 85-76 and won despite not making a field goal in the final 2:30. VWU’s Khai Seargeant hit two free throws with 7 seconds left, and the Owls’ Jordan Cooper missed a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. He led Keene State, a team receiving votes below the top 25, with 30 points.

Omari Moorer had 20 points for VWU, and Seargeant added 12.

Wisconsin-La Crosse 77, Hampden-Sydney 75, OT: Sam Grieger scored a game-high 36 points for the No. 7 Eagles, including the winning basket at the OT buzzer on a rebound of a missed 3-pointer.

For No. 17 H-SC, sophomore guard Peter Moye scored a career-high 18 points, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and sophomore guard Travis Stickney added 13 points and a career-high seven steals.

Christopher Newport 86, Penn State Altoona 67: The Captains, ranked ninth in the d3hoops.com preseason poll, put four players in double digits in a season-opening road victory. Toa Hollenbeck came off the bench to score 13 points, and Collin Hines, Tyson Henderson and freshman Tyler Sprague scored 11 apiece.

Hines, CNU’s only senior, had nine rebounds. He and Henderson had four assists apiece for the Captains, who led by as many as 29 and outrebounded the Lions 51-27.

George Mason 96, Winthrop 90: Kory Mincy had 29 points to help the Patriots (2-0) overcome the Eagles (1-1) in Fairfax.

Mincy shot 9 of 16 from the field, including 4 for 9 from 3-point range, and went 7 for 7 from the free-throw line. Jahari Long scored 22 points and added eight rebounds. Nick Ellington added 10 points.

Daylen Berry led Winthrop with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Utah State 80, VCU 77: The Rams (1-1) erased an 18-point deficit to pull even at 76 in Frisco, Texas, but the Aggies (2-0) won as Garry Clark sank a tiebreaking layup with 15 seconds remaining. Former Virginia Tech player MJ Collins led all scorers with 22 for Utah State.

Freshman guard Nyk Lewis scored 19 and senior guard Jadrian Tracey 16 for the Rams. Barry Evans had five points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Pittsburgh 78, Longwood 60: Damarco Minor totaled 23 points, Brandin Cummings scored 19 and the Panthers won. Minor hit 9 of 10 free throws for Pitt (2-0) and added six rebounds. Cummings shot 5 for 8 from beyond the arc.

Johan Nziemi led the Lancers (1-1) with 16 points. Jacob Hutchinson scored 13 and had six assists, and VCU transfer Fats Billups scored 11.

Liberty 90, College of Charleston 75: Colin Porter’s 23 points helped the Flames (2-0) defeat the Cougars (1-1) in Lynchburg.

Porter shot 8 for 10 (3 for 4 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Brett Decker Jr. scored 21 points while shooting 8 for 16, including 5 for 10 from beyond the arc. Kaden Metheny went 6 of 10 from the field (5 for 8 from 3-point range) to finish with 18 points.

Charleston’s Martin Kalu finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. The Cougars also got 18 points, nine rebounds and two blocks from Chol Machot.

Radford 99, West Virginia Wesleyan 61: Jaylon Johnson’s 16 points led the host Highlanders (2-0) over the Division II Bobcats.

Johnson went 5 of 9 from the field and was 4 for 8 from 3-point range. Dennis Parker Jr. scored 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, to go with five rebounds. Frederik Erichsen added 13 points and was 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.

Nick Davis led West Virginia Wesleyan with 17 points and four steals.

VMI 78, Southern Indiana 74: TJ Johnson’s 32 points, 14 rebounds and three steals propelled the Keydets (2-0) to a victory over the Screaming Eagles (0-2) in Evansville, Indiana. Former Menchville High player AJ Clark had eight rebounds, six assists and four points for VMI.

Coastal Carolina 121, Virginia University of Lynchburg 44: Jerry Ngopot had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Chanticleers (1-1), who had seven double-digit scorers.

ACC

No. 25 North Carolina 87, No. 19 Kansas 74: Freshman Caleb Wilson had 24 points, big man Henri Veesaar added 20, and UNC dominated the second half in Chapel Hill to pull away in a battle of college basketball bluebloods.

Senior Seth Trimble added 13 of his 17 after halftime, proving to be a catalyst for the Tar Heels (2-0) in taking control of the second-half tempo as UNC roared out of the break. UNC made 18 of its first 23 second-half shots.

Star freshman Darryn Peterson had 22 points to lead the Jayhawks (1-1), who led by 10 in the first half. The Jayhawks entered Friday having won five straight meetings between programs with a combined 10 NCAA titles, including in the 2008 Final Four, the 2012 NCAA Elite Eight and the 2022 national championship game.

NC State 94, UAB 70: Quadir Copeland and Paul McNeil Jr. each scored 18 points in a home victory for North Carolina State (2-0). Tre Holloman and Darrion Williams tacked on 14 points each for the Wolfpack, who shot 54% from the field and 33% from 3-point range. Musa Sagnia hauled in 10 rebounds, and Copeland had five assists.

Jacob Meyer led the Blazers (1-1) with 15 points.

Florida State 101, Alabama State 64: Lajae Jones scored 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and Kobe MaGee scored 16 for the Seminoles (2-0) against the Hornets (0-1).

Wake Forest 81, Morehead State 65: Sophomore forward Juke Harris had career highs of 29 points and nine rebounds for the host Demon Deacons (2-0). Tre’Von Spillers added 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Notre Dame 102, Detroit Mercy 70: Braeden Shrewsbury led with 19 points, and five other Fighting Irish reached double digits in a home win. Shrewsbury, the son of coach Micah Shrewsbury, was 5 of 8 from the field and 4 for 4 at the free-throw line for Notre Dame (2-0) against the Titans (0-2).

Clemson 97, Gardner-Webb 59: Carter Welling earned his first double-double off the bench as a Tiger. The Utah Valley transfer Welling scored 14 points and corralled 11 rebounds, while Nick Davidson led Clemson (2-0) with 18 points against the Runnin’ Bulldogs (0-2).

Georgia Tech 74, Bryant 45: Kowacie Reeves Jr. scored 18 points and reserve Akai Fleming added 14 for the Yellow Jackets (2-0) in a home win over the Bulldogs (0-2).

TOP 25/NATION

No. 1 Purdue 87, Oakland 77: Braden Smith had 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and led six scorers in double figures for the Boilermakers (2-0). Ziare Wells led the visiting Golden Grizzlies (0-2) with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 4 Connecticut 110, UMass Lowell 47: Tarris Reed Jr. had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Silas Demary Jr. added 16 points and seven assists for the Huskies (2-0) in Hartford.

No. 9 Kentucky 107, Valparaiso 59: Freshman Malachi Moreno scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (2-0) against the Beacons (1-1).

No. 10 Texas Tech 98, Sam Houston 77: Preseason AP All-America forward JT Toppin scored 31 points and had 14 rebounds for his 20th double-double in 34 games for the Red Raiders (2-0). Justin Begg had 17 points for the Bearkats (1-1).

No. 12 UCLA 74, Pepperdine 63: Xavier Booker scored 15 points to lead four players in double figures for the Bruins (2-0).

No. 13 Arizona 93, Utah Tech 67: Tobe Awaka had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Koa Peat scored 18 points and Arizona (2-0) shot 57% from the floor against the Trailblazers (2-1).

No. 17 Illinois 113, Florida Gulf Coast 70: Kylan Boswell scored a career-high 31 points and had 10 rebounds for the Illini (2-0).

No. 24 Wisconsin 97, Northern Illinois 72: Nick Boyd scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half for the Badgers. He played for San Diego State last season and for Florida Atlantic’s 2023 Final Four team.

Georgetown 70, Maryland 60: Malik Mack scored 19 points, KJ Lewis added 16, and the Hoyas never trailed in handing the Terrapins (1-1) a loss in their home opener for the first time in 48 years. Myles Rice had 19 points off the bench for Maryland, but coach Buzz Williams incurred his first loss.

Yale 97, Navy 68: Riley Fox’s 24 points off the bench helped lead Yale (1-0) to a road win. The Midshipmen (1-1) were led by Jinwoo Kim, who finished with 16 points. Austin Benigni added 14 points, four assists and four steals.

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