College basketball: No. 5 Kentucky struggles to beat Utah Valley

Hamidou Diallo scored 15 second-half points, most of them during an 18-0 run, and No. 5 Kentucky shot 59% after halftime to rally past Utah Valley 73-63 on Friday night in the opener for both schools at Lexington, Ky.

One of Kentucky coach John Calipari’s youngest rosters since arriving in Lexington showed its inexperience by struggling on both ends and trailing 34-25 at halftime. The Wildcats emerged from the break more energetic to make the pivotal run over 3:22 with eight consecutive baskets, including back-to-back transition dunks by Diallo.

It won’t get any easier for Utah Valley, which will face No. 1 Duke on Saturday.

at No. 1 Duke 97, Elon 68: Grayson Allen put on a show in his final season opener for the Blue Devils. So did Marvin Bagley in his first — and perhaps only — one.

Bagley had 25 points and 10 rebounds in his college debut, and Duke opened with a rout of the Phoenix that gave Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski his 999th career victory at the school.

Allen added 22 points and made six of the Blue Devils’ 12 three-pointers. Gary Trent Jr. added 17 points.

at No. 3 Arizona 101, Northern Arizona 67: Allonzo Trier scored a career-high 32 points and 7-foot-1 freshman Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats, who shot 60% from the field.

No. 25 Texas A&M 88, No. 11 West Virginia 65: Tyler Davis had 23 points and 13 rebounds, Admon Gilder scored 23 points and the Aggies overcame a sluggish start in the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. It was the only matchup of ranked teams on the first day of the college basketball season.

at Stanford 78, Cal Poly 62: Reid Travis scored a game-high 26 points and had 12 rebounds as the Cardinal won their eighth straight season opener.

SOUTHLAND MEN

at Oklahoma State 78, Pepperdine 47: Lindy Waters scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Cowboys gave Mike Boynton a victory in his coaching debut. Trae Berhow scored 13 points to lead the Waves, who shot only 28.3% from the field. Cowboys star guard Jeffrey Carroll, who averaged 17.5 points ( third in the Big 12 Conference) and 6.6 rebounds last year, did not play. A statement released by the school about four hours before game time stated Carroll was “being withheld from play pending the ongoing review of the men’s basketball program.”

at South Dakota State 65, UC Irvine 54: After a 31-31 tie at halftime, the Jackrabbits pulled away for the victory, getting 18 points off turnovers. Worku Eyassu led the Anteaters with 12 points in a game where both teams shot poorly (37.9% for Irvine, 29.8% for South Dakota State).

at Cal State Northridge 76, Life Pacific 50: Five players scored in double figures for the Matadors, led by freshman Terrell Gomez with 15. Jonathan Cortez had 24 points for the Warriors, a National Christian College Athletic Assn. team from San Dimas.

Long Beach State 83, at San Francisco 71: Senior swingman Barry Ogalue, who averaged five points last season, had 20 to lead the 49ers.

UC Riverside 74, at California 66: Alex Larsson had 15 points and 13 rebounds as the Highlanders surprised the Bears, who got 30 points from Don Coleman.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN

at USC 98, Montana State 47: Sadie Edwards had a career-high 30 points and Aliya Mazyck scored 18 to lead five Trojans in double figures. Edwards made 11 of 13 shots in 30 minutes. USC made 13 three-pointers and committed only two turnovers.

at UCLA 129, San Jose State 69: Jordin Canada had the seventh triple-double in school history (26 points, 10 assists, 11 steals). The Bruins scored 69 points in the first half, second only to their 72 against Arizona in 1980.

SATURDAY SCHEDULE

Men

North Dakota State at UC Santa Barbara 1 p.m.

Loyola Marymount at Texas Arlington 5 p.m.