Drexler Off to Rousing Start as Houston Coach

The Clyde Drexler coaching era at Houston began much like his playing days there.

Victoriously.

Gee Gervin, the son of former NBA star George Gervin, scored 25 points and made two crucial free throws in the final seconds as the Cougars beat Texas, 71-69, Tuesday night at Houston.

“We made some mistakes and it got down to one point,” Drexler said. “But we had the lead and the ball. The crowd was phenomenal and the team could not have done better.”

A capacity crowd of 8,452 heeded billboards around town reading “Come Glyde with Clyde.” Drexler got the biggest cheers during pregame introductions but the biggest cheer came late in the second half when the Cougars built a 61-49 lead with 6:54 to play. They almost blew it, leading, 70-69, before Gervin’s final free throw secured the victory.

Drexler is probably headed for the Hall of Fame after a stellar collegiate career at Houston and a pro career at Portland and Houston.

Texas also played its first game under Coach Rick Barnes.

No. 1 Duke 94, Davidson 61--The Blue Devils (2-0) overcame their second sloppy offensive performance in as many games, riding a 27-point outing by Trajan Langdon to a victory over the Wildcats (0-1) at Charlotte, N.C.

The Blue Devils, who had 19 turnovers in a season-opening victory over Fairfield, lost the ball 21 times against Davidson.

But Duke countered its poor ballhandling with some solid defense against the scrappy but overmatched Wildcats. Duke harassed Davidson into 25 turnovers and 33% shooting.

No. 4 Kentucky 99, Eastern Kentucky 64--Scott Padgett had 21 points and 12 rebounds as the Wildcats (1-0) opened their quest for a third national championship in four years with a rout of the Colonels (0-1) at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky shot 56% (43 of 77) from the field and outrebounded Eastern Kentucky, 48-33, scoring 16 second-chance points to 10 for the Colonels.

No. 5 Michigan State 96, Oakland 66--The Spartans (2-0) had three starters score more than 20 points, led by Charlie Bell’s 26, in breaking in the Division II Golden Grizzlies’ new 3,000-seat arena with an easy victory at Rochester, Mich.

Mateen Cleaves scored 21 points and Antonio Smith added 20 for the Spartans, who scored the first basket and never trailed.

Dan Champagne scored 30 points for the Golden Grizzlies (1-2).

No. 6 Maryland 90, Maryland-Baltimore 62--Junior college transfer Steve Francis had 17 points and eight assists as the Terrapins (2-0) cruised to their 60th consecutive nonconference home victory over the Retrievers (0-2) at Baltimore.

Maryland’s nonconference home winning streak is second longest in the nation behind Oklahoma State’s 78-game run. The Terrapins have not lost a nonconference game at Cole Field House since 1989.

No. 8 Kansas 61, Pennsylvania 56--Freshman Jeff Boschee scored five of his 10 points over the final 2:15 as the Jayhawks (2-0), playing in the Palestra for the first time in 41 years, held off the Quakers (0-1) at Philadelphia.

No. 16 Xavier 73, Butler 66--Maurice McAfee scored 20 points and James Posey added 15 points and 12 rebounds and the Musketeers outlasted the Bulldogs (0-2) at Indianapolis.

No. 19 Arkansas 73, Alabama State 43--Pat Bradley scored 14 points to lead the Razorbacks (2-0) past the Hornets (0-2) at Fayetteville, Ark.

No. 22 Syracuse 93, Colgate 40--Jason Hart scored 19 points and Ryan Blackwell added 16 points and 14 rebounds as the Orangemen beat the Red Raiders in the season-opener for both teams at Syracuse, N.Y.

OTHER GAMES

Ross Land scored 22 points at Tempe, Ariz., to power Northern Arizona (1-1) to its first road victory over Arizona State (1-1) in 44 years, a 76-60 rout of the Sun Devils. Northern Arizona ended a string of 10 consecutive losses to Arizona State on any court and beat a Pacific 10 team on the road for the first time. . . . Tim Kisner made a three-point shot with 7.9 second left in overtime to give Central Michigan (2-0) an 82-81 victory over Wright State (0-2) at Dayton, Ohio.

WOMEN

Chanel Wright scored 19 points to help lift No. 10 North Carolina (3-0) to an 85-68 victory over Syracuse (0-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C. . . . Amy Wetzel scored 13 points, including a three-point basket with 20 seconds left, and Virginia Tech (2-0) upset No. 6 Duke (1-2), 72-70, in the Blue Devils’ home opener. . . . Megan Taylor scored 20 of her 25 points in the first half, grabbed 14 rebounds and sparked a key 10-2 run after point guard Stacy Frese twisted her ankle as No. 21 Iowa State (2-0) beat Iowa (0-2), 81-65, at Iowa City. . . . Jessie Stomski had 17 points and 12 rebounds No. 25 Wisconsin (2-0) shook off a cold-shooting second half for a 71-66 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee (0-1) at Madison, Wis.