NCAA News Wire
Top 25 game roundup: Wildcats roll over Sun Devils
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
TUCSON, Ariz. — Versatile forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson plays many roles for the Arizona Wildcats, guarding point guards to power forwards. He filled another one Sunday, as a first-time starter this season, and made that work, too.
Normally the sixth man, sophomore Hollis-Jefferson had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help the No. 8 Wildcats to a lopsided 73-49 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Pac-12 opener for both at McKale Center.
Backup center Dusan Ristic had nine points and celeb Kaleb Tarczewski had eight.
Junior guard Gerry Blakes led the Sun Devils with nine points, and guard Roosevelt Scott and forward Shaquielle McKissic had eight points apiece .
Louisville 85, Wake Forest 76
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Forward Montrezl Harrell scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half, but the fifth-ranked Cardinals did all they could to win their Atlantic Coast Conference debut, defeating the Demon Deacons at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
Guard Chris Jones scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half for the Cardinals (13-1), including a couple of clutch jumpers after Louisville’s lead was in jeopardy. He tallied 14 points in the last 13 minutes. Louisville guard Terry Rozier added 18 points before fouling out in the final minute.
Forward Devin Thomas poured in a career-best 31 points for Wake Forest, which had a three-game losing streak snapped. Thomas, a junior, had notched his best offensive output by reaching the 26-point mark with more than 10 minutes to play. Guards Codi Miller-McIntyre and Mitchell Wilbekin tacked on 14 points apiece for Wake Forest (8-7, 0-2), which was denied a victory in the first ACC home game under coach Danny Manning.
Wichita State 70, Illinois State 62
WICHITA, Kan. — The No. 16 Shockers survived a challenge from the Redbirds but earned the win at Koch Arena.
Guard Ron Baker led Wichita State with 15 points. Forward Darius Carter added 14 for the Shockers, who shot 57 percent from the field in the second half, 52 percent overall.
Guard Daishon Knight led Illinois State with 24 points. The Redbirds out-rebounded Wichita State 32-27 and outscored the Shockers 15-3 on second-chance points, but Illinois State made just 36.5 percent of its shots from the floor.
Wisconsin 81, Northwestern 58
EVANSTON, Ill. — Forwards Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker each scored 16 points as the No. 4 Badgers breezed to a Big Ten victory over the Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Kaminsky also had 10 rebounds and six assists, forward Duje Dukan had 14 points while forward Nigel Hayes added 10 for Wisconsin, which suffered its lone loss to then-No. 4 Duke on Dec. 3.
Guard Tre Demps had a game-high 17 points while guard Bryant McIntosh added 10 for the Wildcats.
No. 13 Kansas 76, UNLV 61
LAWRENCE, Kansas — Sophomore point guard Frank Mason collected 18 points, seven steals and four assists as the Jayhawks rallied from a halftime deficit to trip UNLV at Allen Fieldhouse.
UNLV (9-5) led 33-29 at halftime, but lost the advantage when Kansas got off to a 9-2 start in the second half. The Rebels were led by senior point guard Cody Doolin and sophomore forward Christian Wood with 12 points apiece. Wood also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Kansas forward Perry Ellis had 16 points and nine rebounds.
No. 10 Utah 71, UCLA 39
SALT LAKE CITY — Guard Delon Wright scored 11 points, collected seven rebounds, had five assists and four steals to lead a balanced offensive attack for Utah in a dominant win over UCLA at Jon M. Hunstman Center.
Forward Jordan Loveridge added 10 points and five rebounds while center Jakob Poeltl chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds for the Utes (12-2, 2-0 Pac-12) who beat the Bruins in Salt Lake City for the second straight season.
Forward Tony Parker scored 12 points to lead UCLA, who lost its fifth straight game. The Bruins (8-7, 0-2 Pac-12) trailed from start to finish. Guard Bryce Alford, the Bruins’ leading scorer, was 0 for 10 from the field.
No. 23 Northern Iowa 67, Loyola (Ill.) 58
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Jeremy Morgan scored a career-high 18 points and Northern Iowa got back in the win column after opening the New Year with a loss at Evansville.
