Guard U has become unguardable when it gets going.
Led by its dynamic guards, No. 3 Arizona State dominated from the start in a 104-65 victory over visiting Pacific on Friday, extending the best start in school history.
“TV doesn’t do justice how good their guards are,” Pacific coach Damon Stoudamire said. “They put so much pressure on you. Whether they make or miss shots, they’re putting a lot of pressure on you.”
The Sun Devils (12-0) have been plagued by slow starts in recent games, but they jumped on Pacific (5-8) early, building a 10-point lead in the opening minutes and expanding it from there with a flurry of fastbreak baskets and three-pointers.
Starting guards Shannon Evans II and Tra Holder had 21 and 19 points, respectively, and backup guard Remy Martin provided his usual energetic spark off the bench, finishing with 14 points and six assists.
Romello White bulled his way for 16 points and eight rebounds for the Sun Devils.
Miles Reynolds and Jack Williams had 13 points each to lead Pacific.
#1 Villanova 95, Hofstra 71: Mikal Bridges scored 20 points and Omari Spellman had 19 for the visiting Wildcats (12-0). Justin Wright-Foreman had 25 points for the Pride (7-5), who have lost two straight.
#9 Xavier 77, Northern Iowa 67: J.P. Macura scored 15 points as the Musketeers (12-1) hung on to beat the host Panthers (8-4). Trevon Bluiett had 12 points and seven rebounds for Xavier, which went on an 11-2 run down the stretch, highlighted by a Bluiett three, to break open a tie game. Macura’s breakaway dunk and three-pointer in the final 95 seconds left sealed it for the winners, who were 12-for-23 from three-point range.
#11 Wichita State 75, Florida Gulf Coast 65: Landry Shamet scored 23 points and Darral Willis added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the host Shockers (10-2). Brandon Goodwin scored 20 points to lead the Eagles (7-7).
#13 Virginia 82, Hampton 48: Kyle Guy had 15 points, DeAndre Hunter had 14 and Ty Jerome added 10 for the host Cavaliers (11-1), who held the Pirates (5-9) to 20.6 percent shooting in the second half and bounced back from a cold start on the offensive end. Virginia trailed for 8 minutes in the first half.
#15 TCU 86, William & Mary 75: Alex Robinson scored 23 points and the host Horned Frogs (12-0) set a school record with their nation-leading 17th consecutive win. Jaylen Fisher had 17 of his 21 points in the second half. The streak includes the last five games of last season, when the TCU won the NIT championship.
#17 Oklahoma 104, Northwestern 78: Trae Young had 31 points and 12 assists and Christian James added 19 points for the host Sooners (10-1). Dererk Pardon had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats (9-5), who had won four straight.
#21 Texas Tech 74, Abilene Christian 47: Zach Smith scored 16 points in his first game since missing a start for violating team rules, and the Red Raiders (11-1) won their fifth straight, extending their nonconference home winning streak to 38 games.
Duquesne 67, USF 65: Mike Lewis II scored 20 points and the Dukes stopped the Dons in the final seconds in an opening night matchup at the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. Duquesne (9-3) took the lead for good at 64-62 on Tarin Smith’s three-point play with 1:11 left and Eric Williams Jr.’s dunk extended the lead to four with 16 seconds left. Matt McCarthy quickly responded with a three-point play for USF (7-5) and Lewis hit 1 of 2 free throws a second later to give the Dons a shot to tie or go ahead on the last play. But Chase Foster missed a jumper with three seconds left and Duquesne won its seventh straight. McCarthy scored 19 points for the Dons.
Iowa 80, Colorado 73: Isaiah Moss and Maishe Dailey each scored 16 points for the Hawkeyes (8-6) in Sioux Falls, S.D. McKinley Wright scored 21 points to lead four scorers in double figures for the Buffaloes (8-4).
USC 84, Akron 53: Elijah Stewart scored 20 points, Chimezie Metu 16 and Jonah Mathews 13 for the Trojans (7-4) in a first-round game of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. USC trailed the Zips (6-3) by nine in the first half.
Washington State 86, Bethune-Cookman 58: Robert Franks scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Carter Skaggs added 14 points for the host Cougars (8-4), who started strong with four three-pointers from Skaggs and built a 19-point lead midway through the first half.
Washington 66, Montana 63: Freshman Jaylen Nowell scored 13 points and Hameir Wright added 11 for the host Huskies (10-3) against the Grizzlies (7-5).
WOMEN
Ionescu leads Oregon in Vegas
Sabrina Ionescu, a sophomore guard from Orinda, had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 10 Oregon to an 85-44 win over Hawaii in the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas. Ionescu — who finished the tournament with 44 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and eight steals — was named MVP of the Desert Division.
Ruthy Hebard hit 8 of 10 shots and finished with 18 points and six rebounds for the Ducks (11-2).
The Rainbow Wahine (6-6) were led by Julissa Tago, who had 11 points.
#1 UConn 104, Duquesne 52: Katie Lou Samuelson scored 33 points, Kia Nurse had 24 and the Huskies (10-0) rolled in Toronto. Samuelson made 8 of 9 three-point attempts, including seven in a row.
Washington State 73, Nebraska 61: Louise Brown had 12 points and 12 rebounds as the visiting Cougars (7-5) snapped a five-game winning streak by the Cornhuskers (9-4).