STORRS, Connecticut — Point guard Sterling Gibbs scored 20 points in his Connecticut debut and center Amida Brimah dominated at both ends of the floor with 18 points and nine blocked shots as the No. 20 UConn Huskies opened their men’s basketball season with a 100-56 rout over the University of Maine Black Bears Friday night at Gampel Pavilion.
UConn shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the second half before a sellout crowd of 10,167. Forward Shonn Miller, a graduate transfer from Cornell, scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds in his debut for the Huskies. Brimah was 7-for-8 from the floor in 24 minutes of play.
After building a 12-point lead at halftime, UConn outscored Maine 29-4 over the first eight minutes of the second half to lead 71-34.
The Black Bears, led by forward Till Gloger’s 17 points, missed 22 of their first 23 field-goal attempts in the second half. Gloger hit 6-of-13 field goals, but as a team Maine was held to a 19-for-63 effort (30.2 percent). Gloger also had six rebounds.
Forward Isaac Vann chipped in with 10 points for the Black Bears and guard Kevin Little had nine. Forward Ilija Stojiljkovic contributed five points, three steals and four rebounds.
The Huskies began the game scorching hot from the field, hitting 10 of their first 14 shots to build a 23-14 lead. Gibbs, a graduate transfer from Seton Hall, led the Huskies with 11 points in the first half.
Gibbs scored seven consecutive UConn points midway through the half, showing his versatility with a basket off a turnover, stroking a 3-pointer, and exploding into the lane for a layup.
UConn led 42-30 at halftime after shooting 50 percent (15 of 30) and blocking eight shots. The Huskies finished with 15 blocks.
It was the 100th meeting between the two programs. UConn leads the series 84-16.
The Black Bears’ next game is at 7 p.m. Thursday at LIU Brooklyn.
Plymouth State 77, Thomas 71
At Waterville, Curtis Arsenault scored 19 points and Jack Preston added to lead Plymouth State by Thomas in a mutual opener. Each player also had six rebounds to the Panthers a 35-32 edge.
The Panthers outscored the Terriers 46-39 in the second half.
Tyheem Simon paced Thomas with 16 points and Levi Barnes added 14. Mike Akanji and Carlos Gonzalez each chipped in with 10.
Women’s Basketball
Castleton 43, USM 28
At Salem, Massachusetts, Jade Desroches scored 14 points to lead the Castleton University Spartans to a season-opening win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in the first game of the Salem State University Tip-Off Women’s Basketball Classic Friday night.
While neither team shot particularly well from the field, Southern Maine was held to just 18.2 percent shooting from the floor (8-for-44). Castleton shot 30.6 percent (15-for-49).
Freshman Alex Srolovitz paced Southern Maine with seven points off of the bench. Senior Megan Pelletier had six rebounds.
Men’s Basketball
Duke 92, Siena 74
Guard Grayson Allen scored 26 points, picking up where he left off in April, as fifth-ranked Duke opened the season by ripping Siena 92-74 on Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
There was plenty of offense for the reigning national champions who are largely a rebuilt team from the roster that won it all last season.
But Allen, a guard who was one of Duke’s stars in the national championship game victory against Wisconsin, racked up 20 points in the game’s opening 18 minutes Friday. He had a highlight-worthy dunk in each half.
Duke used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to take a 26-15 lead that grew to 44-27 by halftime. The Blue Devils cruised from there, improving coach Mike Krzyzewski’s record to 34-2 in openers with the program.
Duke forward Amile Jefferson added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and freshman Brandon Ingram tacked on 15 points in his collegiate debut.
Guard Marquis Wright poured in 20 points for Siena, which made only 9 of 29 first-half shots from the field. Forward Javion Ogunyemi and guard Lavon Long each scored 15 points and forward Brett Bisping had 10.
Matt Jones and Jefferson were both in the starting lineup after nursing injuries sustained during recent exhibition games. Jones scored 10 points.
Indiana 88, Eastern Illinois 49
James Blackmon Jr. scored 17 points, and Yogi Ferrell added 13 as No. 15 Indiana had an easy time Friday night in an 88-49 season-opening victory over Eastern Illinois at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
Blackmon and Ferrell, IU’s two leading scorers a year ago, may have scored the most points but even more impressive was the play of Indiana’s two new frontcourt players — freshman Thomas Bryant and fifth year senior transfer Max Bielfeldt.
Bryant had 11 points and nine rebounds while Bielfeldt, the transfer from Michigan, had 11 points and eight rebounds against an undersized and overmatched Eastern Illinois squad.
IU had a total of six players in score in double figures. Both Troy Williams and Robert Johnson added 12 for Indiana.
A.J. Riley led Eastern Illinois (0-1) with 13 points while Trae Anderson added 12.
Indiana (1-0) dominated play inside and held a 51-17 advantage on the boards. The Hoosiers had a 21-5 edge on the offensive boards.
The Panthers picked up three of their five offensive rebounds in the final minute.
The Hoosiers also had a dominating 26-1 edge in second chance points.
The game got out of hand early and Indiana led 49-17 at the half. Indiana led by as many as 42 points in the second half.
Villanova 91, Fairleigh Dickinson 54
No. 11 Villanova had no trouble in its season opener, opening up a double-digit lead on Fairleigh Dickinson in the first five minutes and never looking back in a 91-54 victory.
Villanova led from the opening tip, scoring the first nine points of the game. It was 21-7 eight minutes in and 30-12 not long after that; by halftime, it was 50-22 and the rout was on.
Daniel Ochefu, the Wildcats’ senior center, had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds as all five Villanova starters finished in double figures. Kris Jenkins had 14 points, Ryan Arcidiacono and Jalen Brunson had 12 apiece and Josh Hart had 10.
In every way, it was a complete domination by the Wildcats of the overmatched Knights.
As a team, ‘Nova shot 45.6 percent (31 of 68) from the floor, while holding FDU to 26.7 percent (16 of 60). They had a 51-37 advantage on the glass and took 25 foul shots to FDU’s 18.
Darien Anderson led Fairleigh Dickinson with 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting; no other player on his team scored more than seven.
Up next for Villanova (1-0) is another game at home against Nebraska on Nov. 17, part of the “Gavitt Games,” pitting Big East teams against those from the Big Ten. FDU (0-1) returns home on Nov. 16 to host D-III FDU-Florham.