No. 3 Kansas State 75, James Madison 61

Manhattan — Now a wiley veteran, Kansas State senior guard Jacob Pullen knew all the preseason accolades would not guarantee a smooth season opener against James Madison.

He was right.

The third-ranked Wildcats overcame a sluggish start and awful free throw shooting to beat James Madison, 75-61, on Friday night.

“It’s not going to be perfect in a first game,” Pullen said. “We lacked some energy and had some guys who were nervous. But I thought our guards picked it up defensively.”

Pullen, an AP preseason All-American, scored 20 points and was 7 of 11 from the free throw line while his teammates went a combined 10 of 21.

Rayshawn Goins scored 17 points to lead James Madison.

After allowing the Dukes to shoot 50 percent and outscore them 22-10 in the paint during the first half, the Wildcats found their stride in the second. A 3-pointer by Pullen and a dunk by Rodney Magruder started the run and Magruder and Pullen hit consecutive 3-pointers to close the 17-5 burst to start the second half. Kansas State led 55-35 with 13:41 to play and never led by less than 14 after that.

The Dukes committed 15 of their 26 turnovers in the second half, and many of those led to open shots. The Wildcats were 10 of 19 from the 3-point line and scored 21 points off turnovers.

“We didn’t think they would shoot it that well,” Dukes guard Devon Moore said. “It was poor rotation. But they also hit shots. That’s what good teams do.”

K-State’s Nick Russell scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half.

A key for Kansas State was containing James Madison senior Denzel Bowles, who last season became the first player to lead the Colonial Athletic Association in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage. The 6-foot-10 Bowles had 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but six of his points came with the game well in hand.

Julius Wells and Moore each scored 13 points for the Dukes.

Armed with the highest preseason ranking in school history, Kansas State did not get off to a smashing start. James Madison scored the game’s first six points, and it was still 19-19 after 10 minutes thanks to Goins, who scored 12 first-half points.

“It was complete breakdown after complete breakdown defensively,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “Those are things we’re going to have to grow up with and overcome.”

The Wildcats had trouble extending a lead despite making five of their first six 3-point attempts, the five successful ones coming in a four-minute span. K-State’s Montavious Irving, who did not score more than eight points in a game last season, had two of the 3s.

K-State went on a 7-1 run over a span of just more than four minutes to lead 26-21. A three-point play from Pullen and five straight points from freshman Will Spradling helped the Wildcats take a 38-30 halftime lead.

No. 16 Baylor 87, Grambling State 52

Waco, Texas — With both projected starting guards suspended, Baylor still scored the first 11 points of the game — the first two before the opening tip — and the Bears went on to a season-opening victory over Grambling State.

Grambling State was assessed a technical foul for dunking and hanging on the rim during pregame warmups. Fred Ellis made two free throws before tipoff.

Guards LaceDarius Dunn and A.J. Walton sat side-by-side on the bench in street clothes. Dunn will miss two more games for his suspension following his arrest last month for a domestic dispute charge involving his girlfriend, while Walton served a one-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Quincy Acy had 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Anthony Jones and 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears.

Freshman sensation Perry Jones made a thunderous debut when the 6-foot-11 forward had an alley-oop dunk on a half-court pass from fellow freshman Stargell Love for the first Baylor field goal of the season — less than a minute into the game.

Jones finished with 11 points and eight rebounds while J’mison Morgan scored 12 points.

Brandon Wilson led Grambling State with 18 points while Yondarius Johnson had 12.

The Bears unveiled before the game their 2010 NCAA tournament banner signifying their appearance in the South Regional final last season, one win shy of their first Final Four appearance in 60 years.

With Dunn out, the only returning starter on the court Friday from last season’s team that set a school record with 28 wins was forward Anthony Jones.

Tweety Carter and Josh Lomers were seniors last season. Ekpe Udoh bypassed his senior season for early entry in the NBA draft and was the sixth overall pick by Golden State.

Baylor announced before the game that Dunn’s suspension would go through the first three games of the regular season. He will be eligible to play again Nov. 22, against Lipscomb.

Dunn, the team’s leading scorer last season, had been indefinitely suspended since police accused him of breaking his girlfriend’s jaw. The woman, Lacharlesla Edwards, disputed police accounts, saying Dunn didn’t hit her and her jaw wasn’t broken. Edwards, the mother of Dunn’s 3-year-old son, has asked that all charges be dropped.

Waco police sent the case to McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest, who hasn’t commented. Segrest recently lost his re-election bid and will leave office Jan. 4.

It wasn’t until after the game began that Baylor said Walton was suspended for one game. He will be able to play the next game, Tuesday against La Salle.

Anthony Jones and Acy scored seven points each as Baylor opened the second half with a 16-6 run to stretch its lead to 57-31. Jones hit a 3-pointer and had two layups, while Acy had a dunk, a baseline drive and a three-point play off an inbounds play in that spurt.

After Baylor’s game-opening 11-0 run, Wilson made a layup for Grambling’s first points.

But the Bears responded with six more points, a tip-in and a dunk by Morgan and another dunk by Acy. They were up 38-19 before halftime when Anthony Jones drove from the left wing for a left-handed slam.

Nebraska 76, South Dakota 68

Lincoln, Neb. — Andre Almeida scored 20 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

Colorado 88, Idaho St. 80

Boulder, Colo. — Alec Burks scored 20 points to lead Colorado over Idaho State in Tad Boyle’s debut as the Buffaloes’ coach.

Texas Tech 86, Louisiana-Monroe 67

Lubbock, Texas — Brad Reese collected 15 points and eight boards for Texas Tech.

Texas A&M 88, Alcorn State 56

College Station, Texas — Nathan Walkup scored a career-high 22 points.

Iowa State 78, Northern Arizona 64

Ames, Iowa — Jamie Vanderbeken scored a career-high 23 points as Iowa State beat Northern Arizona, making Fred Hoiberg a winner in his debut as the Cyclones’ coach.

Oklahoma 77, Coppin St. 57

Norman, Okla. — Andrew Fitzgerald scored 22 points to pace Oklahoma.