First to kick things off were the No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers, and Rhode Island Rams.
The Panthers got off to a sluggish start before making a run to take the lead 37-36 before the half. The Panthers continued their 9-0 run in the second half and did not disappoint.
The Panthers offense took off after a Gary McGhee dunk that put Pitt up three.
The Panthers offense stayed in front for the rest of the game despite letting Rhode Island get as close as three under two minutes.
That is when Brad Wanamaker and Ashton Gibbs took control and scored seven of the last nine points for the Panthers.
Wanamaker paced the Panthers on the night with 24 points, eight assist, and three rebounds. Gibbs chipped in 22 points, 4 rebounds and three assist.
The No. 16 Illinois Fighting Illini opened up the season very impressively. Illinois did not have a problem with the UC Irvine Anteaters after jumping out to a 34-8 advantage early. After that, the Fighting Illini did not look back defeating UC Irvine 79-65.
Demetri McCamey finished the game with 13 points, and eight assist. Brandon Paul came off the bench to score 18 points, all coming from his six three-point attempts.
The Maryland Terrapins finished off the fighting Seattle Redhawks as junior guard Sean Mosley led the Terps to a 105-76 win. Mosley paced the Terps with 21 points, four assist, and rebounds apiece.
Freshman guard Terrell Stoglin came off the bench to accumalate 15 points, five assist, and a perfect 9-9 from the free throw line.
The Texas Longhorns had to fight tough against the Navy Midshipmen. After going into the break with a nine-point lead the Longhorns come out and owned Navy in the second half.
Jordan Hamilton made the post-Damion James era seem easy. Hamilton scored 26 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night.
Gary Johnson, and Tristian Thompson were the only other players in double figures for the Longhorns, Johnson with 17 and Thompson with 12.
The Longhorns finished off the Midshipmen with an 83-52 victory.
Overall, the first day of College Basketball was very interesting. Some teams came out sluggish while other came to play. Illinois made the biggest statement today by not giving UC Irvine a chance. Although, you have to watch Maryland's offense.
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