Laurence Bowers had 20 points and seven rebounds in his return from a knee injury that sidelined him all of last season, leading No. 15 Missouri to an 83-69 season-opening victory over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Saturday.
Bowers outscored the Cougars 10-2 by himself during a two-minute stretch early in the second half for the Tigers.
Phil Pressey scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half, and Alex Oriakhi, part of a strong transfer class, had 15 rebounds and eight points for Missouri.
Jerome Jones hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for SIU-Edwardsville, which was held to 33 percent shooting.
At No. 22 Notre Dame 58, Evansville 49: Jack Cooley scored the first nine points of the game and finished with 19, and Scott Martin had 17 rebounds in the season opener for the Irish.
Cooley had 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting in the opening half to help send Notre Dame into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
Colt Ryan scored 15 and Ryan Sawvell had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Evansville.
TOP 25 WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS
At No. 6 Kentucky 90, Delaware State 50: A’dia Mathies had 16 points, six assists and four steals to lead the Wildcats over the Hornets in Kentucky’s season opener.
At No. 12 Oklahoma 69, Creighton 48: Aaryn Ellenberg scored 19 points in the Sooners’ season-opening win over the Blue Jays. Whitney Hand added 14 points and eight rebounds for Oklahoma.
At No. 16 Vanderbilt 82, McNeese St. 71: Tiffany Clarke scored 24 points and Christina Foggie added 18 to lead the Commodores past the Cowboys in the season opener for both teams.
Jasmine Lister had 10 assists for Vanderbilt.
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