Basketball Brunch: What we learned from opening night

THE FIRST WORD: The college basketball season opened Friday night with zero games between ranked teams, but at least there were teams in action and, finally, some answers.

For starters, No. 1 Kentucky looked good, even if it was against Grand Canyon (an 85-45 rout.). Coach John Calipari's two-platoon system caused Grand Canyon coach Dan Majerle to say his team was "shell-shocked at their length and their size."

The more veteran first platoon of Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Alex Poythress, Karl Towns, Willie Cauley Stein was better with its strong shooting and shot-blocking. The second platoon of Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Marcus Lee, Trey Lyles and Dakari Johnson dominated, too, particularly on the glass.

The scoring was fairly balanced for the Wildcats — seven players scored at least seven points. Point guard Andrew Harrison led the way with 16 points, and Cauley-Stein had 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Towns, a projected NBA lottery pick, had eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks in his debut.

"That's what's going to be so tough about our team: You're not preparing for one team. You're preparing for two," Cauley-Stein saud. "It's going to be hard for teams to get in an offensive rhythm, because every five minutes you're changing out a defense.

BEST INTRODUCTION: Duke's star-studded freshman class impressed in a 113-44 demolition of Presbyterian, with all four reaching double figures, led by preseason All-American Jahlil Okafor (19 points). Greyson Allen had 18 and Tyus Jones had 15. Justise Winslow (15 points) had the biggest highlight with a monstrous alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass. The Blue Devils also got 26 points from veterans Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon in the third-most lopsided victory in school history. Regardless of the opponent, it's evident this Duke team is loaded.

STAR WATCH: In a game that was always going to be about Richard Pitino vs. Rick Pitino, Montrezl Harrell emerged as the biggest star. Louisville beat Minnesota, 81-68 in Puerto Rico, giving father Rick a bragging-rights victory against his up-and-coming son. Harrell's performance — career-high 30 points, seven rebounds, 75% from three, 9-for-12 from the field and 9-for-10 from the line. It was eye-catching because unlike most teams Friday night, Louisville played a top-tier opponent. Harrell was perhaps the the most surprising returning player who decided to bypass the NBA to stay in school. And Friday showed how crucial his return will be for the Cardinals.

TITLE DEFENSE: Connecticut's title defense didn't exactly start off brilliantly as the Huskies struggled to put away Bryant in a game where they got their rings. UConn was trailing and didn't regain the lead until nine minutes remaining, eventually winning 66-53. Paste BN Sports' Nicole Auerbach was on the scene in Storrs to chronicle the post-Shabazz Napier era. Obviously, there will be some growing pains. But Ryan Boatright's ready to lead this team.

VETERANS CLASSIC: Paste BN Sports' Tess Quinlan was on the scene in Annapolis, Md., providing analysis on Michigan State's 64-59 victory against Navy and VCU's 85-69 win against Tennessee.

ROUND OF APPLAUSE: Derrick Gordon had 17 points and nine rebounds in UMass' 95-87 home-opener victory on Friday. But the real achievement was that he became the first openly gay Division I men's basketball player to compete in a college game.

OVERTIME: Breaking down the rest of Friday's key scores.

• No. 2 Arizona: Defeated Mount St. Mary's 78-55 behind comeback player Brandon Ashley's career-high 21 points.
• No. 4 Wisconsin: Battered Northern Kentucky 62-31 behind Frank Kaminsky's 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• No. 5 Kansas: Got past UC-Santa Barbara with a 69-59 victory despite a 16-turnover outing.
• No. 14 Iowa State: Defeated Oakland 93-82 behind Georges Niang's tantalizing stat line — 30 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
• UNLV: Barely survived Morehead State with a narrow 60-59 victory. The Runnin' Rebels were paced by upstart freshman Rashad Vaughn, who had 26 points.

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