Preseason

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Sherron Collins scored 22 points and handed out seven assists to lead four Jayhawks in double-figure points as the defending NCAA champion Kansas basketball team opened exhibition play with a 98-79 victory against Washburn here Tuesday night.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Florida men’s basketball team kicked off the 2008-09 season with a 108-49 exhibition victory over Warner University on Monday at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Gators were led by junior forward Dan Werner (Middletown, N.J.), who scored 17 points and collected six rebounds. Sophomore forward Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) collected his a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Tyus was 6-of-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line.

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois may not be in mid-season form just yet, but the Salukis flashed plenty of potential in Monday's 82-59 exhibition win over NAIA opponent Missouri Southern.

SIU dominated early, surging to a 51-27 halftime lead. The play got a little sloppy in the second half when Southern committed 23 of its 34 turnovers.

For head coach Chris Lowery, he's willing to take the good with the bad at this point in the season, especially considering the roster has eight new faces.

NORMAN, Okla. - Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Blake Griffin led the Red Team to a 59-38 win over the White Team in an Oklahoma men's basketball intrasquad scrimmage Saturday afternoon inside a nearly full McCasland Field House.

Griffin scored 23 points and added 10 rebounds, two assists and four steals in a game that featured a 15-minute first half and a 12-minute second. The preseason All-American was 11-for-15 from the field and 1-for-3 from 3-point range. He was 0-for-2 on 3-point tries all of last season.

Eastern Washington University couldn’t overcome 21 percent shooting and a nearly nine-minute scoreless drought in the first half and lost 58-56 to Carroll College in a men’s basketball exhibition game Saturday (Nov. 1) at Reese Court in Cheney, Wash.

The game does not count in EWU’s season record or statistics. The Eagles have another exhibition game next Saturday (Nov. 8) against Puget Sound at 2:05 p.m. Pacific time before officially opening the season at Illinois on Nov. 14.