Connecticut Routs Little Quinnipiac

Khalid El-Amin scored 28 points, leading No. 2 Connecticut to a 102-60 victory over Quinnipiac on Sunday at Storrs, Conn.

Quinnipiac, a school of 5,000 students from Hamden, Conn., was playing its first game in Division I after finishing 4-23 in Division II last season.

Connecticut is 12-0 in home openers under Coach Jim Calhoun, who got his 521st victory. El-Amin, a preseason second team All-American, was two points shy of his career best, a 30-point performance last season against Notre Dame.

Quinnipiac had few answers for Connecticut’s speed and stifling press and even fewer answers for El-Amin. When he wasn’t finding his teammates with nifty passes, the point guard slipped through the lane for driving layups. He was nine for 12 from the field, including three three-point shots, and seven for eight from the free-throw line.

The Braves also couldn’t contend with Richard Hamilton, who scored 25 points. Midway through the second half, with Connecticut leading, 83-42, Hamilton and El-Amin had combined to outscore the Braves.

The Huskies outrebounded the Braves, 57-29.

Oregon 77, Coppin State 62--Alex Scales and A.D. Smith each scored 19 points as Oregon held off a second-half run to win its season opener, 77-62, over Coppin State at Eugene, Ore.

California 71, Hawaii 60--Geno Carlisle scored four of his game-high 26 points during a 10-2 second half run that helped the Bears get off to a winning start with a 71-60 victory over Hawaii at Honolulu. A steal and layup by Carl Boyd turned the tide for California, which trailed, 34-30, at halftime.

No. 9 Tennessee 91, Tennessee State 69--Isiah Victor scored 17 points at Knoxville and the Volunteers rebounded from a one-point loss to Arizona. The Tigers (0-1) were led by Jamie Roberts with 22 points.

No. 19 Arkansas 83, Jackson State 72--Derek Hood scored four consecutive points and grabbed a couple of big rebounds in the final three minutes as the Razorbacks opened the season with a victory against Jackson State (0-2) at Fayetteville, Ark.

OTHER GAMES

Michael Redd scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and had four points and a steal in the final 1:06 as Ohio State beat Alabama, 78-70, in the new Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The game drew 16,763 in the 19,500-seat building. . . . Jameel Watkins scored a career-high 22 points as Georgetown ended a two-game losing streak by defeating Hartford, 91-62, at Washington. . . . Antoni Wyche made a three-point shot with 25 seconds left as Notre Dame (1-1) beat Yale, 64-62, at South Bend, Ind.