Trey Murphy III scored 21 points a day after learning he was cleared to play and fellow transfer Sam Hauser added 19 points as No. 4 Virginia opened the season Wednesday with an 89-54 rout of Towson.

Jay Huff added 14 points for the Cavaliers, who never trailed and led by 23 points at halftime.

Nicolas Timberlake scored 19 points for Towson, which was a late replacement after Maine withdrew from the game Tuesday.

The game was the first in an 11-day event dubbed “Bubbleville,” which includes several tournaments and individual games being played inside the Mohegan Sun resort casino in Connecticut.

Murphy’s first points, one of his six 3-pointers, gave Virginia its first 20-point lead at 33-13. Murphy, a transfer from Rice, learned on Tuesday he’d received a waiver from the NCAA to play this season.

NO. 5 IOWA 97, NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 67

Luka Garza had 26 points and 10 rebounds and Iowa beat North Carolina Central.

Garza, the Big Ten player of the year last season and the lone unanimous selection on the preseason AP All-America team, had his 17th consecutive game of 20 points or more.

The senior center had four points in the first 10 1/2 minutes before the Hawkeyes took control with a 20-2 run near the end of the first half. He had six of Iowa’s final nine points in the run.

Redshirt freshman forward Patrick McCaffery, the son of Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, had 16 points.

CJ Keyser led North Carolina Central with 15 points. Nicolas Fennell had 12.

NO. 8 ILLINOIS 122, NORTH CAROLINA AT&T 60

Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 28 points, freshman Adam Miller also scored 28 and Illinois beat North Carolina A&T.

Kofi Cockburn added 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double in 32 games. Dosunmu had 10 rebounds for his second career double-double.

Miller shot 10 of 12 from the field, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range, as Illinois fell five points short of its record scoring total.

Blake Harris scored 12 points to lead the Aggies.

NO. 17 HOUSTON 89, LAMAR 45

Marcus Sasser scored 25 points, Tramon Mark added 22 points and eight rebounds and Houston beat Lamar.

Sasser shot 9 of 11, including 7 of 9 on 3-pointers. DeJon Jarreau had nine points and eight rebounds.

The Cougars, who entered the season ranked for the first time since starting the 1983-84 season at No. 3, shot 42% from the field. Houston finished 13 of 33 on 3-pointers and outrebounded the Cardinals 49-34.

Anderson Kopp scored 15 points and Avery Sullivan added eight points and seven rebounds to lead Lamar.

NO. 23 OHIO STATE 94, ILLINOIS STATE 67

Justice Sueing scored 19 points and Ohio State jumped out to a 22-0 lead en route to a win over Illinois State.

Sueing, making his Ohio State debut after transferring from California and sitting out a year, had seven points in the team’s opening surge. He was 8 of 9 from the floor in his first game action since leaving Cal, where he averaged 14 points and six rebounds as a sophomore in 2018-19.

E.J. Liddell had 16 points while Duane Washington and Zed Key each scored 12 for the Buckeyes.

Antonio Reeves led Illinois State with 17 points and Howard Fleming Jr. added 15 points.

NO. 25 MICHIGAN 96, BOWLING GREEN 82

Chaundee Brown scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half of his Michigan debut, and the Wolverines beat Bowling Green.

Isaiah Livers added 17 points and Mike Smith contributed 16 for Michigan. The Wolverines never trailed, although it took until the latter part of the second half for them to really put the Falcons away.

Justin Turner led Bowling Green with 24 points.

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