LAS VEGAS – The second annual Players Era Festival is being held on the Strip this “Feast Week” and it’s even bigger and better than it was last season. The 2025 field doubled to 16 teams from 8 teams last season, and the field features a handful of teams you could potentially see make a deep run as well as a handful of players you’ll soon see on an NBA floor. 

The first day of the event already brought a few action-packed finishes, some statement performances and plenty of other intriguing outcomes. So without further ado, here are the scores, top performers and more from Day 1.

Game 1: No. 17 Tennessee 85, Rutgers 60

Top Performer: Jakobi Gillespie (TENN) | 32 points, four assists, three rebounds

It didn’t take long for a team to make a statement at this year’s tournament. In the opening game of the day, Tennessee’s Jakobi Gillespie recorded the highest scoring total of the day as he and the Volunteers clocked what was arguably the most impressive team performance of the entire day.

Gillespie made 11-of-21 attempts from the field overall and 6-of-10 from 3-point range, as Tennessee led by as many as 36 points en route to the 25-point win. In addition to Gillespie’s hot hand, freshman Nate Ament added 20 points for the Vols in the win.

Game 2: Baylor 81, Creighton 74

Top Performer: Cameron Carr (BAY) | 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks

Cameron Carr and the Baylor Bears continued their unbeaten start with their most impressive win of the season thus far, downing a Creighton squad that has made six consecutive NCAA tournaments playing in an always competitive Big East. Carr made 7-of-16 attempts from the field and hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line. 

Baylor’s win was the first of four for the Big 12 on the first day of the Players Era festivities, making quite a compelling case that it could supercede the SEC as the premier conference in the sport this year.

Game 3: No. 24 Kansas 71, Notre Dame 61

Top Performer: Flory Bidunga (KAN) | 18 points, five rebounds, five assists, five blocks

Flory Bidunga may not have put up a 32-piece like Gillespie did for Tennessee a few hours earlier, but the Jayhawks’ rising sophomore big man arguably registered the best all-around performance of the day. Bidunga stuffed the stat sheet on both ends of the floor in a decisive win for the No. 24 team in the nation without their top NBA draft prospect, Darryn Peterson. 

Bidunga made 8-of-15 field goals for the game and went 2-of-3 from the charity stripe to push Kansas to a 4-2 record overall after early losses to UNC and Duke. 

Kansas is set to take on Syracuse in a rematch of the 2003 National Championship game on Tuesday. If Monday was any indication, Carmelo Anthony will be in attendance to watch his son, Kiyan, attempt to do the Jayhawks the way his father did over two decades ago at this point.

Game 4: No. 16 Iowa State 83, No. 14 St. John’s 82

Top Performer: Milan Momcilovic (ISU) | 23 points, three rebounds, one assist

St. John’s don Rick Pitino is the one coach in the field you would assume to know his way around Las Vegas. And I’m not talking about following a map. Unfortunately for him, Iowa State’s Milan Momcilovic registered a performance that made any past experience Pitino has in this city moot.

The Wisconsin-born junior Momcilovic made 7-of-13 attempts from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range, as he tallied his second 20-plus point game of the season. An underrated storyline in this game was the return of former UNLV coach TJ Otzelberger to Las Vegas after he left a sour taste in the city’s mouth upon his departure to Iowa State in 2021. 

Since somehow parlaying a rather disappointing stint at UNLV into a legitimately attractive Power 5 job, Otzelberger has emerged as one of the best coaches in college basketball and the Cyclones are among the more consistent programs in the nation since he’s been able to implement his system.

Game 5: No. 2 Houston 78, Syracuse 74

Top Performer: Milos Uzan and Emmanuel Sharp | 26 points each

There won’t be many collegiate basketball games on any level this season where a pair of scorers carry the load for a team the way Las Vegas native Milos Uzan and Emmanuel Sharp carried the scoring load on Monday. 

In front of one of the greatest scorers to ever grace the game in Carmelo Anthony, the duo made a combined 14-of-36 field goal attempts and scored 67% of the Cougs’ points in a game that surprisingly ended up going to overtime. 

On the Syracuse side of things, Carmelo was quite literally coaching and giving defensive signals to the players ahead of the game’s pivotal possessions that allowed Syracuse to force overtime at the end of regulation. It was to the point where Syracuse’s players were looking to Melo for signals and words of advice before looking to coach Adrian Autry on the sideline.

Either way, Monday was as good as Syracuse has looked in a long time, so maybe they should just keep listening to Melo.

Game 6: Auburn 84, Oregon 73

Top Performer: Tahaad Pettiford (AUB) | 24 points, four rebounds, four assists

In a strange twist of fate or perhaps an avoidance of an interest conflict, Bruce Pearl was stuck watching Gonzaga vs. Alabama at MGM Grand while his son Steven and his former Auburn Tigers team were down the road at Michelob Ultra Arena taking on Dana Altman’s always dangerous Oregon Ducks. 

Returning sixth-man-turned-starter Tahaad Pettiford was the Tigers’ best performer on Monday, making 9-of-18 attempts from the field to lead all scorers in the win. It’s the first time Pettiford has reached the 20-point mark this season after a start that’s been a bit slower than expected.

Game 7: No. 12 Gonzaga 95, No. 8 Alabama 85

Top Performer: Graham Ike (GONZ) | 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists

In advance of Monday’s opening night, the matchup between Gonzaga and Alabama was the proverbial main event, so to speak, while the other top-tier matchups fell secondary. The game certainly won’t be the subject of any documentaries, but it was an entertaining contest that saw Gonzaga pull away late due to their size and shot-making advantages.

Gonzaga got 21 points apiece from seniors Graham Ike and Tyon Grant-Foster, but Ike gets the Top Performer honor due to the fact that he registered a double-double, and because he was more consistent throughout the entirety of the game.

Game 8: Michigan 94, San Diego State 54

Top Performer: Yaxel Lendeborg (MICH) | 15 points, six rebounds, four assists

Michigan’s starting lineup delivered a performance so efficient and so balanced that there wasn’t really a home run pick for the top performer. Six Wolverines scored in double-figures and 10 different players scored at all in the 40-point thrashing of a San Diego State program that is only a few seasons removed from making it to the Final Four.

The Mountain West continues to get its teeth kicked in this year, against both the nation’s best teams like Michigan and some of the nation’s worst.

Game 9: Maryland 74, UNLV 67

Top Performer: Pharrell Payne (UMD) | 20 points, eight rebounds

Just a few weeks removed from taking an incredibly scary fall after a slam dunk against Marquette, Pharrell Payne continued to look just like his usual self with the most efficient 20-plus point performance of the night.

Payne made 7-of-8 attempts from the field to push Maryland to a 10-point second-half advantage that allowed them to overcome a three-point halftime deficit after UNLV had their number defensively in the first half.

Payne also reached a significant milestone on Monday, scoring his 1,000th career point early in the second half.