No. 2 Syracuse tops Pitt 59-54
Associated Press
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Associated Press
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis scored 16 points, including two driving layups and two free throws in the final 2 minutes, and No. 2 Syracuse beat No. 22 Pittsburgh 59-54 on Saturday in a battle for first place in the ACC between the two former Big East rivals.
Syracuse (18-0, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) entered the game 2-0 against former Big East rivals, with victories over St. John’s and Villanova. The Orange made it three straight and remained one of only three unbeatens in Division I.
In four of the past five seasons, Syracuse has started with at least 13 consecutive wins, and twice in the last four years Pitt (16-2, 4-1) had stopped those streaks.
In a seesaw game that was tight all the way, Ennis won it by hitting a scoop with 1:47 left and a lefty layup with 30.6 seconds to go as the crowd of 30,046 shook the Carrier Dome with deafening roars.
Pitt had chances to tie it, but Lamar Patterson missed two 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes and Cameron Wright missed another. Patterson finished with 18 points, 14 in the second half.
No. 5 WICHITA ST. 68
INDIANA ST. 48
WICHITA, Kan. — Ron Baker scored 16 points and Fred VanVleet added 15 as Wichita State remained unbeaten.
Darius Carter and Chadrack Lufile both scored 10 points for the Shockers (19-0, 6-0 Missouri Valley), which extended school records for winning streak and best start to a season.
Dawon Cummings scored 19 points for Indiana State (14-4, 5-1). He was 7 of 14 from the field while the rest of the team was 9 of 37 (24.3 percent).
The Sycamores entered the game leading the Missouri Valley Conference at 76.7 points a game. But Indiana State was just 8 of 24 from the field in the first half for 22 points. Led by VanVleet’s nine points, Wichita State led by nine at halftime.
No. 6 VILLANOVA 88
DEPAUL 62
VILLANOVA, Pa. — James Bell had 17 points and eight rebounds and Ryan Arcidiacono scored 14 points as Villanova won its fifth straight.
The Wildcats (16-1, 5-0 Big East) made 19 of 26 shots (73 percent) in the second half and tied a season low with five turnovers.
Daniel Ochefu had 14 points and six rebounds, and Josh Hart hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points for the Wildcats.
Brandon Young had 13 points for the Blue Demons (10-9, 2-4), who entered on a rare two-game conference winning streak, but failed to get three straight for the first time since 2006-07.
No. 7 FLORIDA 68
AUBURN 61
AUBURN, Ala. — Casey Prather scored 21 points in his return from a knee injury and Florida survived a scare from Auburn.
Prather had 16 points in the first half after missing the past two games with a badly bruised right knee. He made 8 of 10 shots for the Gators (15-2, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), who have won nine straight games and eight in a row at Auburn (8-7, 0-4).
Tahj Shamsid-Deen hit a jump shot with 1:59 left to cut Florida’s lead to 62-61, but Scottie Wilbekin answered with a fadeaway jumper. Wilbekin made 2 of 4 free throws over the final 48 seconds.
Wilbekin finished with 16 points and Patric Young scored 13 for Florida, which outrebounded Auburn 31-23.
Chris Denson, the SEC’s leading scorer, scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half.
TEXAS 86
No. 8 IOWA ST. 76
AUSTIN, Texas — Jonathan Holmes scored 23 points and Cam Ridley had 16 points and 11 rebounds as Texas handed Iowa State its third straight loss.
Javan Felix scored 17 points for the Longhorns (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) including a 3-pointer in the momentum-changing run in the second half and a layup in the final minute that helped protect the lead.
Georges Niang scored 18 points to lead Iowa State, which started the season 14-0. The Cyclones (14-3, 2-3) hadn’t lost three straight since the 2010-11 and haven’t won in Austin since 2005.
No. 15 KANSAS 80
No. 9 OKLAHOMA ST. 78
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Naadir Tharpe scored 21 points for Kansas, and Frank Mason stripped Oklahoma State’s Le’Bryan Nash as the final buzzer sounded to preserve the win.
Joel Embiid added 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks for the Jayhawks (13-4, 4-0 Big 12), who blew most of a 47-30 halftime lead before holding on at the finish.
Phil Forte hit seven 3-pointers and had 21 points for Oklahoma State (15-3, 3-2). Marcus Smart added 16 points, but he was just 3 of 14 from the field and 0 for 6 from behind the 3-point arc.
Markel Brown finished with 15 points for Oklahoma State while Kamari Murphy had 12 and Nash finished with 10.
No. 25 OKLAHOMA 66
No. 12 BAYLOR 64
WACO, Texas — Buddy Hield scored all 19 of his points after halftime and Oklahoma stormed from behind with a big run.
The Sooners (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) were down by eight right after halftime before reeling off 16 consecutive points. Baylor regained the lead on a putback by Cory Jefferson with 9:13 left, and the lead changed hands three more times and there were three ties before Heild’s 3-pointer with 4 minutes left made it 58-57. That put the Sooners ahead to stay.
Kenny Chery had 16 points and five assists for Baylor (13-4, 1-3), which had won 13 straight home games.
Jordan Woodard made the second of two free throws with 9.1 seconds left, leaving Baylor with one more chance.
After Chery brought the ball down the court and passed it to Royce O’Neale whose pass toward Austin was deflected. O’Neale came away with the ball and turned for a shot, but it came after the buzzer and the basket that would have forced overtime didn’t count.
No. 13 KENTUCKY 74
TENNESSEE 66
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Freshman Andrew Harrison scored a season-high 26 points and Kentucky used near-perfect free throw shooting to pull away.
The Wildcats (13-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) made 23 of 24 from the line including their first 17 before Aaron Harrison, Andrew’s twin, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 32 seconds remaining.
The Wildcats had entered the game making 66 percent of their free throws, 63 percent in SEC games.
Andrew Harrison made all 10 of his free throw attempts along with a couple of 3-pointers and freshman Julius Randle was 5 of 5 from the free throw line and 6 of 9 from the field for 18 points.
Kentucky overcame a nine-point first-half deficit to beat the Volunteers (11-6, 2-2) in this season’s lone scheduled meeting between the schools.
Jarnell Stokes had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Tennessee, which lost to Kentucky for the 150th time in the series that dates to 1910.
No. 17 MEMPHIS 101
LEMOYNE-OWEN 78
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nick King scored 18 points as Memphis beat Division II LeMoyne-Owen.
The win was a needed relief for the Tigers (13-4), who had dropped two consecutive home games.
LeMoyne-Owen (4-10), a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, lost their third straight and fifth in the last six.
Demba Konte had 17 points for the Magicians.
No. 19 CINCINNATI 61
SOUTH FLORIDA 54
TAMPA, Fla. — Sean Kilpatrick scored 18 points to lead Cincinnati to its 10th straight win.
Shaquille Thomas added 10 points for the Bearcats (17-2, 6-0 AAC).
South Florida (10-8, 1-4) got 15 points from Javontae Hawkins.
Cincinnati extended its streak of holding an opponent to under 70 points to 26 consecutive games, which is the nation’s longest active stretch.
No. 21 COLORADO 83
SOUTHERN CAL 62
BOULDER, Colo. — Josh Scott scored 20 points and Askia Booker had 13 as Colorado, shaken by the loss of star guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a season-ending knee injury, rebounded from its first home defeat.
Xavier Johnson and Jaron Hopkins had 10 points each for Colorado (15-4, 4-2 Pac-12), which sent Southern Cal (9-9, 0-5) to its season-high fifth consecutive loss.
Omar Oraby and J.T Terrell both had 16 points to lead the Trojans.
No. 23 DUKE 95
N.C. ST. 60
DURHAM, N.C. — Jabari Parker scored 23 points and Duke scored 33 points off turnovers.
Rasheed Sulaimon added 13 points for the Blue Devils (14-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by 13 at halftime and by as many as 37 to keep the Wolfpack winless at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995.
Duke shot 50 percent and went 11 for 24 from 3-point range.
T.J. Warren scored 23 points to lead N.C. State (11-7, 1-4), which shot 48 percent but committed 21 turnovers.
No. 24 SAINT LOUIS 70
FORDHAM 48
ST. LOUIS — Dwayne Evans had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Jordair Jett lacked a rebound for his first career double-double for Saint Louis.
Saint Louis (17-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10) has won 11 straight games. The Billikens held Fordham (7-10, 0-4) to season lows for first half and game scoring on 29 percent shooting.
Jett had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Jon Severe had 22 points for Fordham, which has lost six straight and trails the series 9-1. The other half of the highest-scoring duo in the conference, Branden Frazier, was scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting.
UTAH 74, No. 25 UCLA 69
SALT LAKE CITY — Jordan Loveridge had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead Utah.
Delon Wright, Brandon Taylor and Kenneth Ogbe each scored 12 points to help the Utes (14-4, 3-3 Pac-12) earn their first victory over the Bruins since the 1983 NCAA tournament.
Kyle Anderson had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for UCLA, and Zach LaVine added 15 points for the Bruins (14-4, 3-2), which rallied from a 17-point deficit to get within two in the final minute.
