Mason strip helps No. 15 Kansas nip No. 9 Oklahoma State
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 15th-ranked Jayhawks' 80-78 victory against the ninth-ranked Cowboys on Saturday.
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.
The testy game included six flagrant or technical fouls.
Ennis carries No. 2 Syracuse to win vs. No. 22 Pittsburgh
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 Atlantic Coast Conference between the two former Big East rivals.
Syracuse (18-0, 5-0 ACC) entered the game 2-0 against former Big East rivals, with victories against St. John's and Villanova. The Orange made it three in a row 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, encouraged by Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim to take more shots, 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.
Michigan sends No. 3 Wisconsin to second consecutive loss
MADISON, Wis. -- Nik Stauskus scored 23 points and hit a key 3 with 48 seconds left, and Michigan fended off a late surge for a 77-70 win Saturday against No. 3 Wisconsin.
Caris LeVert added 20 for the Wolverines (13-4, 5-0 Big Ten), who held on for their first road win at Wisconsin since 1999 after nearly squandering a 15-point lead.
The Badgers (16-2, 3-2) went on a 14-2 run late, and Ben Brust's putback got them within 68-67 with about 2 minutes left.
But after whiffing on a 3 from the right wing, Stauskus hit a step-back from 3 from the left side to give Michigan a 71-67 lead.
Josh Gasser had 16 points for the Badgers, which lost their second in a row after a school-best 16-0 start.
Stauskus added four foul shots in the final 24.7 seconds to seal Michigan's seventh consecutive win. He had 16 in the second half.
No. 4 Michigan State pushes past Illinois, 78-62
CHAMAPIGN, Ill. -- Gary Harris scored 23 points and Denzel Valentine pulled down 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Michigan State past Illinois 78-62 on Saturday.
The Spartans (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten) stayed on top of the Big Ten with their 10th consecutive win. After opening conference play 2-0, Illinois has now lost four in a row.
Michigan State owned the boards early against the Illini (13-6, 2-4), outrebounding them 24-10 during the first 20 minutes. The Spartans used that edge to open up a 10-point lead by halftime and held the Illini at arm's length the rest of the night.
Valentine and Keith Appling each added 15 points for the Spartans.
Tracy Abrams led Illinois with 15 points.
The win moved Michigan State coach Tom Izzo past Illinois legend Lou Henson and into fourth on the list of career Big Ten wins with 215.
No. 5 Wichita State routs Indiana State to remain unbeaten
WICHITA, Kan. -- Ron Baker scored 16 points, Fred VanVleet added 15 and No. 5 Wichita State remained unbeaten with a 68-48 victory against Indiana State on Saturday.
Darius Carter and Chadrack Lufile both scored 10 points inside 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).
Wichita State managed to frustrate Indiana State in the first half of the matchup of conference leaders. The Sycamores entered the game leading the Missouri Valley at 76.7 points a game.
Hot-shooting Villanova romps to win against DePaul
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- James Bell had 17 points and eight rebounds, Ryan Arcidiacono scored 14 points, and No. 6 Villanova won its fifth consecutive game, 88-62 against DePaul on Saturday.
The Wildcats (16-1, 5-0 Big East) made a whopping 19 of 26 shots (73 percent) in the second half as they continue to steamroll through the revamped conference. Villanova 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.
The Blue Demons (10-9, 2-4) entered on a rare two-game conference winning streak, but failed to get three in a row for the first time since 2006-07. Brandon Young led them with 13 points.
No. 7 Florida escapes Auburn with 68-61 victory
AUBURN, Ala. -- Casey Prather scored 21 points in his return from a knee injury and helped No. 7 Florida survive a scare from Auburn in a 68-61 victory Saturday.
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 consecutive 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 during the final 48 seconds.
Patric Young blocked KT Harrell's attempt to bring Auburn to within two points in between those trips to the line.
Wilbekin finished with 16 points. Chris Denson led Auburn with 21.
Texas hands No. 8 Iowa State third consecutive loss
AUSTIN, Texas -- Jonathan Holmes scored 23 points and Cam Ridley had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Texas to an 86-76 win against No. 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss.
The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12.
Javan Felix scored 17 for Texas, including a big 3-pointer in the momentum-changing run in the second half.
Georges Niang scored 18 to lead Iowa State, which started the season 14-0. The Cyclones (14-3, 2-3) hadn't lost three in a row since the 2010-2011 season and haven't won in Austin since 2005.
Melvin Ejim scored 17 for the Cyclones, who went 11 of 32 on 3-pointers.
First-half run propels San Diego State past UNLV
SAN DIEGO -- Xavier Thames scored 18 points for No. 10 San Diego State, which used a 19-2 first-half run to beat UNLV 63-52 on Saturday for its 15th consecutive victory.
Josh Davis added 14 points and 14 rebounds for SDSU (16-1, 5-0 Mountain West), which hasn't lost since its second game, a 69-60 home defeat against Arizona, which is now ranked No. 1.
Bryce Dejean-Jones scored 15 points, Deville Smith had 13 and Roscoe Smith 11 for UNLV (11-7, 2-3) which had won eight of its previous 10 games.
SDSU led 34-20 at halftime and was up by 10 midway through the second half before UNLV closed to 50-45 when Deville Smith scored on a nice spin move. The Aztecs responded with one free throw apiece by Winston Shepard and Davis, and a slam dunk by JJ O'Brien to make it 54-45 with 4:02 to go.
Davis and O'Brien each made big shots down the stretch to help the Aztecs stay in front, and Thames made four free throws in the final 1:03.
Hield, No. 25 Oklahoma rally to beat No. 12 Baylor
WACO, Texas -- Buddy Hield scored all 19 of his points after halftime and No. 25 Oklahoma stormed from behind with a big run on the way to a 66-64 victory at No. 12 Baylor on Saturday.
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.
Baylor (13-4, 1-3) had won 13 consecutive home games, and its only non-conference loss was to No. 2 Syracuse.
Jordan Woodard made two free throws with 29 seconds left for a 65-58 lead. Baylor's 7-foot-1 center, Isaiah Austin, then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key before Woodard, a 78 percent free-throw shooter, missed after being fouled with 18 seconds left.
Austin hit another 3 from pretty much the same spot and Woodard had the ball again and was fouled. Woodard made the second of two free throws with 9.1 seconds left, leaving Baylor with one more chance.
After point guard Kenny 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.
Harrison leads No. 13 Kentucky past Tennessee
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Freshman Andrew Harrison scored a season-high 26 points and No. 13 Kentucky used near-perfect free-throw shooting to pull away from Tennessee for a 74-66 victory Saturday.
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.
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). Trailing 18-9 with 12:16 left in the half, the Wildcats closed with a 25-14 run during the final 11:06 and led by as many as 11 points in the second half.
Kentucky was outrebounded 39-24 by the Vols, who made just 16 of 23 from the free-throw line.
Lalanne leads No. 16 UMass past Elon 84-74
ELON, N.C. -- Cady Lalanne scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half and Chaz Williams scored all 20 of his points in the second half as No. 16 Massachusetts held off several Elon rallies to win 84-74 on Saturday night.
The Minutemen (16-1) won their sixth game in a row, this time spoiling the occasion as the first nationally ranked visitor to play on Elon's campus.
Maxie Esho finished with 17 points for the Minutemen, who won a non-conference matchup between the teams for the third season in a row. Williams provided 14 of his points in the last seven minutes.
Lucas Troutman scored 19 points and Sebastian Koch had 18 points for Elon (10-9), which had its three-game winning streak end. Tanner Samson added 14 points.
No. 17 Memphis rolls to 101-78 win against DII LeMoyne-Owen
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Nick King scored 18 points and No. 17 Memphis beat Division II LeMoyne-Owen 101-78 on Saturday.
The win was a needed relief for the Tigers (13-4), who had dropped two consecutive home games.
Meanwhile, LeMoyne-Owen (4-10), a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, lost their third in a row and fifth in the past six.
Austin Nichols and Geron Johnson finished with 12 points each for Memphis with Nichols hitting all six of his shots. Kuran Iverson had 11 points and Shaq Goodwin added 10 for Memphis.
Demba Konate led the Magicians with 17 points, Daequan Mitchell-Fields had 16, Marcel Hawkins 11 and Jerry Hampton 10.
Memphis head coach Josh Pastner promised to play LeMoyne-Owen to benefit the small school located in south Memphis and scheduled the game to keep his word.
Smith, Harrell lead No. 18 Louisville against UConn
STORRS, Conn. -- Russ Smith scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to lead No. 18 Louisville to a 76-64 win against Connecticut on Saturday night.
Montrezl Harrell added 18 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Cardinals (16-3, 5-1 American) who won for the fifth time in six games.
Shabazz Napier had a career-high 30 points to lead Connecticut (14-4, 2-3), which was coming off a win Thursday at No. 17 Memphis.
But the Huskies had no answer for Harrell, a 6-foot-8 sophomore. He hit eight of his 10 shots and helped the Cardinals to a 45-30 rebounding advantage.
Louisville used a 20-4 second half run to pull away, and then held on.
The game included Kevin Ollie's first ejection as UConn's head coach. He picked up two quick technical fouls in the second half after a no-call in front of the UConn bench.
Defense, Kilpatrick lead No. 19 Cincinnati past South Florida
TAMPA, Fla. -- Sean Kilpatrick scored 18 points to help lead No. 19 Cincinnati past South Florida 61-54 on Saturday.
Shaquille Thomas added 10 points for the Bearcats (17-2, 6-0 American Athletic Conference), who have won 10 consecutive games.
South Florida (10-8, 1-4) got 15 points from Javontae Hawkins. Bulls point guard Anthony Collins missed his eighth game in a row due to left knee soreness.
Cincinnati extended its streak of holding an opponent to less than 70 points to 26 consecutive games, which is the nation's longest active stretch. The school record of 35 games that spanned three seasons started with the Bearcats' 71-59 1962 NCAA championship game victory against Ohio State.
Cotton leads Providence past No. 20 Creighton
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Bryce Cotton scored 23 points and LaDontae Henton added 19 as Providence upset 20th-ranked Creighton 81-68 on Saturday night.
The victory is the third consecutive Big East victory for the Friars (13-5, 3-2). They defeated a nationally-ranked team for the first time since defeating No. 21 Notre Dame on Feb. 16, 2013.
Doug McDermott led the Bluejays (15-3, 5-1) with 21 points and seven rebounds. The only other Creighton player in double figures was Devin Brooks, who had 10 points.
Providence led 37-30 at halftime despite two players picking up three fouls piece in the first half. The Friars then opened the second half on an 18-5 run that put the Bluejays in a 55-35 hole with 13:51 left.
The Friars lead the all-time series 6-4, but this was the first meeting between the new conference rivals since Nov. 25, 2000.
Providence led from the opening tip and never allowed Creighton to feel comfortable. The Friars hit four of their first six shots to open up an 11-5 lead. The Bluejays regrouped to move within 22-21 after a basket by Austin Chatman, but the Friars closed out the half strong to take a seven-point lead into intermission.
No. 21 Colorado bounces back vs. Southern California
BOULDER, Colo. -- Josh Scott scored 20 points, Askia Booker had 13, and No. 21 Colorado, shaken by the loss of star guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a season-ending knee injury, rebounded from its first home defeat to rout Southern California 83-62 on Saturday.
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. It is the worst start in conference play for the Trojans since opening the 2012 season with an eight-game skid.
Omar Oraby and J.T Terrell both had 16 points to lead the Trojans, who trail the all-time series with Colorado 5-3, including an 0-4 mark in Boulder.
Colorado was coming off Thursday's 69-56 loss to No. 25 UCLA. It was the Buffaloes' first game without Dinwiddie, who was leading the team in scoring, assists and steals when he tore his left ACL during a loss at Washington last Sunday. Colorado also lost Tre'Shaun Fletcher, a key reserve, for six to eight weeks when he went down with a knee injury in the same game as Dinwiddie.
No. 23 Duke whips turnover-prone NC State 95-60
DURHAM, N.C. -- Jabari Parker scored 23 points and No. 23 Duke scored 33 points off turnovers to beat NC State 95-60 on Saturday.
Rasheed Sulaimon added 13 points for the Blue Devils (14-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by 13 at halftime and by 37 afterward 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 NC State (11-7, 1-4), which shot 48 percent but committed 21 turnovers to undermine any chance at building momentum.
Fifteen of those turnovers came by halftime, with Duke taking a 23-2 edge in points off turnovers to build a 45-32 lead. Things only got worse from there for NC State, which hasn't beaten Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Cameron -- the 1995 win came while Krzyzewski was on medical leave -- since February 1988.
It was Krzyzewski's 200th career ACC win at Cameron and his 898th overall at Duke, putting the NCAA men's career coaching wins leader two shy of joining Syracuse's Jim Boeheim with at least 900 wins at one school.
No. 24 Saint Louis scores 70-48 win against FordhamST. LOUIS -- The shots just would not fall for Saint Louis. As usual, there were more than enough stops at the other end of the court.
Dwayne Evans had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Jordair Jett lacked a rebound for his first career double-double, leading the 24th-ranked Billikens to a 70-48 rout against Fordham on Saturday. They won easily despite shooting 38.5 percent.
Saint Louis (17-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10), which has won 11 consecutive games, 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 and topped 1,000 career points with two free throws late in the game. He had eight rebounds in the first half, already topping his previous career best by one.
Jon Severe had 22 points on 9-for-25 shooting for Fordham, which has lost six in a row 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.
Balanced Utah pulls 74-69 upset of No. 25 UCLA
SALT LAKE CITY -- Jordan Loveridge scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead a balanced attack as Utah held off a late rally to surprise No. 25 UCLA 74-69 on Saturday.
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 against the Bruins since the 1983 NCAA tournament.
Kyle Anderson had 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for UCLA, and Zach LaVine added 15 off the bench for the Bruins. UCLA (14-4, 3-2) stormed back from a 17-point deficit to get within two in the final minute, but could not overcome a costly turnover by Anderson in the final seconds.
