Fair, Grant help Syracuse remain undefeated
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- C.J. Fair scored 19 points, Jerami Grant added 12 and No. 1 Syracuse beat Clemson 57-44 on Sunday night to remain unbeaten.
Syracuse (23-0, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extended its school record for wins to start a season and matched the program mark for consecutive wins, established in the 1916-17 and 1917-18 seasons. It was the third meeting between the teams and first in Syracuse, and the Orange's first victory.
It was the 10th time Clemson (15-7, 6-4) had faced the No. 1 team in the nation, and the Tigers have yet to win. The last time Clemson played a No. 1 team was against North Carolina, an 86-81 loss in the 2008 ACC tournament, and the Tigers' last true road game against the nation's No. 1 team was Feb. 8, 2004, an 81-55 loss at Duke.
Trevor Cooney finished with 11 points and Tyler Ennis had six points, five assists and one turnover. Grant also had eight rebounds and Fair grabbed seven.
K.J. McDaniels, the only player in the country leading his team in scoring, rebounding, blocks, steals and 3-pointers, had 19 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for Clemson. Jordan Roper and Jaron Blossomgame each scored seven points.
No. 2 Arizona gets on offensive roll, beats Oregon State
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Aaron Gordon had 17 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 16 and No. 2 Arizona found its shooting touch in a 76-54 win against Oregon State on Sunday night.
After two weeks of struggles on offense, Arizona (23-1, 10-1 Pac-12) finally found some answers in its second game without injured forward Brandon Ashley.
The Wildcats took control with a big run to end the first half and kept the Beavers from mounting a rally by shooting 50 percent.
T.J. McConnell had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists for Arizona, which has won 30 of its past 31 against Oregon State at McKale Center.
After rallying against Arizona State in its previous game, Oregon State (13-10, 5-6) had little chance against the athletic Wildcats, unable to spring Roberto Nelson or chip away at Arizona's 10-point halftime lead.
Nelson, the Pac-12's leading scorer, had 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Angus Brandt led the Beavers with 14 points.
Jackson's jumper lifts Wisconsin past No. 9 Michigan State
MADISON, Wis. -- Traevon Jackson hit a pull-up jumper with 2.1 seconds left for Wisconsin, 10 seconds after Michigan State's Adreian Payne tied it with a 3, and the Badgers beat the ninth-ranked Spartans 60-58 on Sunday.
The Badgers (19-5, 6-5 Big Ten) committed 14 turnovers, six more than their NCAA-leading 8.3 per game, but gutted out a win against the Spartans (20-4, 9-2).
A desperation 3 by Michigan State from midcourt banged off the rim as time expired, and the Wisconsin faithful erupted with applause. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid at home.
Tied at 58, head coach Bo Ryan again put the ball in the hands of Jackson, who has a history of hitting clutch shots.
With a man in his face, Jackson veered left of the lane and pulled up from about 10 feet to give Wisconsin the lead in a frenetic final minute.
Nigel Hayes led Wisconsin with 14 points, while Sam Dekker added 11.
Payne had 24 points.
Harrison leads St. John's to upset of No. 12 Creighton
NEW YORK -- D'Angelo Harrison scored 19 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:08 to play, and St. John's beat No. 12 Creighton 70-65 on Sunday night for its sixth win in seven games.
Chris Obekpa tied his career high with 11 points for the Red Storm (15-9, 5-6 Big East), who avenged the only loss during that seven-game stretch.
Doug McDermott matched his nation-leading average with 25 points for the Bluejays (19-4, 9-2), who had won 14 of 15 coming in and had been tied for first in the conference with Villanova. McDermott didn't score in the final 8:40.
McDermott had 39 points when the teams met two weeks ago, including a long 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left for a 63-60 victory. The Bluejays led by 18 points with 12 minutes to play in that one and were barely able to escape with the win at home.
No. 22 Connecticut rolls to victory against UCF
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Lasan Kromah and Shabazz Napier each had 17 points and seven rebounds, and No. 22 Connecticut easily defeated UCF 75-55 on Sunday night.
The Huskies (18-5, 6-4 American Athletic Conference) got 16 points from DeAndre Daniels and 11 from Ryan Boatright.
Isaiah Sykes led UCF with 17 points and reserve Justin McBride added 13, all in the second half. The Knights, who have lost eight in a row, didn't have another player in double figures after shooting just 39.2 percent from the floor.
UConn had 9-0 and 10-0 runs in the first half, helping the Huskies build a 41-24 halftime advantage.
McBride, who entered the game with a little less than 15 minutes to go and UCF trailing 47-29, scored 11 points in less than 7 minutes. When teammate Kasey Wilson hit a 3-pointer with 7:20 to play, the Knights had closed the gap to 57-49, but that was as close as they got.
