Friday's Top 25 College Men's Basketball Capsules

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) - Marcus Jordan was headed to the foul line for two big shots Friday when a teammate passed along an encouraging message.

"He told me this shot is in my blood," Jordan said.

Yup, like father, like son.

Jordan, the son of Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, made two big free throws to give Central Florida the lead with 3:11 left and the Knights upset No. 4 Connecticut 68-63 in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, snapping the Huskies' 16-game winning streak.

Jordan and Keith Clanton each scored 20 points for the Knights (4-1), who trailed by 17 early in the second half. Jordan also had seven rebounds and seven assists.

Jeremy Lamb had 15 points for the defending national champion Huskies (5-1), who lost for the first time since March 5 against Notre Dame. Alex Oriakhi added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 87, SOUTH CAROLINA 62

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Harrison Barnes scored 21 points, and P.J. Hairston had 19 to help top-ranked North Carolina beat South Carolina in the third round of the Las Vegas Invitational.

John Henson had 18 points and eight rebounds, Kendall Marshall finished with 14 assists, six steals and four points, and Tyler Zeller added 12 points for the Tar Heels (5-0).

North Carolina will face UNLV (6-0) in the championship game Saturday night.

RJ Slawson led South Carolina (2-3) with career highs of 13 points, 14 rebounds, and had four blocks. Daimen Leonard and Malik Cooke each had 12 points, and Anthony Gill added 10 points and six rebounds.

South Carolina will play Southern California on Saturday.

NO. 3 OHIO ST. 80, VALPARAISO 47

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - William Buford scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and the Buckeyes cruised past the Crusaders.

Aaron Craft added 15 points and eight assists for Ohio State (6-0), which tuned up for a big home showdown against No. 6 Duke on Tuesday. Jared Sullinger had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Deshaun Thomas chipped in 12 points.

Jay Harris scored 18 points for Valparaiso (5-2).

NO. 5 SYRACUSE 69, STANFORD 63

NEW YORK (AP) - Kris Joseph had 18 points and eight rebounds and the Orange closed the game on a 15-3 run to win the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

Syracuse (6-0) was never able to make a run against Stanford until the game's final 4 minutes, when they made all five of their shots from the field and five of seven free throws. They forced the Cardinal (5-1) into 24 turnovers during the game, including three in the closing stretch.

Joseph had 38 points and 19 rebounds in the two games and was selected the MVP.

Aaron Bright had 13 points for Stanford, which led 60-54 with 4:27 to go on two free throws by Chasson Randle.

Brandon Triche, who finished with 11 points, started the Orange's big run with a drive.

NO. 7 LOUISVILLE 59, OHIO 54

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kyle Kuric scored 16 points and Gorgui Dieng grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to give Rick Pitino his 250th victory as the Cardinals' coach.

Ohio held a six-point lead with under 4 minutes to play before Louisville (5-0) rallied.

Kuric hit a 3 in the corner, made a key steal and found Chris Smith for a layup on the fast break to give Louisville a 53-51 lead with 1:49 left.

After a dunk by Chane Behanan, Ohio's D.J. Cooper hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 55-54, but T.J. Hall and Cooper missed 3s in the closing seconds that would've tied the game.

Cooper led Ohio (3-1) with 16 points.

NO. 10 FLORIDA 107, JACKSONVILLE 62

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Kenny Boynton scored 22 points, Erving Walker added 21 and the Gators used one of their best shooting performances to handle the Dolphins.

Florida (4-1) dominated from the opening tip, allowing little chance for a repeat of what happened in Gainesville last year, when Jacksonville upset Florida 71-69 in overtime, knocking the Gators out of the rankings.

Russell Powell led Jacksonville (2-3) with 15 points.

NO. 11 WISCONSIN 66, BRADLEY 43

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) - Ryan Evans, Jordan Taylor and Josh Gasser scored 15 points apiece and the Badgers scored 18 points off turnovers at the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

Center Jared Berggren grabbed 10 rebounds for Wisconsin (5-0), which will face BYU on Saturday in the championship game at the suburban Chicago Sears Centre.

Wisconsin never trailed in the teams' first meeting since 1989.

Taylor Brown scored 18 points for the Braves (3-2), who have dropped two straight.

NO. 12 XAVIER 70, GEORGIA 56

CINCINNATI (AP) - Tu Holloway overcame a sore shooting hand and scored 12 points to lead a balanced offense that carried the Musketeers past the poor-shooting Bulldogs.

Holloway, who hurt his right hand during practice, missed his only shot in the first half, but he made all eight of his free throws and had four assists, helping Xavier (4-0) extend its success against the Southeastern Conference.

Georgia (3-2) missed its first 11 shots, fell behind 10-0 and never recovered, trailing by 36 points midway through the second half. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 14 points for the Bulldogs.

NO. 17 PITTSBURGH 78, PENN 58

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Khem Birch had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Ashton Gibbs added 16 points and the Panthers pulled away from the Quakers to win the Philly Hoop Group Classic.

Pittsburgh (4-1) got the 20-point victory over inferior competition it badly needed after struggling the last three games.

Zack Rosen led Penn (3-3) with 22 points on 6 of 10 3-pointers and Tyler Bernardini added 14 points.

NO. 18 VANDERBILT 95, MONMOUTH 73

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - John Jenkins scored 18 points, and Jeff Taylor and Brad Tinsley each added 16 to help Vanderbilt beat winless Monmouth.

The game pitted Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings against former assistant King Rice in his first season as Monmouth's head coach.

Josh Henderson and Dai-Jon Parker had a career-high 10 points each for the Commodores (5-1).

Jesse Steele scored 25 points for the Hawks (0-6).

HARVARD 46, NO. 22 FLORIDA STATE 41

Brandyn Curry had six points, five assists, and five steals to help the Crimson upset the Seminoles in a game that matched the lowest halftime Division I scoring total since 1986.

Oliver McNally and Wesley Saunders had seven points apiece for Harvard (5-0), which will face Central Florida in the championship on Saturday.

Michael Snaer scored 10 points for Florida State (5-1), which missed its first 15 shots.

The 14-14 halftime score matched the output of Ole Miss (15) and South Carolina (13) in the first half of their game on Jan. 8, 2003. The Seminoles were 5 for 24 from the field in the first half, and Harvard went 3 for 23.

NO. 24 MISSISSIPPI STATE 76, TENNESSEE-MARTIN 50

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Dee Bost and Rodney Hood scored 17 points apiece and the Bulldogs pushed their winning streak to five games.

Mississippi State (6-1) never trailed, receiving contributions from all over the roster. Freshman DeVille Smith scored a career-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while Wendell Lewis had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Mississippi State shot 59.3 percent (32 of 54) from the field and outrebounded Tennessee-Martin 37-31.

Dane Smith scored 17 points for Tennessee-Martin (1-5) and Myles Taylor added 12.