SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - 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.
MICHIGAN 77, No. 3 WISCONSIN 70
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Nik Stauskus scored 23 points and hit a key 3 with 48 seconds left, and Michigan fended off a late surge for a win over 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 straight after a school-best 16-0 start.
Stauskus added four foul shots in the final 24.7 seconds to seal Michigan's seventh straight win. He had 16 in the second half.
No. 4 MICHIGAN STATE 78, ILLINOIS 62
CHAMAPIGN, Ill. (AP) - Gary Harris scored 23 points and Denzel Valentine pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Michigan State past Illinois.
The Spartans (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten) stayed on top of the Big Ten with their 10th straight win. With the victory, Michigan State is also off to the best start in team history. No Spartans team has ever won 17 of its first 18.
After opening conference play 2-0, Illinois (13-6, 2-4) has now lost four in a row.
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' Lou Henson and into fourth on the list of career Big Ten wins with 215.
No. 5 WICHITA ST. 68, INDIANA ST. 48
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - 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. (AP) - 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. (AP) - 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 (AP) - 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.
Melvin Ejim scored 17 for the Cyclones, who went 11 of 32 on 3-pointers.
No. 10 SAN DIEGO STATE 63, UNLV 52
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Xavier Thames scored 18 points for No. 10 San Diego State, which used a 19-2 first-half run to beat UNLV for its 15th straight 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.
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.
No. 15 KANSAS 80, No. 9 OKLAHOMA ST. 78
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - 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 (AP) - 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. (AP) - 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. 16 MASSACHUSETTS 84, ELON 74
ELON, N.C. (AP) - 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 Massachusetts held off several Elon rallies to win.
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 101, LEMOYNE-OWEN 78
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - 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. 18 LOUISVILLE 76, CONNECTICUT 64
STORRS, Conn. (AP) - Russ Smith scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Louisville past Connecticut.
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.
The Cardinals have won eight of the last nine meetings with the Huskies.
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. The 6-foot-8 sophomore hit eight of his 10 shots and helped the Cardinals to a 45-30 rebounding advantage.
No. 19 CINCINNATI 61, SOUTH FLORIDA 54
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - 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.
PROVIDENCE 81, No. 20 CREIGHTON 68
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Bryce Cotton scored 23 points and LaDontae Henton added 19 as Providence upset Creighton.
The victory is the third straight 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.
No. 21 COLORADO 83, SOUTHERN CAL 62
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - 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. (AP) - 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 (AP) - 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.
The Rams' point total was their lowest by 10.
UTAH 74, No. 25 UCLA 69
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - 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.