SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Freshman Nate Kingz scored a career-high 19 points, William Kyle III made a go-ahead free throw with 13.8 seconds left, and Syracuse held off No. 13 Tennessee 62-60 on Tuesday night.
J.J. Starling hit a 3-pointer and a short jumper to give the Orange (5-3) a 60-56 lead with 2:05 remaining. But jumpers by Jaylen Carey and Bishop Boswell tied it at 60-all with 38 seconds to go.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKyle, who had six blocks, was fouled by Boswell on Syracuse’s next possession. He missed his first attempt but made the second. Sadiq White added a free throw to close out the scoring and hand the Vols (7-2) their second consecutive loss.
NO. 1 PURDUE 81, RUTGERS 65
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth double-double this season to lead top-ranked Purdue over Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
Braden Smith added 16 points and eight assists for the Boilermakers (8-0). Fletcher Loyer had 12 points and Gicarri Harris scored 11 off the bench.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPurdue has reached 80 points in every game this season and is beating opponents by an average of 20.
NO. 4 DUKE 67, NO. 15 FLORIDA 66
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19.7 seconds left, and Duke held on to beat Florida in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
The slim sophomore was sitting at 0 for 7 from behind the arc when Florida’s Boogie Fland hit a 3 with 34.6 seconds left for a 66-64 lead, coming on a night the reigning national champions had trailed by 15. But Evans calmly sunk the shot that helped Duke (9-0) stay unbeaten in a thrilling finish.
Florida (5-3) had a final desperation possession down one with 1.4 seconds left, but Maliq Brown tipped Thomas Haugh’s heave at the inbounds point to run the final time off and send Cameron Indoor Stadium into an ear-ringing frenzy.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNO. 5 UCONN 61, KANSAS 56
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Solo Ball scored 17 points, Braylon Mullins also had 17 in a breakout performance by the freshman guard, and fifth-ranked UConn overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat No. 21 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse.
Eric Reibe added 12 points and Alex Karaban scored 11 for the Huskies (7-1), who defeated the Jayhawks (6-3) for the first time in five tries while picking up their third — and arguably most impressive — win over a ranked opponent already this season.
Kansas had a chance to tie the game late after Silas Demary Jr. missed a short jumper. But rather than attempt a tying 3-pointer, the Jayhawks’ Jamari McDowell drove to the rim and had his shot blocked by Mullins with just under 10 seconds to go.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNO. 7 MICHIGAN ST. 71, IOWA 52
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Coen Carr had nine of his 15 points in the second half after Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half, helping No. 7 Michigan State remain unbeaten with a win over Iowa in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The Spartans (8-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will play No. 4 Duke at home on Saturday.
Michigan State is off to its best start in a decade and has three wins against AP Top 25 teams: North Carolina, Kentucky and Arkansas.
The Hawkeyes (7-1, 0-1) were undefeated under first-year coach Ben McCollum until they ran into one of the hottest teams in college basketball.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNO. 16 NORTH CAROLINA 67, NO. 18 KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Derek Dixon made a tiebreaking layup with 16 seconds remaining and scored five of North Carolina’s last six points to lift the No. 16 Tar Heels to a win over No. 18 Kentucky in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
Dixon finished with nine points off the bench, and his 3-pointer with 53 seconds left helped give the Tar Heels (7-1) their first road win of the season.
Henri Veesaar led North Carolina with 17 points, followed by Caleb Wilson with 15 and Luka Bogavac with 12. Wilson shot 5 for 19 but added 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Tar Heels made six 3s and limited the Wildcats to one on 13 attempts in handing Kentucky its first home loss of the season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNO. 24 SOUTHERN CAL 82, OREGON 77
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Chad Baker-Mazara scored 25 points and Jacob Cofie added 17 as No. 24 USC defeated Oregon in a Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
USC, which entered the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time in more than two years, improved to 8-0 to continue its best start since the 2021-22 season.
Playing without leading scorer Rodney Rice due to an injury, the Trojans pulled away in the final two minutes. USC shot 50.9% from the field, including 8 of 21 on 3-pointers.
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