Klesmit, Wisconsin hold off No. 3 Marquette; No. 2 Arizona dominates

Max Klesmit scored 21 points, all in the first half, and Steven Crowl totaled 16 points as host Wisconsin staved off a rally by third-ranked Marquette for 75-64 victory on Saturday in the annual nonconference matchup of in-state rivals.

Marquette, which trailed by 16 late in the first half, pulled within 52-51 on Sean Jones’ short jumper with 12:26 left in the second half. Wisconsin pushed the lead back to 60-53 on Crowl’s half hook from the lane.

AJ Storr converted a three-point play to put the Badgers up 65-55 with 5:37 left. Marquette got within 67-62, but the Golden Eagles made just one of their final eight shots.

Storr finished with 13 points and Tyler Wahl added 10 for Wisconsin (6-2), which won its fifth straight despite going 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the second half. Crowl also had eight rebounds to help the Badgers to a 38-23 advantage on the boards.

Kam Jones had 19 points and Tyler Kolek added 11 for Marquette (6-2).

Chucky Hepburn hit two free throws to put

Wisconsin up 46-30 with 14 seconds left in the first half. Jones’ deep 3-pointer made it 46-33 at the half.

Marquette scored nine consecutive points to open the second half, pulling within 46-42 as Wisconsin missed its first three shots after the break and committed three turnovers.

Klesmit, whose season high was 14 points in the 105-76 season-opening win over Arkansas State, paced Wisconsin to a 46-33 halftime lead.

Klesmit had 15 of Wisconsin’s first 27 points. His 3-pointer put the Badgers up 27-16 with just more than eight minutes left in the half, and another three from the left corner pushed the lead to 36-23 with 3:27 remaining.

The Badgers hit 17 of 19 free throws in the first half, along with a 22-10 advantage on the boards and 12-2 edge in secondchance points.

The I-94 rivalry began in 1917 and has been played every season but one since 1958-59. The Badgers now lead the overall series 71-59.

ELSEWHERE

No. 2 Arizona 82, Colgate 55:

A

Oumar Ballo had a double-double and Arizona staked its claim to be the top-ranked team in the country next week as the Wildcats pulled against Colgate on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.

Ballo, a 7-foot center, scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds to help Arizona (7-0) dominate the paint, holding the Raiders (4-4) without an offensive rebound until the final shot of the game as time expired.

Caleb Love added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats, who are in line for their first No. 1 ranking since the week of Jan. 27, 2014. They probably will replace current No. 1 Purdue, which lost Friday night to Northwestern, while No. 3 Marquette fell Saturday to Wisconsin.

Virginia 84, Syracuse A

62:

Isaac McKneely scored a career-high 22 points, leading Virginia’s long-range assault in a victory over Syracuse in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va.

Reece Beekman provided 13 points and eight assists while Andrew Rohde added 10 points and four assists as the Cavaliers (7-1, 1-0) improved to 15-0 in conference openers under coach Tony Bennett.

In a game in which neither team led by more than five points for the first 15 minutes, McKneely lifted Virginia late in the first half on its way to a 37-24 advantage at intermission.

After missing their first three attempts from 3point range, the Cavaliers made 12 of their next 16 shots from deep.

McKneely, who had notched his career high by halftime with 16 points, finished 6 of 8 on his 3-point tries. Taine Murray and Rohde each hit two treys.

The Cavaliers won for the 10th time in their past 11 meetings with the Orange.

Bucknell 76, Penn A

State 67:

Jack Forrest scored 23 points and

Noah Williamson supplied 21 as Bucknell upset host Penn State on Saturday afternoon in University Park, Pa.

Josh Bascoe chipped in 11 points and 10 assists for the Bison (3-7), who had lost 15 of their past 16 matchups with the Nittany Lions. Bucknell shot 58.0 percent from the field, including a crisp 10 of 21 from the 3-point line.

Qudus Wahab (18 points), Ace Baldwin Jr. (17) and Zach Hicks (13) were the leading scorers for Penn State (4-4), which dropped its fourth straight game.