Battle & Cuse fight off tough Wake Forest
SYRACUSE — Tyus Battle missed a slam dunk early in the second half for Syracuse. He didn’t miss much else against Wake Forest.
Battle scored 34 points, Oshae Brissett added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and the Orange held off the Demon Deacons 78-70 on Sunday. The sophomore guard started the game by scoring Syracuse’s first seven points, then after the break scored 24 on 6-for-8 shooting and made all 11 free throws he attempted to help the Orange (17-8, 6-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) to an important victory.
Battle hit two free throws with 27 seconds left and followed that with a fast-break slam 12 seconds later after a block by Paschal Chukwu to secure the win.
CINCINNATI 76, SMU 51: Kyle Washington had 17 points with eight rebounds and No. 6 Cincinnati remained undefeated in American Athletic Conference play, stretching its overall winning streak to 16 games with a road victory over short-handed SMU.
The Bearcats (23-2, 12-0 AAC) missed their first seven shots in the game, but were down only 5-2 when they finally scored just more than three minutes in on a dunk by Nysier Brooks. That started a 9-0 run that put them ahead to stay.
DUKE 80, GEORGIA TECH 69: Grayson Allen scored 23 points and No. 9 Duke beat host Georgia Tech to end a two-game losing streak. Held to single-digits the last two games in losses at St. John’s and North Carolina, Allen was 5 for 14 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all 10 of his free throws.
MICHIGAN 83, WISCONSIN 72: Moe Wagner scored 20 points, going 8 of 14 from the field, and added 11 rebounds, and No. 20 Michigan rode a hot-shooting first half for a win in Madison.
Duncan Robinson scored 16 points for the Wolverines (20-7, 9-5), who won for the first time on the road since upsetting Michigan State on Jan. 13. This time, Michigan had to hold on after allowing much of its 22-point halftime lead slip away in the second half.
A quiet Kohl Center crowd reawakened after a 12-0 run drew the Badgers within 58-47 with 8:52 left. Aleem Ford’s 3 with 2:37 left to get within eight kept Wisconsin’s flickering hopes alive. But coach John Beilein’s club kept its composure and Wisconsin ran out of time. Allowing Michigan to shoot 65% in the first half proved to be too problematic.
STONY BROOK 64, MAINE 61: Akwasi Yeboah scored with 44 seconds left for the lead and Tyrell Sturdivant added three free throws in Stony Brook’s victory over host Maine. Sturdivant’s final free throws with three seconds left made it 63-59.
UC Iroegbu led the Seawolves (10-16, 5-7 America East) with 13 points. Yeboah, Sturdivant and Olaniyi added 11 each with Olaniyi making three 3-pointers.
FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 76, WAGNER 69: Mike Holloway Jr. scored 23 points and Darnell Edge added 22, including all eight of his free throws down the stretch, and host Fairleigh Dickinson upset Northeast Conference leader Wagner. Romone Saunders scored 25 points for Wagner, Blake Francis 16 and Elijah Davis 11 with the trio combining for 38 second-half points. The Seahawks had a seven-game win streak snapped. —Associated Press