Syracuse stomped by Heels

UNC builds rout on first-half surge

Chris Bell’s 3-pointer gave visiting Syracuse a 3-2 lead, but the Orange never led again as North Carolina posted a convincing 103-67 victory Saturday.

RJ Davis 22 points and Armando Bacot had 16 points and 11 rebounds as the seventh-ranked Tar Heels (13-3, 5-0 ACC) won their sixth consecutive game.

“They played with a lot of emotion today,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said of his team. “We talked about dominating points in the paint. As good as Syracuse is, they’re limited in the front court, and so we wanted to get the ball inside.”

The Tar Heels pulled away with a 24-11 run over a stretch of about 11 minutes midway in the first half, while the Orange (11-5, 2-3) shot 2 of 15 from the floor and had seven turnovers in that span.

Syracuse, which had won six of seven games, fell to 04 on the season against AP Top 25 opponents. It was also the seventh consecutive loss against the Tar Heels.

Other Top 25 men

TCU 68, Houston 67: Emanuel Miller’s layup with six second left gave the Horned Frogs (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) their upset win against the No. 2 Cougars (14-2, 1-2). It was TCU’s second consecutive win against a top-10 team and Houston’s second loss in a row in a week to an unranked team.

Kansas 78, Oklahoma 66: Hunter Dickinson scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to boost the thirdranked Jayhawks (14-2. 2-1 Big 12) against the ninthranked Sooners (13-3, 1-2).

Tennessee 85, Georgia 79: The fifth-ranked Volunteers (12-4, 2-1 SEC) rallied after losing a 14-point lead against Georgia (12-4, 2-1) to avoid a second consecutive conference loss. Dalton Knecht scored 36 points for the Vols, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with less than two minutes left.

Texas A&M 97, Kentucky

91 (OT): The Aggies (10-6, 1-2 SEC) made six free throws in the overtime to help upset the sixth-ranked Wildcats (123, 2-1). Wade Taylor, who made four of those free throws, led A&M with 31 points.

Washington State 73, Arizona 70: Isaac Jones’ 24 points and 13 rebounds helped the Cougars (12-5, 3-3 Pac-12) up the No. 8 Wildcats (12-4, 3-2).

Duke 84. Georgia Tech 79: Kyle Filipowski had 30 points and 13 rebounds as the 11thranked Blue Devils (12-3, 4-1 ACC) withstood a dogged upset effort by the visiting Yellow Jackets (8-7, 1-4).

Wisconsin 71, Northwestern 63: Max Klesmit’s careerbest 24 points helped the No. 15 Badgers (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten) win their sixth in a row and remained the Big Ten’s only undefeated team.

Top 25 women

Iowa State 66, Baylor 63: Audi Crooks scored 23 points for the Cyclones (124, 5-0 Big 12), who made clutch scores in the final 30 seconds to upset the fourthranked Bears (14-2, 3-2).

Kansas State 61, Texas 58: Ayoka Lee had 21 points and 10 points while becoming the career leader for blocked shorts for the 12thranked Wildcats (17-1, 5-0 Big 12) in KSU’s upset of the 10th-ranked Longhorns (162, 3-2).

Connecticut 92, St. John’s 49: Paige Bueckers’ 22 points and Ice Brady’s career17 for the 13thranked Huskies (14-3, 6-0 Big East).