TOP 25 MEN

Wyatt scores 33, Temple holds off No. 3 Syracuse

Temple guard Khalif Wyatt drives past Syracuse defender Brandon Triche (right) during the ÿrst half of Saturday’s game in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Wyatt ÿnished with a game-high 33 points as Temple upset No. 3 Syracuse 83-79.
Temple guard Khalif Wyatt drives past Syracuse defender Brandon Triche (right) during the ÿrst half of Saturday’s game in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Wyatt ÿnished with a game-high 33 points as Temple upset No. 3 Syracuse 83-79.

— Khalif Wyatt scored 33 points and Anthony Lee had 21 — both career highs — and Temple, despite not making a field goal in the final 5:30, upset No. 3 Syracuse 83-79 on Saturday in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden.

The Owls (9-2), coming off a 10-point home loss to Canisius, used the combination of Wyatt from the outside and Lee inside to keep Syracuse at bay. The Orange led by two at halftime but never took a lead in the second half even though there were four ties, the last at 59-59 with 10:23 to play.

C.J. Fair had a career-high 25 points for Syracuse (10-1), which had its 52-game regularseason nonconference winning streak snapped. Jim Boeheim remained at 900 victories two behind Bob Knight for second place all-time among Division I men’s coaches. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has 938 victories.

Temple hit three 3-pointers in an 11-3 run that gave it the lead for good. Scootie Randall started the run with a threepointer that broke the 59-59 tie. He closed the run with another three-pointer, his only points of the game.

Wyatt and Lee took care of the rest. Wyatt finished 8 of 17 from the field and was 15 of 15 from the free throw line. Lee was open time and again on the baseline and worked hard on the boards. He had nine rebounds, five offensive, and was 11 of 14 from the free throw line.

The Owls were 29 of 36 from the free throw line compared to Syracuse’s 19-of-34 effort, including point guard Michael Carter-Williams going 7 of 15.

The three-point line also hurt the Orange, who were 2 of 12 from three-point range while Temple was 8 of 24.

Temple’s last field goal was an offensive rebound by Quenton DeCosey with 5:41 left that gave the Owls a 72-66 lead.

Syracuse did get within 74-72 on a three-pointer by Fair with 3:01 left but the Owls went 11 of 15 from the free throw line over the final 2:30.

Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson had four points and 10 rebounds for the Owls.

Brandon Triche had 17 points for Syracuse. Baye Moussa Keita added 12 and Carter-Williams, who leads the nation in assists at 10.7 per game, had 13 points and six assists.

Temple missed 10 of its first 12 shots in falling behind 19-10. The Owls, behind Wyatt who had 20 points in the first half, started hitting shots against the Orange’s zone defense and they made nine of their next 14 shots and tied the game at 35. Syracuse scored five consecutive points but Wyatt capped his big half with a three-pointer with 17 seconds left and Temple was within 40-38 at halftime.

KANSAS STATE 67,

NO. 8 FLORIDA 61

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Will Spradling had 16 points and five assists, including one that set up Shane Southwell’s threepointer in the closing minutes, and Kansas State beat No. 8 Florida.

Rodney McGruder added 13 points and Jordan Henriquez had nine points and five blocks for the Wildcats (9-2), who watched a 10-point halftime lead evaporate before clamping down against one of the nation’s top defensive teams and then pulling away in the final minutes.

Patric Young had 19 points for the Gators (8-2), including two with just over 2 minutes left that got them within 58-55. But that’s when Southwell a three-pointer from the corner, and McGruder made two free throws with 1:05 left to create some breathing room.

Kansas State held on from the foul line for its first regular-season, nonconference victory over a top 10 team since defeating No. 8 Minnesota on Dec. 21, 1981.

NO. 9 KANSAS 74,

NO. 7 OHIO ST. 66

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Redshirt freshman Ben McLemore scored 22 points and No. 9 Kansas proved it was more than just a bully at home by beating seventh-ranked Ohio State.

It was the third victory for the Jayhawks (10-1) in little more than a year over the Buckeyes (9-2). Kansas won a 64-62 thriller in last year’s NCAA semifinals.

The Jayhawks, who had yet to play a true road game, held Ohio State without a field goal for more than 10 minutes of the second half. The Buckeyes, who were led by Deshaun Thomas’ 16 points, hit just 9 of 36 shots from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Jeff Withey added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jayhawks.

NO. 12 MISSOURI 82,

NO. 10 ILLINOIS 73

ST. LOUIS — Laurence Bowers had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Missouri over Illinois in the annual Braggin’ Rights game at Scottrade Center.

Alex Oriakhi added 13 points and 14 rebounds as Missouri (10-1) won its fourth consecutive in the 32-year-old series. Jabari Brown had 18 points and Phil Pressey handed out 11 assists.

Brandon Paul led Illinois (12-1) with 23 points. Tyler Griffey scored 14 and Joseph Bertrand had 13.

Missouri used a 9-0 run late in the game to take the lead for good at 70-64. The Tigers held a 58-35 edge on the boards and outscored Illinois 44-24 in the paint.

Illinois, which leads the overall series 20-12, won nine meetings in a row from 2000-2008.

In other Top 25 men’s games Saturday, Russ Smith scored 20 points and No. 5 Louisville beat Western Kentucky 78-55 for its sixth consecutive victory. ... JaQuon Parker scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, and No. 11 Cincinnati remained unbeaten by overcoming another poor start for a 68-58 victory over Wright State. Joe Coleman scored 12 points and No. 13 Minnesota got 42 points from its reserves in a 75-50 rout of Lafayette. ... Otto Porter had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 15 Georgetown pulled away late in the first half for a 65-48 victory over American. ... Nate Wolters finished with 28 points and seven assists, leading South Dakota State to a 70-65 upset of No. 16 New Mexico. ... Chase Tapley made six three-pointers on his way to a career-high 33 points to lead No. 18 San Diego State to a 80-58 victory over San Francisco in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. ... Arkansas transfer Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith each scored 20 points to lead No. 19 Butler past Evansville 75-67. ... Derrick Nix had 25 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 20 Michigan State beat Texas 67-56. ... P.J. Hairston scored a career-high 20 points to help No. 23 North Carolina beat McNeese State 97-63. ... Freshman Phil Forte scored 22 points to lead No. 24 Oklahoma State past Tennessee Tech 78-42. ... C.J. Leslie scored a career-high 33 points and No. 25 North Carolina State beat St. Bonaventure 92-73.

TOP 25/SEC WOMEN

NO. 1 STANFORD 73,

NO. 10 TENNESSEE 60

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Chiney Ogwumike had 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds and top-ranked Stanford remained unbeaten with a victory over No. 10 Tennessee.

Ogwumike, who entered the game averaging 21.9 points and 12.2 rebounds, also had a career-high five assists for the Cardinal (11-0).

Amber Orrange scored 14 points, Toni Kokenis and Bonnie Samuelson each added 11 points and Joslyn Tinkle had 10 points for the Cardinal, who host No. 2 Connecticut in their next game Dec. 29.

Bashaara Graves had 15 points and 12 rebounds for Tennessee (7-3).

Sports, Pages 33 on 12/23/2012

Upcoming Events