CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Tyler Zeller scored 16 points to help No. 3 North Carolina beat Miami 73-56 on Tuesday night.
Dexter Strickland added 14 points and Kendall Marshall 12 for the Tar Heels (15-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who closed a nine-game homestand with a perfect record to rebuild some momentum after early losses to UNLV and Kentucky. The Tar Heels led almost the entire night and blew the game open with a 17-0 run spanning halftime, which staked UNC to a 23-point lead.
That was the biggest deficit of the year for the Hurricanes (9-6, 0-2), who got no closer than 15 points from there. The lopsided loss followed a one-point defeat at Virginia over the weekend in coach Jim Larranaga’s first ACC game on the Miami sideline.
Harrison Barnes struggled to a season-low six points on 2-for-12 shooting for UNC.
Kenny Kadji scored 16 points for Miami, which shot just 42 percent and went 3 for 16 from 3-point range. Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant combined for 17 points on 6-for-20 shooting.
NO. 4 BAYLOR 75, NO. 18 KANSAS STATE 73
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Perry Jones scored 17 points and Baylor held Kansas State to one basket over the final 5 minutes to escape with the win.
Quincy Acy and Brady Heslip added 13 points apiece for the Bears (16-0, 3-0 Big 12). Pierre Jackson chipped in with 10 points for Baylor, which surged ahead with a 20-4 run over a 5 1/2-minute stretch midway through the second half.
Rodney McGruder scored 30 points on 10-of-14 shooting to lead Kansas State (12-2, 1-1). Jordan Henriquez added 10 points for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats had the ball down two with 20.9 seconds to go but failed to get off a shot.
ILLINOIS 79, NO. 5 OHIO STATE 74
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Brandon Paul scored a career-high 43 points and hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute to play to lift Illinois over Ohio State.
The Illini (15-3, 4-1 Big Ten) led 71-70 when Paul hit from long range with 43 seconds to play. He followed that with four free throws to put the game out of reach.
Deshaun Thomas scored 23 points and Jared Sullinger added 21 for Ohio State (15-3, 3-2), which led 39-34 at halftime and was up 64-61 with just over 5 minutes to play.
Paul’s 43 points was the third-highest scoring performance in Illini history.
Meyers Leonard added 14 for Illinois.
NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 95, IOWA 61
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Draymond Green had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Michigan State beat Iowa for its 15th straight win.
The victory gives the Spartans (15-2, 4-0 Big Ten) their longest win streak since the 1998-99 season, when they won 22 in a row before losing to Duke in the national championship game.
The Hawkeyes (10-8, 2-3) have been routed in two straight games — they also lost to Ohio State, by 29 points — after beating Wisconsin and Minnesota on the road.
Reserve Aaron White scored 15 points and Devyn Marble had 12 for Iowa.
Michigan State went on a 16-0 run late in the first half and a 14-0 spurt in the second.
PROVIDENCE 90, NO. 14 LOUISVILLE 59
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Bryce Cotton and Kadeem Batts each scored 27 points and Providence gave Louisville coach Rick Pitino a tough loss on a day the school honored his 1987 squad.
Vincent Council added 15 points and LaDontae Henton 14 for the Friars (12-6, 1-4 Big East), who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Chris Smith led the Cardinals with 16 points. Louisville (13-4, 1-3) has lost four of its last five, including a 67-65 setback in double-overtime at home against Notre Dame on Saturday.
At halftime, Providence held a ceremony honoring the 25th anniversary of its Pitino-coached team that made a run to the Final Four.
NO. 19 FLORIDA 70, GEORGIA 48
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Bradley Beal broke out of his shooting slump with 17 points to lead Florida over Georgia for its 15th straight home win.
Beal was 4 of 6 from 3-poing range, making more shots from behind the arc than he did in the last four games combined, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Kenny Boynton also scored 17 points for the Gators (13-4, 1-1 Southeastern Conference).
Georgia (9-7, 0-2) lost to Florida for the 15th time in the last 17 meetings. The Bulldogs have dropped 10 in a row in Gainesville. Nemanja Djurisic led Georgia with 14 points. Gerald Robinson Jr. added eight points, six rebounds and five assists.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO STATE 73, CHICAGO STATE 65
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Chase Tapley scored 13 of his 24 points during a 24-3 run in the second half and San Diego State overcame a scare to run past winless Chicago State.
Jamaal Franklin had seven of his 16 points during the big run for the Aztecs (14-2), who won their seventh straight game to continue the second-fastest start in school history. Franklin also had 10 rebounds.
Chicago State (0-16), which played to a 32-32 halftime tie, stunned the Aztecs with a 7-0 run to open the second half. Jeremy Robinson hit an inside bucket and a turnaround jumper, and a slam dunk by D’Jari Nelson had the Cougars celebrating and forced SDSU coach Steve Fisher to call timeout.
That woke up the Aztecs, who came racing back with a 10-1 run that gave them a 42-40 lead.
NO. 23 CREIGHTON 63, NORTHERN IOWA 60
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Antoine Young scored a season-high 21 points and Doug McDermott added 14 to help Creighton hold off Northern Iowa.
The Bluejays (14-2, 4-1 Missouri Valley Conference) held the Panthers (12-5, 2-3) without a field goal for 11 1/2 minutes bridging halftime but could never build a safe lead.
Jake Koch hit a short jumper to pull UNI to 61-60 with 19 seconds, but Creighton’s Grant Gibbs made two free throws for the final margin.
Marc Sonnen scored a season-high 15 points for Northern Iowa — all in the first half. The Panthers went 8 of 12 from 3-point range in the first half to build a double-digit lead.
NO. 24 SETON HALL 94, DEPAUL 73
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Fuquan Edwin scored 24 of his career-high 28 points in the first half and No. 24 Seton Hall rolled over DePaul in its first game as a ranked team since 2001.
Jordan Theodore matched his career bests with 26 points and 11 assists as the Pirates (15-2, 4-1 Big East) won their fourth straight game — all in league play.
Herb Pope had 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Aaron Cosby added a career-high 15 points for Seton Hall, which shot 58.7 percent from the field.
Brandon Young had 16 points, and Cleveland Melvin and Worrel Clahar added 14 apiece for DePaul (10-6, 1-3).
