Dec. 22, 2012

Saturday, the busiest day in the Atlantic 10 this season with 14 games, began with a bang when Temple beat No. 3 Syracuse and Dayton beat Murray State. It marked the fifth straight year Temple has beaten a top 10 team while unranked.

In addition, Xavier wore special uniforms and shoes to pay tribute and honor those that perished in last week’s tragedy in Newtown, Conn.  The uniforms, produced by Nike, were in the Sandy Hook School’s official colors, green and white.  The name “Sandy Hook” is across the front of the jersey and the Eagle mascot is on the lower left front of the shorts.

The game worn jerseys and shorts will be auctioned at GoXavier.com through Friday, January 4, 2013.  Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.  Please click here to learn more about the fund or to make a donation to the fund.

TEMPLE 83, No. 3 SYRACUSE 79

NEW YORK (AP) - Khalif Wyatt had never been in Madison Square Garden let alone played there.

The Philadelphia native left the building on Saturday after scoring a career-high 33 points and being the key to Temple beating No. 3 Syracuse 83-79 in the first Chevrolet Gotham Classic.

Anthony Lee had a career-high 21 points for the Owls (9-2), who were coming off a 10-point home loss to Canisius.

This is the fifth straight season Temple has beaten a top 10 team while being unranked, a streak which leads the nation. The latest win in that stretch game with the combination of Wyatt from the outside and Lee inside.

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 regular-season nonconference winning streak snapped. Jim Boeheim remained at 900 wins, two behind Bob Knight for second place all-time among Division I men's coaches. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has 938 wins.

Wyatt made all 15 of his free throw attempts and Lee was 11 of 14 as the Owls were 29 of 36 overall.

Syracuse was 19 of 34 from the line including missing four in the final 6 minutes when it was mostly a one-possession game and point guard Michael Carter-Williams finished 7 of 15.

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

The 3-point line also hurt the Orange, who were 2 of 12 from behind the arc 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.

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 straight points but Wyatt capped his big half with a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left and Temple was within 40-38 at halftime.


DAYTON 77, MURRAY STATE 68

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Vee Sanford scored a career-high 23 points and Kevin Dillard had 18 points and 10 assists as Dayton defeated Murray State 77-68 Saturday.

The Flyers (9-3) outscored Murray State 41-27 in the second half to snap a nation's-best streak of 16 consecutive wins for the Racers (9-2) on opponents' home courts. Their only other defeat this season came against Colorado in Charleston, S.C.

Dillard, whose status had been doubt after he suffered back spasms in Dayton's loss to Illinois State on Wednesday, logged a team-high 37 minutes and scored 13 of Dayton's final 20 points.

A layup by Dillard gave Dayton a 59-57 lead with 6:17 left. Dexter Fields answered with a 3-pointer to give Murray State its final lead, but Khari Price's 3-pointer put the Flyers back on top to stay.

Isaiah Canaan scored 20 points and Ed Daniel 17 for Murray State.

Matt Derenbecker added 14 for Dayton.


MASSACHUSETTS 88, EAST CAROLINA 81

AMHERST, Mass. (AP) - Chaz Williams posted a season-high 26 points and matched a career-best with 11 assists as Massachusetts won its fourth straight game, defeating East Carolina 88-81 Saturday.

Terrell Vinson and Jesse Morgan had 15 points apiece and Freddie Riley added 14. Williams hit a career-high 15 free throws on 16 attempts for UMass (7-3), which went 26 of 31 from the line as a team.

UMass led by as many as 17 points, 75-58, with 5:41 left to play but East Carolina (7-3) outscored the Minutemen 19-5 over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to 80-77 with 1:06 remaining.

Williams made eight free throws in the final minute for UMass and East Carolina missed five of its last six shots from the field as the Minutemen pulled away.

Maurice Kemp had 21 for East Carolina, which held a slight 34-32 rebounding edge but committed a season-high 20 turnovers


No. 19 BUTLER 75, EVANSVILLE 67

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rotnei Clarke and Andrew Smith each scored 20 points to lead No. 19 Butler past pesky Evansville 75-67 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (9-2) have won six straight and completed a five-game sweep of Indiana schools - including last weekend's stunning overtime victory against the top-ranked Hoosiers.

Evansville (7-5) was led by Colt Ryan with 25 points and Ned Cox with 12 as the Aces lost for the first time in three games.

Butler, playing its first game since last week's win over then-No. 1 Indiana, was sluggish early but regrouped with a 22-8 run that gave the Bulldogs a 25-17 lead with 6:34 left in the first half.

Evansville spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.

Butler finally put it away with a quick 8-1 scoring flurry that made it 64-50 with 4:26 left in the game. The Bulldogs closed it out at the free throw line.


RHODE ISLAND 65, GEORGIA STATE 60

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) - Nikola Malesevic scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Rhode Island held off a late rally by Georgia State in a 65-60 victory on Saturday.

Xavier Munford finished with 17 points for the Rams (4-7), who won their second straight game.

Rhode Island took a 57-47 lead with 5:20 remaining in the second half on Mike Powell's 3-pointer. The Panthers responded with a 10-2 run, capped by Rashaad Richardson's layup to cut the deficit to two points with 2:25 left.

Mike Powell answered with a jumper and Ryan Brooks made a free throw to give the Rams a 62-57 lead with 1:47 remaining. Georgia State trimmed the margin to two points again after Manny Atkins' three-point play, but the Panthers (5-7) were unable to pull closer.

R.J. Hunter finished with 23 points for Georgia State, which has lost three consecutive contests. Atkins and Devonta White each had 14 points.


LA SALLE 100, SACRED HEART 71

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ramon Galloway led six players in double figures with 22 points as La Salle set a season-high for points for the second time in three days in a 100-71 victory over Sacred Heart Saturday.

La Salle (8-2) beat Iona 88-74 Thursday, marking its highest offensive output until Saturday. The Explorers shot 54 percent (34 of 63) from the field Saturday, and are shooting 52.2 percent (70 of 134) over their past two games. Against Sacred Heart, La Salle was also 9-of-21 shooting from 3-point range and 23-of-26 shooting from the foul line, led by Galloway's 7 of 7 performance.

Galloway also had seven assists and four steals, with Rohan Brown, Jerrell Wright and Steve Zack each adding 16 points, Tyreek Duren scoring 14 and Tyrone Garland notching 12.

Shane Gibson led the Pioneers (2-8) with 19 points.

La Salle jumped to a 15-2 lead backed by eight points from Zack.

GEORGE WASHINGTON 76, VMI 67

WASHINGTON (AP) - Isaiah Armond and Dwayne Smith each scored 18 points to lead George Washington to a 76-67 victory over Virginia Military Institute Saturday.

Armwood, who grabbed nine rebounds, was 6 of 11 from the floor, 6 for 7 at the line. Smith hit 8 of 11 field goal attempts, his lone 3-point try and only foul shot. The pair helped the Colonials (5-6) go 19 for 22 at the stripe. Smith also helped give George Washington a crucial 35-16 edge in bench points.

For VMI (4-7), which trailed 35-29 at halftime, Stan Okoye posted a double-double with 19 points - all in the second half - and 10 rebounds. Tim Marshall came off the bench to score 14 points, hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers.

Marshall's trey with 14:16 left put VMI up 45-42. But George Washington regained the lead two minutes later and scored six straight points to go up 64-54.


SAINT LOUIS 65, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 44

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Mike McCall Jr. hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points to lead Saint Louis to a 65-44 victory over Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

Jordair Jett and Jake Barnett each scored 11 points for the Billikens (8-3), and Dwayne Evans contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.

Anthony Ireland led Loyola Marymount (5-6) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Alex Osborne scored 11 points and Ashley Hamilton had eight rebounds.

Saint Louis had a 22-3 scoring advantage off the bench and a 17-9 edge off turnovers.

Loyola Marymount had difficulty putting the ball in the basket most of the way, hitting just 17-50 field-goal attempts (34 percent) and going just 2 of 14 from 3-point range.




No. 25 NC STATE 92, ST. BONAVENTURE 73

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - C.J. Leslie scored a career-high 33 points to lead No. 25 North Carolina State past St. Bonaventure 92-73 on Saturday.

Scott Wood added a season-best 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Lorenzo Brown had a season-high 11 assists for the Wolfpack (9-2).

The nation's most accurate shooting team shot 57 percent, never trailed and now heads into its weeklong holiday break on a five-game winning streak.

Eric Mosley had 18 points for the Bonnies (7-4). They were outscored 50-24 in the paint, shot just 40.6 percent, never got closer than 12 in the second half and had their two-game winning streak snapped.


FLORIDA STATE 79, CHARLOTTE 76

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Michael Snaer scored 30 points in his first game back from a one-game absence, and Aaron Thomas scored 17 as Florida State beat Charlotte 79-76 Saturday.

Snaer, a senior guard who sat out a win over Louisiana-Monroe on Monday for disciplinary reasons, had 17 points at halftime and hit two free throws with 11.8 seconds remaining to help seal the win.

Thomas, a freshman guard, came off the bench and scored 15 of his points in the second half and hit one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to give the Seminoles (7-4) their final margin.

The Seminoles trailed 40-35 at halftime but went on a 10-0 spurt early in the second half and took the lead for good at 47-45. They went on to lead by as many as nine points and held off several surges by Charlotte (11-2) down the stretch.

Charlotte got as close as 73-71 on a three-point play by DeMario Mayfield with 55.6 seconds left, but Florida State's Devon Bookert hit three free throws and Snaer two from there.

The 49ers again cut the margin to two at 78-76 on E. Victor Nickerson's 3-pointer with 6 seconds left, but couldn't force overtime when Ivan Benkovic missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Both Charlotte's losses have come to Atlantic Coast Conference teams. The 49ers lost 77-46 at Miami on Dec. 14.

Chris Braswell led Charlotte with 20 points and Mayfield scored 16.


FAIRFIELD 60, SAINT JOSEPH'S 57

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Derek Needham hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Fairfield earned a 60-57 victory over Saint Joseph's Saturday in nonconference action.

The Stags (8-5) led 56-54 until Carl Jones hit two free throws with 1:51 left, and then Chris Wilson added another foul shot for Saint Joseph's (5-4) for a 57-56 lead with 30 seconds remaining.

Needham hit the 3-pointer for a 59-57 lead, and then drew an offensive foul on the Hawks' ensuing possession. Fairfield inbounded the ball to Needham, who was fouled and hit 1 of 2 foul shots, and Jones' buzzer-beating 3-point attempt clanged off the rim to end the game.

Needham finished with a game-high 24 points.

The Hawks' Ronald Roberts Jr. had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The win was Fairfield's first over Saint Joseph's since 1977-78, ending a 10-game losing streak in the series.

The Stags have now won four straight.


GEORGE MASON 67, RICHMOND 64

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Sherrod Wright's leaning 3-pointer swished through at the buzzer Saturday, capping a game-ending 18-3 run for George Mason and giving the Patriots a 67-64 victory against Richmond.

Wright scored 22 points and the Patriots (7-4) beat the Spiders for the first time in six tries at the Richmond Coliseum in the opening game of the Governor's Holiday Hoops Classic.

Darien Brothers scored 20 to lead Richmond (9-4), whose five-game winning streak was snapped.

Richmond led 61-49 after Derrick Williams' dunk with 7:35 left, then went cold. Six different Patriots scored the rest of the way, with Wright and Patrick Holloway hitting 3s, while Richmond managed just one field goal - an acrobatic put-back flip by Cedrick Lindsay to tie it at 64 with 19.8 seconds left.

Richmond fouled with 5.8 seconds left. George Mason inbounded and found Wright at the right side of the key for the inning shot.


WOFFORD 56, XAVIER 55

CINCINNATI (AP) - Karl Cochran scored 20 points and Wofford overcame a 14-point deficit to edge Xavier 56-55 Saturday and win for the fourth time in five games.

After the Musketeers tied it at 55 with 8 seconds left on Brad Redford's 3-pointer, Lee Skinner hit 1 of 2 free throws a second later. Xavier's last possession ended with a turnover.

The Terriers (6-6), who trailed 30-16 at the 4:47 mark, opened the second half with an 18-6 run to tie it at 40 with 12:59 remaining. However, Wofford didn't pull ahead until Spencer Collins' 3-pointer made it 49-47 with 3:10 left. Spencer finished with 17 points.

The Terriers shot only 36.2 percent from the field (17 of 47) compared to 47.8 percent for Xavier (22 of 46), but Wofford made 15 of 17 foul shots and the Musketeers just 8 of 16.

Travis Taylor's 20 points and 11 rebounds led Xavier (7-4).

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 91, DUQUESNE 79

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Shawn Long scored 23 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as Louisiana Lafayette roared back from a halftime deficit to beat Duquesne 91-79 on Saturday night.

Bryant Mbamalu had 22 points - all in the second half - Steven Wronkoski scored 12 and Elridge Moore 10 for the Ragin' Cajuns (5-8), who outscored the Dukes 58-41 in the second half, shooting 20 of 28 from the field and 6 of 8 on 3-pointers after the break.

Derrick Colter had 25 points, Sean Johnson 16 and Jeremiah Jones 12 for the Dukes (7-6).

Louisiana Lafayette trailed 38-33 at halftime, but the Rajin' Cajuns chipped away, catching Duquesne at 49-all on Wronkoski's layup with 13:43 to go.

Mbamalu made two jumpers and a 3-pointer for a 59-53 lead. Louisiana Lafayette then pushed it to 72-62 on Long's 3-pointer at the 7:04 mark, and the Ragin' Cajuns pulled away for the victory.