Top-25 College Basketball Game Capsules

Syracuse, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Syracuse’s dream of an undefeated season came to an improbable end Wednesday at the hands of Boston College. Patrick Heckmann converted a go-ahead reverse layup with under a minute remaining in overtime, and the Eagles toppled the top-ranked Orange 62-59 in front of a stunned Carrier Dome crowd. The Orange (25-1, 12-1 ACC) had escaped squeakers over Pittsburgh and NC State last week, but Wednesday’s slow start coupled with Boston College getting hot from behind the arc finally proved too much to overcome. Wichita State is the only undefeated program remaining in Division I. Olivier Hanlan led Boston College (7-19, 3-10) with 20 points, and the Eagles, who came in second-to-last in the ACC, snapped a five-game skid with their first win over a No. 1 ranked team since upsetting North Carolina on Jan. 4, 2009. C.J. Fair finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds to pace Syracuse, which shot just 32.3 percent from the floor and squandered two chances at pulling out another nail-biter in regulation.

Final Score: (2) Florida 71, Auburn 66

Gainesville, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Patric Young hit two critical free throws that snapped a tie game with 19.4 seconds left, and No. 2 Florida survived a major scare from a gritty Auburn team to come through with a 71-66 victory at the O’Connell Center. The Gators (24-2, 13-0 SEC) set a program record with their 18th consecutive win and 30th straight on their home court, but it was anything but easy. The SEC front-runners trailed 38-30 at halftime and 65-63 with two minutes left prior to putting together a game- ending 8-1 run. Young led the way by netting all 17 of his points in the second half and going 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Casey Prather added 16 points and nine rebounds, with Scottie Wilbekin chipping in 15 points for Florida. Auburn (12-12, 4-9) hung with the Gators until the final moments by knocking down 10-of-19 shots from 3-point range, but faltered down the stretch to negate the upset bid. Tahj Shamsid-Deen made five treys while matching a career-high with 17 points, with Chris Denson and KT Harrell finishing with 15 and 14, respectively.

Final Score: (3) Wichita State 88, Loyola-Chicago 74

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – And then there was one. The Wichita State Shockers are the last undefeated team left in Division I men’s college basketball. Top-ranked Syracuse was the only other unbeaten team heading into Wednesday’s action. The Orange, however, lost to Boston College in overtime. Shortly after Syracuse was upset, the third-ranked Shockers posted their 28th straight victory with an 88-74 decision over the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers. Fred VanVleet had 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Wichita State (28-0, 15-0 MVC), which had a chance to lock up the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, needing a win and an Indiana State loss to Evansville. The Sycamores prevented the Shockers from getting the top seed with a 59-54 victory over the Purple Aces. Cleanthony Early ended with 18 points to reach 1,000 for his Wichita State career. Darius Carter and Ron Baker tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the Shockers, who became the 19th school to begin a season 28-0. Milton Doyle had 18 points for the Ramblers (9-18, 4-11), who have lost three in a row. Jeff White and Devon Turk donated 14 and 13 points, respectively in defeat.

Final Score: (4) Arizona 67, Utah 63 (OT)

Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) – Gabe York and Nick Johnson scored 15 points apiece as No. 4 Arizona went into Huntsman Center and escaped with a 67-63 overtime win over Utah in a Pac-12 battle on Wednesday. York, making his first start of the season, made a game-high three 3-pointers for Arizona (24-2, 11-2 Pac-12), which broke out of a brief two-game road losing skid. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 13 points off the bench and T.J. McConnell registered 11 points with six assists. Star freshman Aaron Gordon was plagued with foul trouble and picked up his fifth midway through the second half, finishing with a career-low three points. Brandon Taylor led Utah (17-9, 6-8) with 13 points but missed 4-of-5 from the stripe in overtime. Delon Wright and Dallin Bachynski each scored 12 points in the setback.

Final Score: (7) Cincinnati 77, UCF 49

Orlando, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Sean Kilpatrick poured in 23 points and No. 7 Cincinnati easily took care of UCF, 77-49, on Wednesday. Kilpatrick made six 3-pointers to lead Cincinnati (24-3, 13-1 AAC), which has won two straight after dropping its first conference game to SMU on Feb. 8. Justin Jackson added 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the triumph. Nine different Bearcats scored at least five points in a balanced effort. Isaiah Sykes had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Knights (10-14, 2-11), who failed to build off of a one-point win over South Florida on Saturday. UCF has lost 10 of 11 overall.

Final Score: (10) Saint Louis 89, George Mason 85 (OT)

Fairfax, VA (SportsNetwork.com) – Jordair Jett scored 25 points to help No. 10 Saint Louis hang on to win, 89-85, in overtime over George Mason and extend their school-best winning streak to 18 games. Saint Louis (24-2, 11-0 A-10) took control in overtime after Rob Loe knocked down back-to-back triples and Jett scored four points to give the Billikens a four-point lead with less than two minutes left. Mike McCall Jr. supplied 16 points and seven rebounds for the Billikens. Jake Barnett had 14, while Dwayne Evans and Loe both scored 13 apiece as they stayed undefeated on the road and in league play. Sherrod Wright had a career-high 34 points and Jalen Jenkins chipped in 16 points with eight boards for the Patriots (9-17, 2-10), who have dropped two straight.

Final Score: (11) Creighton 85, Marquette 70

Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) – Doug McDermott and Ethan Wragge carried the No. 11 Creighton Bluejays past the Marquette Golden Eagles 85-70 in a Big East clash on Wednesday. McDermott poured in 17 of his 25 points in the second half and Wragge connected on six of Creighton’s 12 3-pointers en route to a 22-point night. The Bluejays (22-4, 12-2 Big East) have won three in a row to stay atop the conference standings, while Marquette (15-11, 7-6) saw a chance at a signature win slip away. Todd Mayo led four Eagles in double figures with 13 points.

Final Score: (24) Ohio State 76, Northwestern 60

Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – LaQuinton Ross had 16 points and six rebounds before being ejected late in the game, leading No. 24 Ohio State to a 76-60 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday. Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 14 points apiece while the latter grabbed 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes (21-6, 8-6 Big Ten), who have won six of their last eight. Drew Crawford scored a game-high 22 points and Tre Demps added 14 for Northwestern (12-15, 5-9), which has lost four straight.

Final Score: (23) UCLA 86, California 66

Berkeley, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Jordan Adams had 28 points, six rebounds and five steals in the 23rd-ranked UCLA Bruins’ 86-66 victory over the California Golden Bears on Wednesday. Travis Wear added 13 points for the Bruins (21-5, 10-3 Pac-12), who have won four in a row. Kyle Anderson tallied 11 points, nine boards and seven assists. Jordan Mathews ended with 16 points for the Golden Bears (17-9, 8-5), who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Jabari Bird had 11 points.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball