Brian Cardinal scored Purdue’s final three points and came up with a big rebound in the final seconds as the eighth-ranked Boilermakers held off No. 10 Xavier 86-84 Saturday in Indianapolis.
Xavier (6-2) rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second half to lead 84-83 with 1 minute 43 seconds to play when Pat Kelsey hit the first of two free throws. He missed the second and Purdue got the rebound.
Cardinal, who scored 10 points, then got open underneath for a layup with 1:24 left to put Purdue (9-2) ahead. After a Xavier turnover, Cardinal made a free throw with 27 seconds left to cap the scoring, but missed his second attempt.
Jaraan Cornell led the Boilermakers with a career-high 28 points and Austin scored 23, including two three-pointers in the final minutes. Williams topped Xavier with 24 points, while Brown added 16 and Posey 15.
N. Carolina 81, Florida St. 73: Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter each scored 22 points and Shammond Williams (18 points) made four free throws in the final minute for the top-ranked Tar Heels. The 17th-ranked Seminoles (8-2, 0-1 ACC) closed within 66-65 on Kerry Thompson’s pull-up jumper with 6:30 left. But Carter’s reverse dunk and Williams’ fast break layup put North Carolina (12-0, 1-0) ahead 70-65.
Kansas 94, Texas Christian 78: Paul Pierce found his shooting touch after missing seven of his first eight shots and scored 28 points to lead No. 2 Kansas over No. 24 Texas Christian (9-1) in Kansas City, Mo. Raef LaFrentz added 23 points and 17 rebounds for the Jayhawks (13-1).
Kentucky 74, Tulsa 53: Nazr Mohammed scored four of his 17 points during a 17-0 run that enabled No. 4 Kentucky (9-1) to overcome a sluggish start in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky’s Tubby Smith coached at Tulsa from 1991-95, his first head position, and his former team played on even terms until the Wildcats’ depth and defense prevailed in the second half.
S. Carolina 77, St. Joseph’s 65: BJ McKie, playing on a bad ankle, scored 19 points and No. 6 South Carolina (6-1) held gritty St. Joseph’s without a basket over the final 4:34. Melvin Watson added 15 for the Gamecocks.
UCLA 73, St. Louis 67: J.R. Henderson scored 19 points and No. 11 UCLA made 12 of 16 free throws over the final 6:12 to snap the visiting Billikens’ eight-game winning streak. The Bruins (6-1) won their sixth straight.
UConn 93, N.C.-Wilmington 55: Kevin Freeman was perfect from the field and free throw line, scoring 16 points in a balanced attack for the No. 12 Huskies (9-1), who won their fifth straight. Tadearl Pratt scored 20 points for visiting UNC-Wilmington (4-5).
New Mexico 81, Texas Tech 62: Kenny Thomas scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and No. 14 New Mexico (7-1) used a 27-6 run to extend the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 32 games.
Rutgers 72, Temple 63: In Philadelphia, Geoff Billet (21 points) and Rob Hodgson (20) combined for 41 points and Rutgers shot 48 percent from three-point range to hand No. 16 Temple (6-3) its second straight loss. It was the third straight win for Rutgers (4-4), which last beat a ranked opponent on the road Feb. 2, 1976.
Mississippi 106, Prairie View 59: Joezon Darby scored 19 points in Oxford, Miss., as the No. 18 Rebels (7-1) scored at least 100 points for the third time in five games.
West Virginia 86, Georgia 81: Damian Owens scored 13 of his 24 points over the final 8:23 at the Delta Air Lines Classic in Atlanta. The Mountaineers (9-1) posted their fourth straight victory despite a rally that saw No. 20 Georgia (7-3) overcome a 50-33 deficit with 16:20 remaining to gain a tie at 56-56 with 9:20 to play.
Michigan 87, Chattanooga 53: In Ann Arbor, Mich., Robbie Reid scored 20 points, Brandon Smith had 14 and Jerod Ward and Robert Traylor each 12 for No. 21 Michigan (7-3), which pulled away from a 41-25 halftime lead by making its first 13 shots of the half.
N. Illinois 75, Samford 67: Junior center T.J. Lux scored 12 of his game-high 28 points during a 38-8 run that rallied NIU (4-3) to third place at the UNO Christmas Classic in New Orleans.
Ill. St. 72, Wis.-Green Bay 70: Dan Muller scored 23 points and Rico Hill added 20 points, including a three-pointer with 28 seconds left, to lead visiting Illinois State. The Redbirds (6-3) trailed most of the game, but took charge in the last 7 minutes. The Phoenix (5-3), which had its home winning streak snapped at 12 games, lost the lead with 2:35 left.
Valpo 80, Mo.-Kansas City 68: Bill Jenkins scored a career-high 20 points and had 12 rebounds for visiting Valparaiso (4-5 overall, 1-0 Mid-Continent Conference). Bryce Drew added 18.
E. Illinois 91, Wash. & Jeff. 66: Rick Kaye was 9 of 12 from the field and finished with 24 points as host Eastern (4-4) beat Washington and Jefferson. Jack Owens chipped in with 12.
S. Illinois 80, Drake 78: In Des Moines, Chris Thunell tipped in a free throw with 23 seconds left and added a free throw for SIU (5-4, 1-0 Missouri Valley). Rashad Tucker and Shane Hawkins led SIU with 16 points apiece.
Wisconsin 71, Coppin St. 63: Duany Duany scored 20 points as Wisconsin (5-5) overcame a spectacular second half by Antoine Brockington in Madison, Wis. Duany, who matched his career high, scored 14 in the second half. Brockington, the nation’s ninth-leading scorer (24.2), scored 26 to lead Coppin State (3-4).
Minnesota 92, Fresno St. 72: Kevin Clark scored a career-best 21 points, including 13 in a key second-half stretch as Minnesota avoided a school-record fourth non-conference loss at home. Sam Jacobson scored 22 points as the Golden Gophers (5-4) broke open a close game to hand the Bulldogs (3-5) their fifth straight defeat.
Michigan St. 68, S. Florida 53: Mateen Cleaves scored all 15 of his points in the second half for the visiting Spartans (6-3). Charlie Bell and DuJuan Wiley added 12 each.
Ohio St. 79, USC 73: In Columbus, Ohio, Michael Redd scored 30 points and Ohio State (6-3) hit 11 of its last 12 free throws.
Penn State 91, Bucknell 75: Pete Lisicky scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half for host Penn State (7-1).
