Associated Press
The college basketball roundup …
No. 3 Ohio St. 81, No. 7 Florida 74
COLUMBUS, Ohio ó William Buford scored 21 points and No. 3 Ohio State weathered Floridaís fast start to beat the Gators.
Jared Sullinger added 16 points, Deshaun Thomas had 15 and Aaron Craft 13 points and seven assists for the Buckeyes (2-0), who forced 16 turnovers and hit 27 of 34 free throws to pull away in the second half.
Freshman Bradley Beal had 17 points and Kenny Boynton 15 for the Gators (1-1), who have never beaten a top-3 team in a true road game. Down as much as 16 points, they got as close as five with under a minute left before Buford sealed it with two foul shots.
No. 5 Syracuse 98, Albany, N.Y. 74
SYRACUSE, N.Y. ó Kris Joseph and James Southerland each scored 19 points to lead the Orange to the win in the NIT Season Tipoff.
Syracuse (3-0) advances to the tournament semifinals against Virginia Tech in New York.
The Orange beat Manhattan 92-56 in the first round on Monday night with a high-tempo attack that produced 42 points on the fast break, while the reserves contributed 50 points. This time they dominated the boards early to take charge against Albany (1-2).
No. 10 Memphis 97, Belmont 81
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Will Barton scored 23 points and Wesley Witherspoon added 22 to lead the Tigers, who shot 7 of 14 from 3-point range.
Joe Jackson added 20 points and seven assists, and freshman Adonis Thomas scored 12 for Memphis (1-0).
J.J. Mann scored 18 points and Ian Clark had 16 for Belmont (0-2), which was coming off a 77-76 loss at No. 6 Duke last Friday. Kerron Johnson chipped in 13 points.
No. 11 Baylor 77, San Diego State 67
WACO, Texas ó Senior Quincy Acy and freshman Quincy Miller sparked an 18-5 run in the second half to lead the Bears.
Miller, a 6-foot-9 forward, had 20 points and has led the Bears (3-0) in scoring in all three games this season. Acy finished with 13 points.
The game was tied at 32 early in the second half before the two Quincys took control. Miller scored seven points during the 5-minute spurt, while Acy added nine.
Chase Tapley had 28 points with eight 3-pointers to lead San Diego State (3-1), which won 34 games last season and went the NCAA round of 16.
No. 13 Xavier 86, IPFW 63
CINCINNATI ó Tu Holloway returned from a one-game suspension and scored 24 points to lead Xavier.
Holloway was suspended for the season opener against Morgan State for playing in too many summer league games, a violation of NCAA rules.
Xavier (2-0) got a big second half from junior guard Mark Lyons, who finished with 21 points. Lyons had just two points at halftime but went 4 of 6 from 3-point range after the break. Musketeers freshman Dezmine Wells scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half.
No. 18 Vanderbilt 80, Bucknell 68
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Jeffery Taylor scored 14 points and led five players in double digits to help Vanderbilt overcome the loss of two starters to injuries.
The Commodores (2-1) bounced back after losing to Cleveland State to drop from No. 7 in The AP Top 25. John Jenkins, the SECís leading scorer last season, tweaked his right ankle in the loss, while senior center Festus Ezeli is out with a sprained knee until at least December.
No. 20 Cincinnati 73, Jacksonville St. 59
CINCINNATI ó Dion Dixon scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half and the Bearcats weathered a sluggish second half for the victory.
Cincinnati (2-0) opened with a 26-9 run behind Dixonís 3-point shooting. He finished 4 of 8 behind the arc, where the Bearcats went 8 of 12 overall. Cashmere Wright had 23 points.
Jacksonville State (1-2) got 16 points apiece from Brian Williams and Mason Leggett.
Cincinnati turned the ball over 20 times and after pulling ahead 44-21 at halftime, they allowed the Gamecocks to go on a 15-1 run in the second half and trim the lead to 10 points.
The Bearcats went 6 minutes, 8 seconds without scoring early in the second half.
The Associated Press
11/15/11 22:43