Not this time - 'Cats avoid upset

Anthony Davis had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks, and No. 1 Kentucky wiped away the memories of the last time the top-ranked Wildcats came to South Carolina with an 86-52 victory.

Kentucky (23-1) has won 15 straight and moved to 9-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the first time in seven years. And it will stay atop the rankings, unlike in 2010 when the No. 1 Wildcats were stunned, 68-62, by the Gamecocks.

This time, Davis and Terrence Jones made sure there wouldn't be a similar flop. The two combined for 34 points in the first half as Kentucky took a 52-25 lead at the break and eventually increased the margin to 41 points.

Damien Leonard scored a career-high 19 points for South Carolina (9-13, 1-7).

Davis made his first nine shots, finishing 9-of-10, and added two steals.

No. 2 Syracuse 95, St. John's 70

Syracuse's Fab Melo scored a career-high 14 points in his return after a three-game absence and Jim Boeheim tied Dean Smith for third place on the victory list with win No. 879.

Syracuse (23-1, 10-1 Big East) rallied behind the return of the 7-foot Melo, taking a 41-27 halftime lead and blowing it open by starting the second half on a 16-3 run in front of a sellout crowd of 19,979 at Madison Square Garden, most of whom were wearing orange.

No. 3 Ohio State 58, No. 19 Wisconsin 52

Jared Sullinger scored 24 points and William Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, leading Ohio State to the victory.

Deshaun Thomas scored 16 points and Buford added 11 for the Buckeyes (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten), who held onto their lead in the conference standings. Sullinger also had 10 rebounds.

No. 5 North Carolina 83, Maryland 74

Tyler Zeller scored 22 points, John Henson had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and North Carolina rallied for the win.

The Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got all they could handle from the upstart Terrapins, who didn't lead over the final nine minutes but never let North Carolina get comfortable down the stretch.

No. 6 Baylor 64, Oklahoma State 60

Perry Jones III had 16 points and 11 rebounds in Baylor's tight win, and Quincy Acy provided the go-ahead basket and a key offensive rebound down the stretch.

The Cowboys (11-12, 4-6 Big 12) rallied from a nine-point deficit to take a 57-56 lead on Keiton Page's wide-open 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:42 to play.

No. 10 Murray State 65, Tennessee-Martin 58

Isaiah Canaan, Latreze Mushatt and Jewuan Long each scored 11 points and 10th-ranked Murray State remained the lone undefeated men's team in Division I.

The Racers (23-0, 11-0 Ohio Valley Conference) brought plenty of fans to cheer the school's longest winning streak.

Wyoming 68, No. 11 Unlv 66

Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz scored 16 points apiece and Wyoming throttled UNLV's high-scoring offense.

Luke Martinez added 15 points - all on 3-pointers - and Adam Waddell scored 14 for Wyoming (18-5, 4-3 Mountain West).

No. 12 Florida 73, No. 25 Vanderbilt 65

Kenny Boynton scored 18 points and Bradley Beal added 16, lifting Florida to its seventh consecutive victory.

Boynton and Beal came up huge in the second half. Beal scored 14 points after halftime. Boynton drained a 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining after the Commodores made it a four-point game and then sank two free throws with 25.9 seconds left to seal Florida's 19th consecutive victory at home.

Northern Iowa 65, No. 13 Creighton 62

Northern Iowa's Anthony James made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to snap Creighton's 11-game winning streak. (next page »)