Big East
- --The insufferable Eric Devendorf had 19 points and a career-high eight assists, and Terrence Roberts grabbed 13 rebounds as 18th-ranked Syracuse (4-0) recovered from a slow start to overwhelm Northeastern 81-58.
The Huskies hit nine of their first 11 shots and led 22-7 with 13:27 to play in the first half. The Orange then switched to a smaller lineup and tightened up their trademark zone defense which resulted in Northeastern hitting only 5 of 21 shots the remainder of the half and shooting just 28.1 percent in the second.
"No matter how much you prepare for a 2-3 zone in practice, you can't simulate the kind of length and athleticism that Syracuse has," said Northeastern coach Bill Coen.
- --Life after Douby began last night in Piscataway, and it wasn't pretty.
Rutgers (0-1) shot 19% for the game, hitting just 9 field goals as the Scarlet Knights began the Fred Hill era with a 55-41 loss to Bob Huggins and Kansas State (2-0).
During one particularly awful stretch, Rutgers went 10 minutes 21 seconds without scoring a field goal. Aside from J.R. Inman (17 points), the team was a collective 4 for 39.
There's an 81% chance this shot did not go in.
- --Jeff Green scored 19 points, Roy Hibbert added 18 with 10 rebounds, and No. 8 Georgetown never trailed in beating Vanderbilt 86-70 on Wednesday night.
The victory was a nice bit of revenge for the Hoyas (2-0) who lost at home last season to Vanderbilt after blowing a 13-point lead in that game.
Georgetown used its size with the 7-foot-2 Hibbert and speed to drive to the basket repeatedly for easy layups. The Hoyas outshot (52.5 percent to 41.5 percent) and outrebounded Vandy 38-33 in putting the game away.
Others
- --Oral Roberts continues the parity theme in college basketball by stunning #3 Kansas 78-71 at Allen Fieldhouse. See if this were college football the Jayhawks would already be done. Playoff bitches.
- --No. 6 UCLA bounces back from a three-point halftime deficit to top BYU 82-69, and No. 2 North Carolina makes up for an eight-point halftime hole to top Winthrop 73-66.
- --Louisville's first opponent Northwestern State almost pulled off a solid little upset, but ultimately fell to Oklahmoma State 79-76. The Demons take center stage in Freedom Hall at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
- --Kentucky won.