No. 2 Michigan State edges No. 1 Kentucky

College basketball: With Keith Appling, Gary Harris and Adreian Payne all scoring in double figures for No. 2 Michigan State, Branden Dawson came up with the biggest basket, tipping in a miss with less than six seconds left to give the Spartans a 78-74 victory over top-ranked Kentucky on Tuesday night at Chicago.

James Young missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the Spartans (2-0) erupted in delight, with Harris holding up his index finger.

No. 1, indeed.

It was the earliest meeting of 1 vs. 2, and the first since 2008, and the matchup did not disappoint for many who see it as a sneak preview of the Final Four.

Julius Randle had 23 of his 27 points in the second half, as the Wildcats (2-1) erased a 13-point deficit. But they couldn’t overcome their troubles at the free-throw line, going a dismal 20 of 36.

• Wiggins leads Kansas past Duke: Andrew Wiggins scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half, outplaying Jabari Parker down the stretch and helping No. 5 Kansas (2-0) knock off fourth-ranked Duke (1-1) 94-83 at Chicago.

Parker, a former prep star at nearby Simeon High School, had 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals in a spectacular homecoming. But it was his fellow freshman star that made the biggest plays in the final minutes of a taut thriller between two storied programs.

• Badgers down Gators: Sam Dekker scored 16 points, Traevon Jackson added 13 and No. 20 Wisconsin (2-0) overcame a sloppy start to hold off No. 11 Florida (1-1) 59-53 at Madison, Wis.

• VCU beats Cavs with 3-pointer: Treveon Graham scored 22 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds to play, and No. 14 VCU (2-0) beat No. 25 Virginia 59-56 at Charlottesville, Va.

Joe Harris of Chelan, Wash., led Virginia (1-1) with 18 points.

Nowitzki scores 19 to pass West

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki had 19 points to pass Jerry West on the NBA’s career scoring list, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the visiting Washington Wizards 105-95.

Nowitzki hit consecutive 3-pointers late in the third quarter, the second one putting him at 25,194 points for 16th place, two points ahead of West.

• LeBron drops 33: LeBron James scored 33 points and got the entire fourth quarter off, Michael Beasley scored 19 off the bench and the Miami Heat had little trouble on the way to beating the Milwaukee Bucks 118-95.

• Rose injures hamstring: The Chicago Bulls say Derrick Rose is day to day with a sore right hamstring.

Rose winced after he drove down the lane for a twisting layup with 3:39 left during Chicago’s 96-81 victory over Cleveland on Monday night

Sabres end long home skid

NHL: Cody Hodgson scored two goals and Ryan Miller made 43 saves as the Buffalo Sabres beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout to avoid matching the worst home start in NHL history.

Matt Moulson and Tyler Ennis scored in the shootout for the Sabres (4-15-1) and Miller stopped both Los Angeles shooters. Buffalo was winless in its first nine home games, one short of the NHL record set by Pittsburgh in 1983-84.

• Ovechkin hits OT winner: Alex Ovechkin put in a rebound 1:34 into overtime, giving the Washington Capitals a 4-3 win over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.

• Mason earns shutout for Flyers: Jakub Voracek scored twice and Steve Mason made 24 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers shut out the host Ottawa Senators 5-0.

The Flyers have back-to-back wins and have scored nine goals in the two games, marking just the third time this season they have scored more than twice in a game.

LPGA wins 3Tour Challenge

Miscellany: Stacy Lewis shot 7-under 65 to lead the LPGA Tour team to the championship of the 3Tour Challenge at Henderson, Nev.

The LPGA Tour combined for a score of 17 under, edging the Champions Tour by one stroke and beating the PGA Tour by nine strokes.

Lewis (31-34) had eight birdies, including six birdies on the first nine holes,

• Marathon record ratified: The IAAF has ratified the world record set by Wilson Kipsang at this year’s Berlin Marathon.

The Kenyan won in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 23 seconds on Sept. 13, breaking the record of 2:03:38 set by Patrick Makau in 2011 at Berlin.