BC upsets UConn in Big East

Craig Smith made sure Boston College kicked off its final Big East season with a bang Wednesday night at Hartford, Conn.

Smith scored 16 points, including the game-winning free throw with 35 seconds left, to lift the 25th-ranked Eagles (12-0, 1-0 Big East), off to the best start in school history, to a 75-70 win over No. 10 Connecticut (8-2, 0-1).

Boston College is off to its best start in school history.

Villanova 84, (21) West Virginia 46: At Villanova, Pa., Allan Ray scored 26 points and Mike Nardi added 18 to lead the Wildcats (8-1) past the Mountaineers (10-1), snapping West Virginia’s season-opening, 10-game winning streak.

Vanderbilt 70, (19) Alabama 56: At Nashville, Tenn., Mario Moore shot 4 of 5 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points to help lead the Commodores (10-4, 1-0 SEC) to an upset of the Crimson Tide (11-3, 0-1).

Michigan 65, (14) Iowa 63: At Iowa City, Iowa, Brent Petway scored 14 points, and the Wolverines (9-5) held off a fierce second-half rally to beat the Hawkeyes (12-2) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Georgetown 67, (16) Pittsburgh 64: At Pittsburgh, Ashanti Cook hit four of the Hoyas’ (9-3) 11 3-pointers and scored 23 points to help hand the Panthers (10-2) their second upset loss in as many games.

Houston 70, (17) Louisville 67: At Houston, Andre Owens scored 27 points, leading the Cougars (9-5) in an upset over the Cardinals (11-3). Houston last defeated a Top 25 team in 1996.

(1) Illinois 84, Ohio St. 65: At Champaign, Ill., James Augustine tied his career high with 21 points as the Fighting Illini (15-0, 1-0 Big Ten) all but abandoned their outside game for inside jumpers and layups in a win over the Buckeyes (11-3, 0-1).

(2) Kansas 65, Texas A&M 60: At Lawrence, Kan., Alex Galindo hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer, and Christian Moody and Aaron Miles each made two free throws in the final seconds to lift the Jayhawks (10-0) over the Aggies (11-1). Miles had 15 points for Kansas, and Michael Lee added 10.

(5) Duke 59, Princeton 46: At Durham, N.C., J.J. Redick made all 14 of his free throws and scored 21 points, helping the Blue Devils (10-0) to a non-conference victory over the Tigers (8-5).

(6) Syracuse 79, St. John’s 65: At New York, Hakim Warrick scored 22 points and Gerry McNamara added 19 for the Orange (14-1, 1-0 Big East), which had one of their best shooting games of the season in its victory over the Red Storm (6-5, 0-1).

(8) Kentucky 79, South Carolina 75: At Lexington, Ky., Kelenna Azubuike made four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points as the Wildcats (10-1, 1-0 SEC) held on for a win over the Gamecocks (8-4, 0-1).

(18) Mississippi State 90, Auburn 53: At Starkville, Miss., Lawrence Roberts had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and the Bulldogs (13-2, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) beat the Tigers (9-5, 0-1).

(20) Michigan St. 84, Penn St. 58: At State College, Pa., Alan Anderson scored 17 points and Shannon Brown added 16 to lead the Spartans (9-2) to a win over the Nittany Lions (6-8) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

(24) George Washington 71, La Salle 42: At Washington, D.C., forward Mike Hall, in his first start since the season opener, grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds as the Colonials (9-2) cruised to victory over the Explorers (3-8) in an Atlantic 10 opener.

Women’s Top 25

(14) Rutgers 51, (1) LSU 49 (OT): At Piscataway, N.J., Cappie Pondexter scored 16 points and the Knights (9-3) rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to knock off the Tigers (13-1) in overtime for its third win over a Top 10 team in eight days. … Iowa St. 78, (20) Kansas St. 59: At Ames, Iowa, Katie Robinette and Anne O’Neil scored 21 points apiece, and the Cyclones (11-1) used a late 16-2 run to seal a victory over the Wildcats (9-3). … (3) Baylor 64, Texas A&M 50: At College Station, Texas, Sophia Young had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Steffanie Blackmon added 20 points to lead the Bears (11-0) to a win over the Aggies (9-2). … (4) Notre Dame 75, Syracuse 58: At South Bend, Ind., Breona Gray, Teresa Borton and Megan Duffy each scored 17 points for the Irish (13-1) in their win over the Orange (8-5). … (7) Texas 66, Kansas 51: At Austin, Texas, Heather Schreiber snapped out of a scoring slump with 18 points, and the two-time defending Big 12 champion Longhorns (8-3) opened conference play with a win over the Jayhawks (7-5). … (12) Texas Tech 70, Oklahoma 64: At Lubbock, Texas, LaToya Davis scored 22 points to lead the Raiders (10-2) over the Sooners (8-4) in the Big 12 Conference opener for both teams. … (13) Boston College 78, Georgetown 29: At Washington D.C., the Eagles (11-1) set school records for margin of victory and fewest points allowed, with Kathrin Ress scoring 15 points in their blowout of the Hoyas (5-7).