Orange upset No. 8 Hoyas

Paul Harris scored 22 points and freshman Donte Greene added 18 to lead Syracuse to a 77-70 victory over No. 8 Georgetown on Saturday in Syracuse, N.Y., a huge win in terms of keeping the Orange’s postseason hopes alive.

Syracuse (17-9, 7-6 Big East), coming off a surprising loss at South Florida, built a 21-point lead in the first half and withstood two late rallies by the Hoyas (20-4, 10-3).

Freshman Jonny Flynn had 17 points and nine assists for the Orange, while Arinze Onuaku, who fouled out with 3:32 left, added 13 points.

Jonathan Wallace led the Hoyas with a career-high 26 points, while DaJuan Summers had 14 points and Jessie Sapp and Roy Hibbert each added 11.

The Hoyas let the game slip away from them quickly, committing 12 turnovers that led to 18 points in the first half as the Orange went on a 28-4 run to open a 20-point lead. Georgetown shot 30 percent in the half, scored only one basket during a stretch of nearly 11 minutes against Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, and finished with 22 points, a season low for a half.

(1) Memphis 79, UAB 78: At Birmingham, Ala., Chris Douglas-Roberts converted a three-point play with 6.5 seconds left, giving the Tigers (25-0, 11-0 C-USA) a win over the Blazers (17-8, 7-3) and keeping them perfect on the season.

UAB’s Lawrence Kinnard rebounded a Robert Vaden miss on the final possession and made a shot from the paint, but the officials ruled that he didn’t get the shot off in time.

(3) Kansas 69, Colorado 45: At Lawrence, Kan., Mario Chalmers had 13 points and the Jayhawks (24-2, 9-2 Big 12) won their 25th straight at home over the Buffaloes (10-14, 2-8).

Kansas scored 23 points off turnovers and outrebounded the overmatched visitors 38-24.

(4) Tennessee 74, Georgia 71: At Athens, Ga., Chris Lofton scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and Wayne Chism had 16 points for the Volunteers (23-2, 10-1 SEC), who stretched their winning streak to seven games with the win over the Bulldogs (12-11, 3-7).

(5) North Carolina 92, Virginia Tech 53: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough had 23 points and nine rebounds and Wayne Ellington had 19 points for the Tar Heels (24-2, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who dominated the entire way to avenge last season’s sweep by the Hokies (14-11, 5-6).

(9) Butler 51, Cleveland St. 46: At Indianapolis, Matt Howard scored 17 points and the Bulldogs (24-2, 13-2 Horizon) avenged one of their two losses this season with a win over the Vikings (17-11, 10-6).

(13) Indiana 80, (10) Michigan State 61: At Bloomington, Ind., Eric Gordon scored 28 points and broke Indiana’s freshman scoring record, leading the Hoosiers (21-4, 10-2 Big Ten) to a rout of the Spartans (20-5, 8-4).

Michigan State was led by Drew Neitzel with 21 points.

(11) Texas 82, Baylor 77: At Waco, Texas, Damion James had 19 points and 10 rebounds and the Longhorns (21-4, 8-2 Big 12) beat the Bears (17-7, 5-5) for their fifth straight victory.

A.J. Abrams had 13 points, while Gary Johnson and Justin Mason had 12 each for Texas.

(14) Drake 65, Northern Iowa 55: At Cedar Falls, Iowa, Adam Emmenecker scored 13 points and the Bulldogs (23-2, 14-1) clinched their first Missouri Valley Conference title since 1971 with the win over the Panthers (15-11, 7-8).

(15) Wisconsin 65, Minnesota 56: At Madison, Wis., Marcus Landry scored 12 points to lead five players in double figures and the Badgers (21-4, 11-2 Big Ten) beat the Gophers (15-9, 5-7).

Dan Coleman and Lawrence Westbrook scored 10 points each for Minnesota.

Oklahoma State 59, (16) Texas A&M 54: At College Station, Texas, Byron Eaton had 17 points, including two free throws with 9 seconds left, and the Cowboys (13-12, 4-7 Big 12) snapped a 19-game road losing streak with a win over the Aggies (20-5, 6-4).

(17) Connecticut 74, South Florida 73 (OT): At Tampa, Fla., Craig Austrie’s 12-foot runner in the lane with less than a second left in overtime gave the Huskies (20-5, 9-3 Big East) a win over the Bulls (11-15, 2-11).

A.J. Price scored 23 points, including UConn’s first five in the overtime.

(18) Kansas State 100, Missouri 63: At Manhattan, Kan., Michael Beasley had 40 points and 17 rebounds for his 21st double-double to lead the Wildcats (18-6, 8-2 Big 12) past the Tigers (14-12, 4-7).

Beasley leads the nation in rebounding, is fourth in scoring and is one double-double shy of tying Carmelo Anthony’s NCAA freshman record of 22.

(19) Purdue 71, Northwestern 56: At Evanston, Ill., freshman E’Twaun Moore scored a season-high 28 points for the Boilermakers (21-5, 12-1 Big Ten), who despite blowing a 10-point lead in the second half, defeated the Wildcats (7-16, 0-12).

(23) Louisville 80, Providence 72: At Providence, R.I., Earl Clark had 20 points and nine rebounds and made a key 3-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes left to lift the Cardinals (20-6, 10-3 Big East) past the Friars (13-12, 4-9).

(24) Vanderbilt 61, Florida 58: At Nashville, Tenn., Alex Gordon made four free throws over the final 24 seconds and the Commodores (22-4, 7-4 SEC) held off the Gators (19-7, 6-5) to remain undefeated at home this season.

Vanderbilt has won 29 of its last 30 at Memorial Gym dating to last season.