Notre Dame Stuns No. 2 Connecticut

Notre Dame scored its second victory over a Final Four participant from last season, upending No. 2 Connecticut, 75-70, Wednesday night in a Big East Conference opener at Hartford, Conn.

Troy Murphy had 33 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Fighting Irish, who snapped the Huskies’ 10-game win streak.

The 6-foot-10 sophomore matched his career high with 16 rebounds, 12 of which came on the defensive end, as the Irish (10-5) outrebounded the Huskies, 40-33.

Murphy’s versatility confounded the Huskies (10-2), who had difficulty against the Notre Dame’s zone defense.

“[Murphy’s] not just a low-post player,” Irish Coach Matt Doherty said. “If you put a smaller guy on him, he can post up. If you double him, we’ve got good shooters, so he can pass out of a double team. He’s very well conditioned.”

Murphy played all 40 minutes without a turnover.

Khalid El-Amin provided almost half of Connecticut’s offense with a career-high 34 points as the Huskies trailed nearly the entire game and shot only 35.7% from the field. The Irish shot 45%, including 50% from three-point range.

Notre Dame’s earlier victory over a Final Four participant was a 59-57 win at Ohio State to open the season.

No. 3 Cincinnati 81, North Carolina Charlotte 54--Pete Mickeal scored 20 points, setting up the blowout he predicted, as the Bearcats (13-1) ran their homecourt win streak to 37 games in a Conference USA opener. The 49ers (7-6) shot 27.5%.

Vanderbilt 87, No. 6 Florida 77--Dan Langhi scored 18 of his 31 points in the first half as the Commodores (10-1) ambushed the Gators (11-2) in a Southeastern Conference opener at Nashville, Tenn.

No. 7 Syracuse 93, Rutgers 74--Damone Brown had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Orangemen (10-0) in a Big East opener at Syracuse, N.Y. The Scarlet Knights (8-5) led only once.

No. 8 Duke 109, Virginia 100--Chris Carrawell had 25 points and the Blue Devils (10-2) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit and won in overtime in an Atlantic Coast Conference opener at Charlottesville, Va. Chris Williams led the Cavaliers (9-4) with 27 points.

No. 10 Indiana 71, Wisconsin 67--A.J. Guyton scored 25 points, leading the Hoosiers (11-1) in a Big Ten opener at Bloomington, Ind. The Badgers (8-5) have lost 21 in a row at Assembly Hall.

No. 11 Michigan State 76, Penn State 63--Mateen Cleaves only scored eight points in his debut, but his energy broke open a tight game and the Spartans (10-4) rolled past the Nittany Lions (8-4) at East Lansing, Mich.

No. 15 Tennessee 60, South Carolina 52--Vincent Yarbrough scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half and the Volunteers (13-1) won their Southeastern Conference opener at Columbia, S.C. It is Tennessee’s best start in 55 years. The Gamecocks are 8-5.

No. 16 Oklahoma State 125, Langston 65--Brian Montonati had 28 points and 12 rebounds and the Cowboys (11-1) were only two points shy of the school record for points scored at Stillwater, Okla.

No. 21 Louisiana State 78, Alabama 66--Freshman point guard Torris Bright scored 20 points at Baton Rouge, La., as the Tigers (13-0) opened SEC play with a win. Terrance Meade had 22 points for Alabama (7-6) and Schea Cotton added 21.

No. 25 Kentucky 80, Georgia Tech 71--Tayshaun Prince had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (9-4) at Louisville, Ky. The Yellowjackets are 7-5.

OTHER GAMES

Georgia Coach Jim Harrick lost his SEC debut as the Bulldogs (7-6) were defeated by Mississippi State, 71-59, at Starkville, Miss. Mississippi State (9-4) has won 10 consecutive SEC openers. . . . Minnesota (9-2) defeated Michigan, 85-68, in Golden Gopher Coach Don Monson’s Big Ten debut at Minneapolis. The Wolverines are 9-3.