Easy Win for No. 1 Connecticut

Ben Gordon’s teammates have seen it all before. The roundhouse dunk or a rim-rattling slam to finish a break or a cool three-point basket with a man in his face, that’s just Ben being Ben, the Connecticut Huskies say.

On Tuesday night, Massachusetts (5-5) got an eyeful, too.

The junior guard scored 34 points, going seven of eight from three-point range, to lead the top-ranked Huskies to a 91-67 victory over their border rival at Hartford, Conn.

“We see that every single day,” point guard Taliek Brown said. “The things he does don’t even amaze us.”

Unlike last year when Connecticut (10-1) rallied to win from a 25-point deficit with under 19 minutes to play, the Huskies wasted no time controlling this game, as Gordon started an 11-0 run with a three-point basket.

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No. 4 Arizona 72, Louisiana Lafayette 69 -- Andre Iguodala made a three-point basket with nine seconds left, and Arizona escaped an upset in its own tournament at Tucson.

Hassan Adams had 23 points for the Wildcats (8-1), who won their seventh in a row. Brian Hamilton scored 11 for the Cajuns (4-4).

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No. 6 Wake Forest 91, North Carolina A&T; 67 -- Eric Williams scored 17 points and Wake Forest used a 29-1 run to win at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Trent Strickland added 13 points for the Demon Deacons (8-0). The nation’s highest-scoring team, which averages 92.3 points a game, showed some rust from the 10-day layoff before sending the Aggies (0-9) to yet another lopsided loss.

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No. 9 North Carolina 105, Coastal Carolina 72 -- Rashad McCants matched his career high with 28 points for the Tar Heels (8-1) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

B.J. Gallup led Coastal Carolina (5-6) with 21 points.

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No. 10 Saint Joseph’s 75, Delaware 54 -- Jameer Nelson scored 20 points and Dwayne Jones had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks (10-0) at Newark, Del. Raphael Madera led the Blue Hens (6-3) with 16 points.

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No. 11 Louisville 92, Toledo 56 -- Luke Whitehead had 19 points and nine rebounds and Nate Daniels scored a career-high 18 points as the Cardinals (8-1) overcame the loss of Francisco Garcia at Louisville, Ky.

Garcia, Louisville’s leading scorer, hurt his left knee in the first half and did not return. Keith Triplett scored 15 points for Toledo (7-2).

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No. 12 Cincinnati 102, Elon 63 -- Jason Maxiell scored 19 points and the Bearcats used a balanced attack and an unrelenting press to win at Cincinnati. Cincinnati improved to 9-0 for the first time in five seasons and made quick work of Elon (4-7).

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No. 15 Pittsburgh 76, Georgia 55 -- Mark McCarroll, a barely used reserve when the season started, scored a career-high 26 points at Pittsburgh.

The Panthers (13-0) had little trouble in extending the school’s best start since the 1927-28 team went 21-0 during Pittsburgh’s only unbeaten season.

Georgia (7-3) dropped to 0-2 on the road.

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No. 17 Syracuse 87, Canisius 70 -- Billy Edelin had a career-high 28 points and added nine assists and nine rebounds at Syracuse, N.Y.

It was the eighth consecutive victory for Syracuse (8-1) and also was the Orangemen’s 17th in a row over Canisius (4-7).

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Alabama 71, No. 18 Wisconsin 56 -- Chuck Davis scored 15 of his career-high 21 points in the second half at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide (8-2) secured the victory with a 12-3 run midway through the second half.

Devin Harris scored 22 points to lead Wisconsin (8-2).

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No. 20 Illinois 75, Illinois Chicago 60 -- Roger Powell scored 17 points and Illinois used its inside strength to dominate the rebounding at Chicago.

Using a 19-4 run, the Fighting Illini (8-2) raced to a 32-14 lead midway through the first half. UIC is 9-4.

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Colorado St. 71, No. 21 Purdue 69 -- Michael Morris made two three-point baskets in the final seven-tenths of a second, rallying Colorado State (7-4) at Fort Collins, Colo.

Colorado State trailed, 69-65, before Morris made a three-point basket with 0.7 seconds left.

The Rams then deflected Purdue’s inbounds pass, and Morris put up a desperation three-point basket that swished at the buzzer. Purdue is 9-3.

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No. 22 Vanderbilt 85, Lehigh 59 -- Matt Freije scored 15 points at Nashville and Vanderbilt (10-0) matched its best start in 43 seasons.

Reserve Jose Olivero led the Mountain Hawks (6-5) with 18 points.

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Belmont 71, No. 23 Missouri 67 -- For the third consecutive game, Missouri (4-4) fell behind at Columbia, Mo., and then rallied only to fall short.

Steve Drabyn had 16 points for Belmont (6-3).