Loss Leaves Purdue Smarting

Pierre Pierce scored 19 points to lead Iowa to a 71-61 victory over No. 24 Purdue on Wednesday night in a Big Ten Conference opener at Iowa City, Iowa.

The Hawkeyes (8-3) were helped by a major turnaround in free-throw shooting. Iowa made 29 of 37 free throws and Purdue (10-4) made only seven of 10.

“When you can make free throws, your offense looks a lot better, your kids feel better about themselves and the game doesn’t look quite as ugly,” Iowa Coach Steve Alford said.

Purdue Coach Gene Keady didn’t blame the officiating for the imbalance. He criticized his players instead.

“They didn’t listen to the coaching, they didn’t listen to what the referees said,” Keady said. “I’ll be glad to get back to school so we can get some smartness transplanted.”

No. 10 Louisville 76, Southern Mississippi 42 -- Nate Daniels had 15 points as the Cardinals (10-1) routed the Golden Eagles (7-5) in a Conference USA opener at Louisville, Ky.

No. 11 Cincinnati 71, Tulane 44 -- Tony Bobbitt had 18 points as the Bearcats (10-0) rolled to a victory over the Green Wave (6-5) in a Conference USA opener at New Orleans.

No. 12 North Carolina 89, Miami 64 -- Sean May had 23 points to lead the Tar Heels (9-2) past the Hurricanes (10-4) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 14 Florida 65, South Carolina 62 -- David Lee scored 21 points to lead the Gators (10-2) past the Gamecocks (13-2) in a Southeastern Conference opener at Columbia, S.C.

No. 17 Syracuse 65, St. John’s 59 -- The Orangemen (10-1) won their 10th in a row in a Big East opener at Syracuse, N.Y. The Red Storm is 4-7.

No. 19 Illinois 85, Ohio State 63 -- Nick Smith scored 22 points at Champaign, Ill., as the Fighting Illini (10-2) won their Big Ten opener over the Buckeyes (8-6).

No. 20 Vanderbilt 59, Auburn 53 -- Matt Freije scored 15 points as the Commodores (12-0) won their Southeastern Conference opener over the Tigers (9-3) at Nashville.

No. 22 Mississippi State 61, Mississippi 54 -- The Bulldogs (12-0) overcame a 10-point deficit in a Southeastern Conference opener at Oxford, Miss., to end a six-game winning streak by the Rebels (8-4).

No. 23 Marquette 65, Houston 52 -- Travis Diener scored 22 points at Houston to lead the Golden Eagles (10-2) past the Cougars (6-5) in a Conference USA opener.

OTHER GAMES

In Big Ten openers: Lester Abram scored 27 points to lead Michigan (10-2) to a 78-54 victory over Northwestern (5-7) at Ann Arbor, Mich.... Jan Jagla scored 28 points as Penn State (7-5) rallied for a 75-72 victory over Minnesota (7-5) at State College, Pa.

Andrew Bogut scored 18 points at Salt Lake City to lead Utah (12-3) past Division III Whitworth, 71-49.... Torrian Jones had 17 points to lead Notre Dame (7-3) to a 63-52 victory over West Virginia (7-4) in a Big East opener at South Bend, Ind.... Scooter McFadgon scored 31 points to lead Tennessee (9-1) to an 89-65 victory over Georgia (8-4) in a Southeastern Conference opener at Knoxville, Tenn.... Curtis Stinson’s basket put Iowa State ahead with 38.5 seconds left and the Cyclones (8-2) went on to defeat Missouri, 70-65, in a Big 12 opener at Ames, Iowa. Missouri fell to 5-5.

Romel Beck had 26 points as Nevada Las Vegas (9-3) rolled to a 78-63 victory over Occidental (6-3) at Las Vegas.... Arkansas State (11-2) held on for a 79-76 victory over Western Kentucky (6-6) in a Sun Belt Conference game at Jonesboro, Ark., that was delayed more than 20 minutes after the Hilltoppers’ Nigel Dixon shattered a backboard while dunking.