Boston College Is Still Perfect

Boston College opened its conference season in typical bruising Big East style.

The 25th-ranked Eagles, 12-0 overall and 1-0 in the Big East, off to their best start in school history, outmuscled and outhustled Connecticut and won, 75-70, before a hostile Hartford Civic Center crowd Wednesday night.

“We’re not going to let people come and beat on us. We’re going to put the beating on them,” forward Craig Smith said.

In foul trouble for most of the game, Smith made the most of his 16 minutes. The 250-pound forward scored 16 points, including the game-winning free throw with 35 seconds left for Boston College, which joins the Atlantic Coast Conference next year.

Jared Dudley led the Eagles with 17 points against 10th-ranked Connecticut (8-2, 0-1).

No. 1 Illinois 84, Ohio St. 65 -- James Augustine tied his career high with 21 points and Illinois all but abandoned its outside game for inside jumpers and layups in its Big Ten opener at Champaign, Ill.

The Illini (15-0, 1-0) led by only six at halftime but used an 13-7 run at the start of the second half to build their lead to 12 with 14:14 to go. Ohio State (11-3, 0-1) never got closer than seven after that.

No. 2 Kansas 65, Texas A&M; 60 -- Alex Galindo made a tiebreaking three-pointer and Christian Moody and Aaron Miles each made two free throws in the final seconds to lift the Jayhawks (10-0, 1-0 Big 12) at Lawrence, Kan.

The Aggies (11-1, 0-1) were heavy underdogs despite being one of the country’s last unbeaten teams because many of their wins were against schools such as Trinity and Texas-Permian Basin.

No. 5 Duke 59, Princeton 46 -- J.J. Redick made all 14 of his free throws and scored 21 points, helping Duke celebrate the 65th anniversary of Cameron Indoor Stadium in style at Durham, N.C.

Shelden Williams had 14 rebounds for Duke (10-0). Will Venable had 21 points for Princeton (8-5).

No. 6 Syracuse 79, St. John’s 65 -- Hakim Warrick scored 22 points and Gerry McNamara added 19 for Syracuse at New York. The Orange (14-1, 1-0) opened Big East play with its 36th straight win over an intrastate opponent. Daryll Hill had 23 points for the Red Storm (6-5).

No. 8 Kentucky 79, South Carolina 75 -- Kelenna Azubuike made four three-pointers and finished with 21 points at Lexington, Ky. Chuck Hayes added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Kentucky (10-1, 1-0 SEC). South Carolina (8-4, 0-1) has lost three games to ranked teams this season.

Michigan 65, No. 14 Iowa 63 -- Brent Petway scored 14 points, and Michigan (9-5, 1-0) held off a fierce second-half rally at Iowa City, Iowa, in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Pierre Pierce led the Hawkeyes (12-2, 0-1) with 15 points.

Georgetown 67, No. 16 Pittsburgh 64 -- Pitt (10-2, 0-1) followed up a stunning 69-66 loss Sunday to Bucknell with a defeat nearly as surprising, only its third in 46 home games since the Petersen Events Center opened for the 2002-03 season.

Georgetown (9-3, 1-0) was a big underdog despite winning its previous four games.

Houston 70, No. 17 Louisville 67 -- Andre Owens made a three-pointer for the go-ahead basket with 21 seconds left in a Conference USA game at Houston. Freshman Juan Palacios had 20 points for Louisville (11-3, 0-1), which lost to Houston (9-5, 1-0) for the first time in nine meetings.

No. 18 Mississippi State 90, Auburn 53 -- Lawrence Roberts had 19 points and 15 rebounds and Mississippi State (13-2, 1-0) won an SEC opener at Starkville, Miss. Toney Douglas had 14 points, five fewer than his average, for Auburn (9-5, 0-1).

Vanderbilt 70, No. 19 Alabama 56 -- Mario Moore finished with 16 points to help lead Vanderbilt (10-4, 1-0 SEC) to an upset at Nashville.

Jermareo Davidson tied his career high with 21 points and Kennedy Winston added 16 for Alabama (11-3, 0-1), which had won six of seven.

No. 20 Michigan State 84, Penn State 58 -- Alan Anderson scored 17 points and Shannon Brown added 16 to lead Michigan State (9-2, 1-0) in the Big Ten opener for both teams at State College, Pa.

Geary Claxton scored a career-high 20 points for the Nittany Lions (6-8, 0-1), who have lost six of seven.

No. 24 George Washington 71, La Salle 42 -- George Washington opened its Atlantic 10 schedule with balanced scoring, a parade of three-pointers and a big rebounding advantage at Washington.

Steven Smith had 23 points, 11 rebounds and six turnovers for the Explorers (3-8, 0-1), who shot 27%.