College Basketball: No. 1 Kansas pulls away from UCLA

Prep Charter product Markieff Morris scored a career-high 19 points and No. 1 Kansas pulled away in the second half to beat UCLA, 73-61, in Los Angeles yesterday, sending the Bruins to their fourth consecutive loss.

Xavier Henry added 16 points and Sherron Collins had 14 for the Jayhawks (7-0), who led the entire game but allowed UCLA to get within four early in the second half.

Michael Roll scored 16 points and Nikola Dragovic added 14 for the Bruins (2-5), who haven't lost four in a row since 2003-04.

The defeat capped a rocky week for the struggling Bruins, who lost forward Drew Gordon when he quit the team. The sophomore averaged 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Connecticut 79, Harvard 73 - Jerome Dyson scored 24 points and came within an assist of a triple-double as the No. 14 Huskies (6-1) held off the Crimson (6-2) in Storrs, Conn.

The 6-foot-4 Dyson, who has scored over 20 points in five of UConn's seven games, grabbed 14 rebounds.

Kemba Walker had 20 points and Stanley Robinson added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Huskies, who travel to New York to take on No. 5 Kentucky in the SEC/Big East Invitational on Wednesday.

Jeremy Lin had 30 points for Harvard. The Crimson came within four points in the last 10 seconds, after trailing by as many as 16 in the second half.

Clemson 72, South Carolina 61 - Tanner Smith and Demontez Stitt scored 14 points each and the No. 18 Tigers (7-2) won their sixth straight game over the rival Gamecocks (6-2) in Clemson, S.C.

The Tigers used a late 18-6 run to pull away - and bounce back from a bad defeat to Illinois on Wednesday night when they surrendered a 23-point second-half lead.

In this one, Clemson got back on track by holding Devan Downey of the Gamecocks in check. Downey scored 37 points vs. the Tigers last season, but shot just 3 of 15 from the field yesterday en route to 8 points.

Elsewhere: No. 21 Florida State overcame a slow start and poor first-half shooting to defeat outsized Florida International, 82-62 in Tallahassee. The taller Seminoles allowed first-year coach Isiah Thomas' Panthers only one field goal over the final 11:02 of the first half. . . . Idaho handed No. 25 Portland its second straight loss since entering the national rankings for the first time in 50 years with a 68-48 victory in Moscow, Idaho. . . . In South Bend, Ind., Tim Abromaitis scored a career-high 31 points, and Notre Dame shot 55 percent to beat Central Florida, 90-72.

Justin Robinson scored 18 points, including going 4 for 4 from the foul line in the final 32 seconds, to lead Rider over Marist, 55-51, in Lawrenceville, N.J. . . . Gregory Echenique had 19 points and eight rebounds to help Rutgers hold off winless Colgate, 76-67, in Piscataway, N.J.

Douglas Davis hit seven three-pointers to lead host Princeton to a 62-48 victory over Lafayette. ... A late 14-0 run helped George Washington pull away to an 81-69 win over Navy in Washington.