College Basketball: Sullinger hurt, Ohio State wins

Despite losing star forward Jared Sullinger, No. 2 Ohio State took a 74-66 win at South Carolina on Saturday.

Sullinger suffered a bone bruise in his left foot.

"We think he'll be fine," coach Thad Matta said. "We're just happy there wasn't a break in there."

Deshaun Thomas had a career-high 30 points, and William Buford added 17 as Matta collected his 200th win in nine seasons with the Buckeyes (10-1).

"We had to get a little juice into us," Thomas said. "We made some mistakes on offense in the first half with turnovers, and that's not us. So we just put a little fire and juice into us."

The Buckeyes were trailing by 33-29 at the half and had appeared a step slower than the Gamecocks (4-6) but used a 20-8 charge in the second half to take control.

Syracuse 88, N.C. State 72 - Dion Waiters scored a career-high 22 points to help the No. 1 Orange (11-0) beat the Wolfpack (6-4) in Raleigh. Scoop Jardine (Neumann-Goretti) added 16 points.

Kentucky 87, Tennessee-Chattanooga 62 - Doron Lamb scored 24 points and the No. 3 Wildcats (9-1) bounced back from their first loss of the season, beating the Mocs (3-8) in Lexington, Ky., despite losing forward Terrence Jones to a dislocated finger on his left hand early in the first half.

Marquette 93, Northern Colorado 72 - Freshman Todd Mayo replaced suspended star Darius Johnson-Odom in the starting lineup and scored 22 points to lead the No. 11 Eagles (10-0) past the Bears (3-7) in Milwaukee. Johnson-Odom was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules.

St. John's 56, Fordham 50 - Moe Harkless had 13 points and 16 rebounds as the Red Storm (5-5) past the Rams (4-6) in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

Pittsburgh 69, South Carolina State 55 - Lamar Patterson tied a career high with 16 points and the No. 15 Panthers (10-1) pulled away in the second half to beat the visiting Bulldogs (4-7).

Louisville 95, Memphis 87 - Russ Smith had 24 points and seven steals as the No. 4 Cardinals (10-0) survived a tough matchup with the Tigers (5-4) to extend their home winning streak to 18 games.

Indiana 69, Notre Dame 58 - Cody Zeller had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the No. 18 Hoosiers (10-0) past the Irish (7-5) in the Crossroads Classic at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Georgetown 81, American 55 - Markel Starks scored 18 to lead the 16th-ranked Hoyas (9-1) past the Eagles (8-4) in Washington.

North Carolina 97, Appalachian State 82 - Tyler Zeller had 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 5 Tar Heels (9-2) past the visiting Mountaineers (4-6).

Baylor 86, BYU 83 - The 5-foot-10 Pierre Jackson blocked a buzzer-beating three-point attempt by Brandon Davies, and the No. 6 Bears (9-0) survived a scare by the Cougars (8-3) in Provo, Utah.

Florida 84, Texas A&M 64 - The No. 13 Gators (8-2) built a double-digit lead after 61/2 minutes and beat the No. 22 Aggies (8-2) in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla.

Indiana State 61, Vanderbilt 55 - Steve McWhorter hit two free throws with 3 minutes, 32 seconds left to put the Sycamores (8-2) ahead for good in an upset of the No. 25 Commodores (6-4) in Nashville.

UNLV 64, Illinois 48 - Mike Moser had 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Runnin' Rebels (11-2) upset the No. 19 Illini (10-1) in Chicago.

Michigan State 74, Bowling Green 60 - Brandon Wood scored 16 points and the No. 21 Spartans (9-2) beat the visiting Falcons (5-5).

Philadelphia University 78, University of the Sciences 56 - Jim Connolly (Souderton High) scored 24 points to lead the Rams (5-4, 3-0 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference) past the host Devils (1-6, 0-3), who got 30 points from Garret Kerr (son of former Flyer Tim Kerr, Middle Township).

Susquehanna 77, Rowan 65 - Rich McNamara (Seneca) scored 18 points, but the Profs (4-7) lost to the Crusaders (5-4) in a nonleague game in Glassboro.