'Cuse finally solves Louisville

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim preferred to look on the bright side despite all his team's problems.

Senior leaders Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph struggled. The Orange missed shot after shot.

Only C.J. Fair had an answer against with Louisville, which was poised for an upset.

"Our defense was getting crucial stops when we needed them," Fair said. "And, defense wins games."

Fair scored 13 points and No. 2 Syracuse scored the final six points of the game win at No. 19 Louisville, 52-51, last night, snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Cardinals.

Syracuse (26-1, 13-1 Big East) used an 8-0 run to take an eight-point lead, only to see Louisville (20-6, 8-5) rally with a 15-2 run of its own. But the Orange held the Cardinals without a point over the final 3 1/2 minutes and Fair hit the go-ahead layup with 2:11 left.

"You're going to get in games like this in the [NCAA] Tournament. I don't care who you are. You've got to be ready to be able to make those plays at the end of games," Boeheim said.

Fab Melo scored 11 points and the best shooting team in the Big East overcame a 34.4 percent effort, including 1-for-15 from three-point range, to win for the sixth straight time since losing at Notre Dame.

Freshman Chane Behanan had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who had won six straight conference games.

It was a whiteout at the KFC Yum! Center with 22,738 fans wearing white and coach Rick Pitino donning his cream-colored suit.

Jardine missed all eight of his shots and Joseph struggled with foul trouble, while Cardinals forward Kyle Kuric went 1-for-8 from the field, including 1-for-6 from three-point range.

At Kansas State, Tyshawn Taylor scored 20 points and Jeff Withey had 18 points and 11 rebounds as No. 4 Kansas (21-5, 11-2 Big 12) beat the Wildcats, 59-53.

* At Baylor, Perry Jones III scored 18 points and the No. 9 Bears rebounded from consecutive losses with a 79-64 victory over Iowa State. Last week, Baylor (22-4, 9-4 Big 12) lost to No. 4 Kansas and No. 3 Missouri for the second time in 4 weeks.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference suspended the three officials who worked Sunday's Rider-Niagara game in which a late clock error changed the outcome. The officials listed on the box score are Rusty Cooper, Tony Crisp and Kenneth Clark.

Ali Langford's dunk with 3.7 seconds left gave Niagara an 84-82 lead. Following a Rider timeout, the game clock started before the Broncs inbounded the ball but it wasn't noticed. Jonathan Thompson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer that would have given Rider the win, but after a TV review, officials ruled time had expired before Thompson released the shot.

* Kentucky and Syracuse remain Nos. 1 and 2 in the Associated Press' Top 25, and Wichita State and Notre Dame are ranked for the first time this season. Temple was the 26th team in the ranking, the first among 14 other schools that received votes.

In the women's poll, Baylor remained the unanimous No. 1 choice.

* The University of Delaware is among the sites chosen to host the first and second rounds of the 2013 Women's NCAA Tournament. The Blue Hens are currently ranked 10th in the nation.

Trenton will host one of the regionals.