NCAA Basketball round up: Louisville upsets No. 2 Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Samardo Samuels scored all eight of his points during a late surge and Jerry Smith sank a pair of clutch free throws with 17.8 seconds left and Louisville rallied for a 66-60 upset of No. 2 Syracuse on Sunday.

Syracuse (24-2, 11-2 Big East), which held off Connecticut 72-67 on Wednesday night after squandering a 16-point lead in the second half, had won 11 straight since a loss to Pittsburgh.

It was the fifth straight win over the Orange for Louisville (16-9, 7-5), which was 0-4 against ranked teams entering the game. Its last win over a ranked team was a 10-point triumph over Syracuse last March.

Samuels scored his first points of the game on a pair of free throws with 7:46 left and followed with a hook off the glass to tie the game at 50. Mike Marra’s 3 from the left corner gave the Cardinals a three-point edge and Samuels made a twisting layup through traffic to put Louisville up 55-52 with 5:14 left.

Samuels’ dunk off an inbounds pass gave the Cardinals their biggest lead at 59-52 with 3:04 to go.

Six straight free throws by the Orange closed the gap to 62-58 with 64 seconds remaining, but Syracuse was unable to score again after Kris Joseph’s slam dunk with 31.9 seconds left made it a two-point game.

Joseph was then called for an intentional foul on Smith, who sank both free throws.

Edgar Sosa and Marra each had 12 points to lead Louisville. Jared Swopshire had 10 points.

Wes Johnson had 14 points, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku each had 12, and Joseph 10 for the Orange.

Rutgers 71, No. 7 Georgetown 68

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Jonathan Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points, including the clinching free throws with 4.1 seconds to play, and Rutgers upset No. 7 Georgetown, the Scarlet Knights’ first win over a top 10 team in seven years.

Mitchell’s previous career high was 21 points against the Hoyas in an 88-63 loss in January.

He was 9 of 12 from the field for Rutgers (13-12, 3-9 Big East), which kept Georgetown (18-6, 8-5) from going on any extended run.

The Hoyas took a 66-65 lead on Greg Monroe’s up-and-under move with 52 seconds to play. Dane Miller, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, had a tip-in with 21 seconds left to get the Scarlet Knights the lead back, and made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left.

Austin Freeman’s two free throws with 5.7 seconds left made it 69-68. Mitchell made his clinching free throws, then Freeman’s 23-footer bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

No. 13 Ohio State 72, Illinois 53

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Jon Diebler scored 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, to lead Ohio State over Illinois.

David Lighty added 17 points and Evan Turner came within two assists of a triple double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

The win kept the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten with Michigan State. The Illini fell from the top spot and are a game back of the leaders.

After falling behind by one early, the Buckeyes (20-6, 10-3 Big Ten) used an 18-6 run to finish the Illini (17-9, 9-4) off early.

St. John’s 69, Notre Dame 68.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — D. J. Kennedy made a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left and St. John’s held on to win 69-68 Sunday night for its first Big East road win of the season.

It was the second straight win for St. John’s (14-10, 4-8) after five straight losses. The Fighting Irish (17-9, 6-7) couldn’t win without Luke Harangody, who was out with a deep bone bruise to his right knee. Notre Dame’s Tory Jackson missed a pair of 3-pointers in the closing seconds.

Tim Abromaitis led the Irish with 24 points. His 3-pointer with 90 seconds left put the Irish ahead 66-64.

Dwight Hardy, who led the Red Storm with 16, made a 3 with 57 seconds left to give St. John’s a 67-66 lead. But Tyrone Nash, who had a career-high 16, made two free throws with 38 seconds left to put Notre Dame back in front.

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