Pittsburgh Turns Page on Syracuse

Julius Page scored 21 points, mostly from long range, and Pittsburgh overwhelmed No. 12-ranked Syracuse, 72-57, Tuesday night at Pittsburgh.

The Panthers (17-3, 5-2 Big East) defeated the Orangemen (16-4, 5-1) in their on-campus field house for the first time since 1982-83, their first Big East season.

Pittsburgh, limiting opponents to a Division I-leading 57 points per game, reached its defensive average while holding Syracuse 20 points below its scoring average.

“They get everyone involved defensively--their guards rebound, and they do it as a team,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said.

Pittsburgh outrebounded Syracuse, 43-18.

Preston Shumpert led the Orangemen with 17 points and James Thues had 15, but no Syracuse player had more than four rebounds.

No. 4 Cincinnati 54, Saint Louis 50--Steve Logan scored 25 points at St. Louis and the Bearcats (18-1, 6-0 Conference USA) survived the closest challenge during their 18-game winning streak.

Jason Edwin had 15 points for Saint Louis (9-10, 3-3).

Cincinnati appeared to take control at the end of the first half, finishing with a 15-0 run for a 30-23 lead.

Saint Louis slowed the tempo and led, 20-11, with 7:22 remaining in the half, but the Billikens were scoreless in the last 5:19 of the half.

No. 7 Virginia 69, Georgia Tech 65--Travis Watson made the go-ahead basket with 1:12 to play, and Elton Brown scored a career-high 20 points for the Cavaliers (13-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Atlanta.

Clarence Moore and Ed Nelson each had 15 points for Georgia Tech (7-12, 0-6), off to its worst start in the conference in 21 seasons.

The 1980-81 team finished 0-14, its second season in the ACC.

No. 8 Kentucky 69, Auburn 62--Marquis Estill scored 21 points for the Wildcats (13-4, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) at Auburn, Ala.

Marquis Daniels led Auburn (9-8, 1-5) with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tigers, the SEC’s lowest-scoring team, were five for 23 from three-point range, but Kentucky missed 17 of 33 free throws to keep Auburn in the game.

Auburn started the second half shooting two for 15 with seven turnovers, but it still took Kentucky nine minutes to increase its seven-point halftime lead.

Estill capped an 11-0 spurt with six consecutive points for a 50-36 lead with 10:24 left.

*

WOMEN’S TOP 25

No. 13 Texas 73, Missouri 51--Freshman Kala Bowers reached a career high for the third consecutive game, scoring 20 points for the Longhorns (14-3, 6-1 Big 12) at Austin, Texas.

Bowers also had 10 rebounds, a career high.

Missouri (12-5, 3-3) led by 10 points midway through the first half, but failed to score in the final 6:12 of the half.