NO. 1 SYRACUSE 79, VILLANOVA 66
PHILADELPHIA — Dion Waiters scored 20 points and No. 1 Syracuse remained undefeated with a win over Villanova on Wednesday night.
James Southerland added 15 points for the balanced Orange, who are 18-0 for the second straight season. The Orange (5-0 Big East) used a 20-2 run to dominate the struggling Wildcats.
Villanova (8-9, 1-4) lost for the fourth time in five games and has put its streak of seven straight NCAA tournaments in serious jeopardy. Mouphtaou Yarou had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats.
The Orange had this win wrapped up by halftime, even as their starting five accounted for only 18 points. Yet, the Orange held a 19-point lead because Waiters, the top reserve in the Big East, had his way with the Wildcats, hitting a pair of 3s and scoring 14 points.

NO. 2 KENTUCKY 68, AUBURN 53
AUBURN, Ala. — Anthony Davis and Doron Lamb scored 14 points apiece, and Kentucky finished an uneven performance with a flourish to beat Auburn.
The Wildcats (16-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) had a 23-6 closing run for their second straight 15-point league win. They didn’t take a double-digit lead over the Tigers (10-6, 0-2) until Davis scored on an alley-oop pass from Lamb with 1:31 left.
Rob Chubb had 14 points and eight rebounds for Auburn, which held the Wildcats to 40.4 percent (23 of 57) shooting and won the battle of the boards 35-29.

NO. 9 MISSOURI 76, IOWA STATE 69
AMES, Iowa — Matt Pressey led five players in double figures with 14 points and Missouri bounced back from its first loss of the season to beat Iowa.
Phil Pressey and Ricardo Ratliffe each added 12 points for the Tigers (15-1, 2-1 Big 12).
Missouri pushed a four-point lead to 72-66 on Ratliffe’s hook shot with 32 seconds left. Iowa State’s Chris Allen responded with a quick 3, but Marcus Denmon nailed four straight free throws to put the Cyclones away.
Scott Christopherson had 19 points and Allen scored 17 for Iowa State (12-4, 2-1).

NO. 13 MICHIGAN 66, NORTHWESTERN 64, OT
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Trey Burke scored 19 points — including Michigan’s last eight of overtime — to help the Wolverines hold off Northwestern.
The Wildcats trailed 66-63 when Alex Marcotullio was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 0.3 seconds remaining. After missing the first free throw and making the second, he intentionally missed the third but Northwestern (11-5, 1-3 Big Ten) was unable to tip in the rebound.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points for Michigan (14-3, 4-1), but it was his foul that put Marcotullio on the line.
John Shurna had 21 points for Northwestern and Drew Crawford added 20.

NO. 25 MARQUETTE 83, ST. JOHN’S 64
MILWAUKEE — Davante Gardner had career bests with 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead Marquette over St. John’s.
Gardner scored 14 of his points in the first half, and Darius Johnson-Odom took over after halftime with 18 of his 20 in the second for the Golden Eagles (13-4, 2-2 Big East).
Marquette returned home for the first time since losing road games at top-ranked Syracuse and then-No. 9 Georgetown last week.
God’sgift Achiuwa scored 20 points and Moe Harkless had 17 for St. John’s (8-8, 2-3), which has faced three opponents in the top 15 in its last four games.