RALEIGH, N.C. — C.J. Leslie scored 25 points — including six straight during a key second-half run — to help No. 20 North Carolina State beat No. 1 Duke 84-76 on Saturday.
Richard Howell added 16 points and 18 rebounds in a relentless performance for the Wolfpack (14-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) in a matchup of the teams predicted to finish 1-2 in the league.
N.C. State was picked for the first time in nearly four decades to win the league, though two early losses drained some buzz.
No longer. Now N.C. State is back on everyone’s radar, while the Blue Devils (15-1, 2-1) are no longer unbeaten.
Seth Curry scored 22 for Duke, which shot 45 percent and hung around early by crashing the boards for second-chance baskets. But the Blue Devils had no answer after halftime for Leslie and Howell, a duo that helped the Wolfpack lead all second half.

No. 3 LOUISVILLE 64,
SOUTH FLORIDA 38
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Peyton Siva scored 17 points and Louisville held South Florida to a season-low 27 percent shooting for an easy victory.
Center Gorgui Dieng added 12 points and 16 rebounds while forward Chane Behanan had 12 rebounds and seven points for the Cardinals (15-1, 3-0 Big East), who won their 10th in a row. Behanan played just five days after injuring his left ankle in practice and missing Wednesday’s victory against Seton Hall.
Siva meanwhile bounced back from a 2-of-6 shooting effort against the Pirates to hit seven shots, including three 3-pointers. The Big East Conference preseason player of the year also surpassed 1,000 career points.
The Cardinals dominated the boards 49-24 including a 19-6 edge in offensive rebounds.
Victor Rudd came off the bench to score 10 points for South Florida (9-6, 0-3).

No. 5 INDIANA 88,
No. 8 MINNESOTA 81
INDIANAPOLIS — Victor Oladipo had 20 points and six rebounds and Jordan Hulls knocked down four 3-pointers, helping Indiana hold off Minnesota’s late charge.
The Hoosiers (15-1, 3-0 Big Ten) have won six straight overall and 18 in a row at Assembly Hall.
Minnesota (15-2, 3-1) was led by Andre Hollins with 25 points but had its 11-game winning streak snapped despite rallying from 23 points down at halftime to within 3 with 19.5 seconds left.
The game flipped midway through the first half when Hulls got the 3-pointer flurry started. He and Oladipo combined for 16 points in an 18-2 run that gave Indiana a 34-17 first-half lead. The Hoosiers extended the halftime lead to 52-29.
Minnesota rallied with a 19-7 run in the final four minutes, getting as close as 84-81 but never had a chance to tie the score.

No. 7 SYRACUSE 72, VILLANOVA 61
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — C.J. Fair had 22 points, Trevor Cooney hit a pair of 3-pointers to punctuate a late surge and Syracuse beat Villanova.
Syracuse (16-1, 4-0 Big East) has won 34 straight home games, the longest active streak in the nation in Division I. Villanova (11-5, 2-1) had its seven-game winning streak snapped.
Fresh from two straight wins on the road, the Orange played without James Southerland. The senior, the Orange’s second-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game in his key role off the bench, is out until further notice because of an eligibility matter, the university said in a statement released just before the game. He sat on the bench in street clothes.

No. 11 FLORIDA 74, LSU 52
BATON ROUGE, La. — Kenny Boynton scored 20 points and Florida used a 31-6 run across the halves to rout LSU.
Patric Young had 14 points for the Gators (12-2, 2-0 SEC). Boynton’s perimeter shooting and Young’s interior play were instrumental in Florida controlling the offensive end.
The Tigers (9-4, 0-2) stuck around well into the first half before Florida broke a 19-all tie with a 10-1 run to end the half, punctuated by Scottie Wilbekin’s jumper at the buzzer.
Anthony Hickey scored 15 points for LSU, who have lost 4 of 7 after starting the season with six-straight wins.

WISCONSIN 74, No. 12 ILLINOIS 51
MADISON, Wis. — Jared Berggren scored 15 points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds, and Traevon Jackson added a career-best 14 points to lead Wisconsin over Illinois.
The Badgers (12-4, 3-0 Big Ten) scored the game’s first 14 points and led by 20 at halftime on the way to their sixth straight win.
It was a stunning performance from a team that scored just 47 in the previous game against Nebraska, but a supposedly slow and methodical team locked into a higher gear and ended the suspense almost as soon as the game began.
The Badgers outshot Illinois 49.1 percent to 35.3 percent, making 10 of 23 3-pointers, and outrebounded the Illini 43-24.

No. 14 BUTLER 79, DAYTON 73
DAYTON, Ohio — Roosevelt Jones scored 16 points and Butler extended its best start in four years beating Dayton for its 11th straight victory despite losing its top scorer to injury.
The Bulldogs (14-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10) lost guard Rotnei Clarke, who hit the padded backboard support hard after an intentional foul at 8:13 at the first half and was taken off the court on a stretcher. He was moving his legs and gave a thumbs-up sign as he left the court.
The Bulldogs’ depth pulled them through against Dayton (10-6, 0-2), which has lost four of its last six and fell to 7-3 on its home court.
The Bulldogs are off to their best start since they won 19 of their first 20 games during the 2008-09 season. It’s unclear how long they’ll miss Clark3, who averages 17 points and was hurt on an intentional foul at 8:13 of the first half.

CONNETICUT 65, NOTRE DAME 58
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Shabazz Napier scored 19 points, Tyler Olander scored 12 of his career-high 16 points in the second half and Connecticut ended the game with a 7-0 run to beat Notre Dame, ending a 12-game winning streak by the Fighting Irish.
After Eric Atkins scored six straight points for the Irish to tie the score at 58 with a basket inside, Ryan Boatright made four straight free throws for Connecticut and DeAndre Daniels added a basket and a free throw to put the game away. The Huskies (12-3, 2-1) are the only team to beat the Irish (14-2, 2-1) at home in the past 48 games dating back to the end of the 2009-10 season. It also marked the third time in recent years the Huskies have ended a long home winning streak by the Irish.
The loss Saturday ended a 17-game home winning streak for the Irish. Last year the Huskies ended a 29-game streak. The Huskies also ended Notre Dame’s school-record 45-game home streak in 2009.

No. 19 GEORGETOWN 67, ST. JOHN’S 51
NEW YORK — Otto Porter had 19 points and a season-high 14 rebounds and No. 19 Georgetown broke out of its scoring funk with a victory over St. John’s.
Martel Starks had 17 points for the Hoyas (11-3, 1-2 Big East), who had lost two straight games and scored 48 points in both. There was plenty of offense from them in this game as they continued their great defense in taking a 36-19 halftime lead after being up by as many as 33-10.
Georgetown reached 48 points with 13:36 to play and it had a 21-point lead. The Hoyas’ biggest lead of the game was 26 points.

No. 25 NEW MEXICO 72, FRESNO STATE 45
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Alex Kirk had 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and No. 25 New Mexico played without leading scorer Kendall Williams for disciplinary reasons in a rout over Fresno State.
Cameron Bairstow matched his career high with 16 points, including 15 in the first half. Kirk and Bairstow, who made his first six shots, combined for nine points in a 16-2 run that gave the Lobos their largest halftime lead of the season at 39-22.
Fresno State (6-9, 0-2, Mountain West) had cut the lead to 23-20 with six straight points before the Lobos (15-2, 2-0) went on the game-changing run in which six different players contributed points.
Marvelle Harris was the only Bulldog in double digits with 11 points.