By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer ADVERTISING PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence put Big East basketball on display Wednesday night, when it honored former coach and conference founder Dave Gavitt. What the Friars couldn’t do is pull out a victory over
By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Providence put Big East basketball on display Wednesday night, when it honored former coach and conference founder Dave Gavitt. What the Friars couldn’t do is pull out a victory over No. 1 Syracuse.
The Friars trailed the top-ranked team in the country by two points at halftime before Syracuse guard Brandon Triche began making 3-pointers to help the Orange pull away to an 87-73 victory.
It was the kind of competition that Gavitt made possible when he pulled together a bunch of disparate schools to form the Big East.
“I think there would be no Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, no Syracuse winning a national championship,” said Boeheim, the Syracuse coach. “Dave Gavitt is the only guy that could have put together the Big East. … If we could have just stayed basketball, we could have had the greatest basketball league ever, forever. But unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.”
As head coach, Gavitt took Providence to the NCAA tournament five times and to the 1973 Final Four. He was the head of USA Basketball for the creation of the Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics. He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2006.
For their first conference home game since Gavitt died on Sept. 16, the Friars observed a moment of silence before the tipoff and played was a video tribute at halftime. Earlier in the day, the city renamed a street near the arena “Dave Gavitt Way.” The Friars had previously named their court for him, and they are wearing “DG” patches on their jerseys this season.
“He made us all, and he did it in a way that never hurt anybody’s feelings ever, and was respected by every side,” Boeheim said. “He’s the greatest man I’ve ever known, and we owe everything to him. Everything.”
For one half, Providence (11-5, 0-3) looked like it might be able to add an upset to the festivities. Then Triche hit three consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half to help the Orange pull away.
Triche finished with 16 points, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and Syracuse shot 73 percent from the field in the second half.
“It was the best shooting night we’ve had all year. If it hadn’t happened that way, the game could have easily gone the other way,” Boeheim said. “We’ve stopped everybody, pretty much, this year. We couldn’t stop them. We just outscored them. You know, Brandon just got going and he made some tough shots.”
Scoop Jardine added 10 points and 11 assists for Syracuse.
It is the second consecutive season the Orange (16-0, 3-0) have opened with 16 straight wins. Last season’s team went 18-0 before its first loss.
Gerard Coleman and Vincent Council each scored 17 points for Providence, and LaDontae Henton had 11 points and 13 rebounds. The Friars were playing the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since beating top-ranked Pittsburgh 81-73 in Providence in 2009.
“That was a good basketball game. I’m proud of my team,” said Providence coach Ed Cooley, who is in his first year after taking over a team that went 4-14 in the Big East last year. “I’m not in it to be congratulated on a loss. We want to win. This process takes time. At the end of the day it’s about winning the basketball game.”
Providence took its last lead of the game when Council was fouled making a 3-pointer with 1:46 left in the first half. He made the free throw to give the Friars a 34-33 lead, but Triche hit a 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 36-34 halftime lead.
It was 40-38 with 2 minutes gone in the second half when the Orange scored nine straight points, capped by Triche’s 3-pointer. After Brice Kofane made one of two free throws, Triche hit another 3-pointer and then added another that made it 55-41 with 15 minutes left.
“Just trying to be aggressive,” Triche said. “After I hit a few shots, plays were being called for me.”
Henton hit a 3-pointer to make it 62-55 with just under 10 minutes left, but he missed two free throws that could have cut it to five points after being fouled on a fourth-chance put-back. Triche drove for a layup, then Council was called for a charge; James Southerland made a 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 67-55 lead.
Providence made it a six-point game, 70-64 with 5:33 left, but Dion Waiters made a scoop shot and then Bryce Cotton was called for a charge. Waiters hit a 3-pointer to make it an 11-point game.
“It was unfortunate that when he had the game close, we missed a free throw, a couple of offensive fouls,” Cooley said. “It goes from 6 to 11 like that.”
TEMPLE 78, NO. 5 DUKE 73
PHILADELPHIA — Khalif Wyatt scored 22 points and Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson had 17 to lead Temple to the upset.
Using tough man-to-man defense that limited Duke’s long-range shots, the Owls (10-3) grabbed the lead for good midway through the first half. When the Blue Devils (12-2) crept within three points late, Wyatt hit consecutive 3-pointers for a 66-57 lead.
The Owls had lost nine straight times to Duke, and hadn’t beat the Blue Devils since Jan. 25, 1996. This gave the Owls a win over a Top 10 teams for the fourth straight season, all in Philadelphia.
Mason Plumlee had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who lost for the first time since a Nov. 29 game at Ohio State.
NO. 9 GEORGETOWN 73
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 70
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jason Clark scored 26 points and Hollis Thompson’s tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds left capped Georgetown’s comeback from a 17-point deficit.
The Hoyas (13-1, 3-0 Big East) ran their winning streak to 11 games, their longest in five years. They got 16 points from Thompson, 13 from Henry Sims, and key contributions from four freshmen who played significant minutes in the second half.
Marquette (12-3, 1-1) lost for the third time in five games, despite 18 points from Darius Johnson-Odom, 17 from Jae Crowder, and 16 from Todd Mayo.
The Golden Eagles led 43-29 at halftime and stretched that to 56-39 on Mayo’s 3-pointer with 13:10 left. But Clark brought Georgetown back, making 6 of 7 shots in the second half, when he scored 18 points.
When the game was tied at 70-all Thompson made his biggest shot of the game. Johnson-Odom and Crowder both got late looks at potential tying 3s.
NO. 14 KANSAS 67
NO. 23 KANSAS ST. 49
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Thomas Robinson had 15 points and 14 rebounds to lead Kansas.
Trailing by as many as 18 points early, the Wildcats (11-2, 0-1 Big 12) got 3-pointers from Jamar Samuels and Rodney McGruder in a 10-0 run and closed to 39-36. But Conner Teahan’s two 3-pointers triggered a rally by Kansas (11-3, 1-0) that included dunks by Robinson on consecutive possessions.
The Jayhawks went on to their 43rd victory over their state rivals in the last 46 meetings of the 272-game series.
Travis Releford had 16 points and Tyshawn Taylor had 13 as Kansas launched its campaign for an eighth straight Big 12 championship with its 21st straight conference-opening victory.
McGruder had 15 points and Samuels had 12 for Kansas State, which was only 5 for 20 from 3-point range.
The Jayhawks dominated the boards 50-26.
