Ohio State’s fast start continues
LaQuinton Ross had 25 points and 12 rebounds, both career bests, and Shannon Scott added a career-high 18 points to lead No. 3 Ohio State to a 78-69 victory Tuesday at Purdue in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
The Buckeyes (14-0, 1-0) started the day as one of eight perfect teams. They finished it by matching the fourth-best start in school history.
A.J. Hammons led Purdue (10-4, 0-1) with 18 points, 16 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists in the Boilermakers’ first home loss of the season. Ronnie Jonson added 16 points for Purdue.
Michigan St. 79, Penn St. 63:Branden Dawson scored 20 points and Keith Appling had 14 to help No. 5 Michigan State beat host Penn State.Gary Harris added 13 points and Travis Tice had 12 for the Spartans (12-1, 1-0) in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Dawson led a second-half charge to help the Spartans rally from a halftime deficit and win their fifth straight game.Brandon Taylor had 18 points for the Nittany Lions (9-5, 0-1).Iowa 67, Nebraska 57:Devyn Marble had 15 points and 8 rebounds and No. 22 Iowa opened its Big Ten season with a victory over visiting Nebraska.Aaron White scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half for the Hawkeyes (12-2, 1-0).Terran Petteway had 20 points for Nebraska (8-5, 0-1), which shot a season-low 29.9 percent from the field as it lost its 14th straight game to a ranked opponent.Syracuse 70, Eastern Michigan 48:Jerami Grant scored 15 points in his first start of the season, Rakeem Christmas matched his career high with 15 points, and No. 2 Syracuse beat Eastern Michigan in the final nonconference game for both teams.Syracuse (13-0) raced to a 20-point lead in the first half, allowed the Eagles to slice it in half before the break, then regained control early in the second and won its 51st straight nonconference game in the Carrier Dome. The Orange are one of seven unbeaten teams in Division I and make their Atlantic Coast Conference debut against Miami on Saturday.C.J. Fair finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Trevor Cooney had 10 points for the Orange. Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis, second nationally in assist to turnover ratio (4.69), matched his season high with 9 assists to go with 2 turnovers and pulled down 5 rebounds but did not score.Glenn Bryant led Eastern Michigan (7-5) with 19 points.Duke 86, Elon 48:Andre Dawkins scored 15 points to help host Duke rout Elon.Rodney Hood had 13 points and freshman Jabari Parker had 12 points and a season-high-tying 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (11-2).Ryley Beaumont and Lucas Troutman scored 11 points each for Elon (7-7).