No. 6 Villanova routs DePaul 99-72

DePaul coach Jerry Wainwright compared No. 6 Villanova to a vicious Mike Tyson in his prime.

"Run across the ring and try and knock someone out," he said.

If the Wildcats were Tyson, then DePaul was flattened like Michael Spinks. This one was never in doubt.

Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points, Maalik Wayns had 18 and the Wildcats cruised to another big home victory, 99-72 on Wednesday night in Villanova, Pa.

"They're not difficult to coach, they want to use our depth to our advantage and it's fun," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

The Wildcats (13-1, 2-0 Big East) won their 34th straight game at their campus home, the Pavilion. Villanova's last loss there was against DePaul three years ago to the day.

The Blue Demons (7-8, 0-3) never put up a fight in their second straight loss to a top 15 conference opponent. They trailed 15-3 only 41/2 minutes into the game and were later down 37-10.

DePaul dropped its 22nd straight regular-season Big East game.

Villanova would have KO'd any team with its first-half shooting. Reggie Redding hit consecutive 3s during a 15-0 run and the Wildcats made 14 of their first 19 shots. The Wildcats went 6 of 8 on 3-pointers during the stretch that all but put this win away.

Even when DePaul hustled, caught up with a streaking Wildcat and appeared to make a positive play, it didn't work out. Reynolds was nabbed from behind on a fastbreak layup and a DePaul defender got a hand on the shot. The tipped ball went straight up - and plopped through the net for a 51-24 lead.

Mac Koshwal had 17 points and 11 rebounds for DePaul, Nate Rogers scored 14 points and Will Walker added 13.

"Usually we have a little bit better game," Wainwright said. "They came out and knocked us right out. They really shoot the ball well. That's not the strength of our team right now."

The Blue Demons, who only lost by 2 to Villanova last season, opened the game with a 3-pointer. They ended Villanova's 15-0 run with a 3-pointer. And those were the first-half highlights for a program struggling to find its way in a Big East loaded with Top 25 teams.

"We've never beaten DePaul like that," Wright said. "That was encouraging."

Duke 85, Iowa State 65: Jon Scheyer celebrated a homecoming with 31 points and No. 5 Duke (13-1) pulled away in the second half to beat Iowa State (10-4) at the United Center.

Scheyer, a Glenbrook North grad, shot 10 of 19 and had four 3-pointers to lead Duke.

Scheyer's 3-pointer with the shot clocking running down extended the Blue Devils' lead to 50-35 early in second half. His three-point play about seven minutes in put the Blue Devils up 19 as they opened the second half with a 17-6 run.

Marquette 62, Georgetown 59: Jimmy Butler made 2 free throws with 7.5 seconds left and Marquette (10-5, 1-2 Big East) finally won a close game, upsetting No. 12 Georgetown. Chris Wright missed a 3-pointer that would tied it with one second left for the Hoyas (11-2, 2-1).

Marquette lost two games in the closing seconds to Top 10 teams in the past 10 days and was 0-4 in games decided by 4 points or less.

Michigan St. 54, Wisconsin 47: Chris Allen scored 16 points and Draymond Green had 11, helping No. 10 Michigan State hold off No. 17 Wisconsin in East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans (12-3, 2-0 Big Ten) did not trail, but they could not put the pesky Badgers (12-3, 2-1) away in a closely contested defensive struggle.

Jon Leuer scored 18 of his 21 points after halftime to keep Wisconsin in the game.

Ohio St. 79, Indiana 54: Jon Diebler scored 21 points and Evan Turner returned early from an injury to give Ohio State (11-4, 1-2) a boost in a victory over visiting Indiana (7-7, 1-1).

NIU 99, Chicago St. 93: Xavier Silas scored a game-high 24 points and visiting Northern Illinois (4-8) held off a late rally by Chicago State (5-11). Mike DiNunno added a season-high 20 points and Darion "Jake" Anderson posted 14 points and 6 rebounds for Northern Illinois, which led 50-30 at halftime.

Illinois State 82, Evansville 63: Jackie Carmichael scored 20 points to lead four Illinois State (12-3, 3-1 Missouri Valley) players in double figures as the Redbirds defeated host Evansville (6-8, 0-4).

Kansas 71, Cornell 66: Kansas (14-0) overcame a rare off night from the field - 36 percent - and shoddy defense in the first half, making just enough plays down the stretch in one of the toughest victories during its 51-game home winning streak.

Cornell (12-3), the two-time Ivy League champion, dictated the game from the start. The Big Red kept the fast-breaking Jayhawks grounded by turning it into a grind. Never intimidated by playing in one of college basketball's most famous gyms, the Big Red forced Kansas to grit one out at Allen Fieldhouse instead of running away with another easy win.