WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Gary Harris scored 25 points, Adreian Payne added 23 and No. 13 Michigan State hit a school-record 17 three-pointers in a 94-79 victory over Purdue on Thursday night.
Harris and Payne combined to make 10 three-pointers for the Spartans (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten), who made 13 threes in the first half.
Kendall Stephens had 19 points and Ronnie Johnson added 17 for the Boilermakers (15-11, 5-8), who have lost two of three.
Payne scored eight points to open the second half, including a three-pointer, to give the Spartans a 57-43 lead.
Denzel Valentine converted a three-point play and made two free throws before connecting with Harris on an alley-oop pass to give Michigan State a 66-47 lead with 14:07 remaining.
Payne scored eight of Michigan State’s first 10 points of the game, making two free throws and two three-pointers.
The Spartans shot 63.6 percent from the field, were 8 of 11 from the free throw line, and did most of their damage from three-point range.
They had just one twopoint field goal in the first half.
The 17 three-pointers were the most made by the Spartans this season since making 14 against Virginia Tech on Nov. 22.
It was the most the Boilermakers have given up since Northern Kentucky made 13 in the season opener.
NORTH CAROLINA 74, NO. 5 DUKE 66
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Marcus Paige scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including two big baskets in the final 2½ minutes, to help North Carolina beat No. 5 Duke in the rivalry’s weather-delayed game.
Senior Leslie McDonald added a season-high 21 points for the Tar Heels (19-7, 9-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who rallied from 11 down in the second half to snap a two-game home losing streak to the Blue Devils (21-6, 10-4).
It was North Carolina’s eighth consecutive victory and by far its most impressive during the run that has helped the Tar Heels dig out from an 0-3 ACC start.
NO. 21 UCONN 68, TEMPLE 55
PHILADELPHIA - Shabazz Napier had17 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists as No. 21 Connecticut denied Temple its second consecutive upset over a nationally ranked team.
Ryan Boatright added 14 points and DeAndre Daniels had 13 for the Huskies (21-5, 9-4 American Athletic Conference), who won their fourth consecutive despite shooting 2 for 13 from three-point range.
Quenton DeCosey scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for Temple (7-18, 2-11).
NO. 22 MEMPHIS 64, RUTGERS 59
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Michael Dixon Jr. scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half and No. 22 Memphis led from start to finish in a victory over Rutgers.
The Tigers (20-6, 9-4 American Athletic), coming off an overtime loss at No. 21 Connecticut on Saturday, got 11 points from Joe Jackson and 10 each from Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols.
Kadeem Jack had 18 of his 22 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (10-17, 4-10), while Myles Mack and Malick Kone had 10 points apiece.
SEC MEN TEXAS A&M 63, ALABAMA 48
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Jamal Jones scored 19 points as Texas A&M defeated Alabama.
The Aggies led 24-23 at halftime but built a 10-point lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half thanks to a combined 17 points from Jones and Alex Caruso - who finished with 14 points. The Aggies (15-11 overall, 6-7 SEC), trying to make the postseason for the first time under third-year Coach Billy Kennedy, rebounded from a 57-54 overtime loss at Vanderbilt on Saturday.
The reeling Crimson Tide (10-16, 4-9), led by guard Trevor Releford’s 20 points, lost their second consecutive contest and have dropped six of their last seven under fifth-year coach Anthony Grant.
SUN BELT MEN ARKANSAS STATE 83, TEXAS-ARLINGTON 60
JONESBORO - Kirk Van Slyke and Arkansas State got back on track Thursday night.
Van Slyke scored 23 points and had six rebounds and ASU bounced back from a Saturday loss to beat Texas-Arlington (11-14, 6-7) at the Convocation Center.
Van Slyke, ASU’s senior forward, made 7 of 8 three-pointers in topping 20 points for the seventh time this season, but the first time since a Jan. 11 victory over South Alabama. Van Slyke hasn’t had more than 17 points in the seven games since, and his per-game scoring average had dipped from 17.6 to 15.7 before Thursday night.
He made two three-pointers in the game’s first three minutes to give ASU (15-9, 8-5) a 6-2 lead, which grew to as much as 18 points in the first half and the Red Wolves led 42-30 at halftime.
Cameron Golden added 14 points for ASU, while Brandon Reed and Melvin Johnson III each added 13. ASU made 16 of 30 threes as a team.
Sports, Pages 23 on 02/21/2014