SOUTH BEND—Tim Abromaitis scored 30 points, Luke Harangody added 24 and Ben Hansbrough had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to pace Notre Dame to an 87-77 win over DePaul on Saturday.The Fighting Irish (15-5, 4-3 Big East), who ended a two-game losing streak, started the game with a 7-0 run, and the Blue Demons never got closer than five. DePaul used a 7-2 run to close to 77-71 with 69 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Mike Stovall.But Harangody scored on an alley-oop pass from Abromaitis with 59 seconds left, then added two free throws with 49 seconds left to put the game way.Notre Dame didn’t commit its first turnover until Hansbrough had the ball stolen with 10:32 left in the game. The Irish finished with a season-low two turnovers.Will Walker led DePaul (8-11, 1-6) with a career-high 35 points on 15-of-30 shooting.
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SYRAC– USE—Wes Johnson scored 22 points, including a momentum-bursting alley-oop, and added 15 rebounds to lead fifth-ranked Syracuse to a 76-71 win over Marquette on Saturday.Kris Joseph added 14 points for the Orange (19-1, 6-1 Big East) in picking up the slack after the Golden Eagles completely shut down Andy Rautins, who was held scoreless.The Orange’s hot start to this season marks the fifth time in program history — and fourth under coach Jim Boeheim — that Syracuse has won 19 of its first 20 games.The Orange have won six straight since an 82-72 home loss to Pittsburgh on Jan. 2.Darius Johnson-Odom scored 17 and Lazar Hayward added 16 for Marquette (11-8, 2-5), which lost its seventh straight road game. Though they’ve won two games at neutral sites this season, the Golden Eagles haven’t won a true road game since a 78-72 win at Georgetown last Feb. 21.After trailing by as many as 16 points, Marquette rallied to within 70-64 when Jimmy Butler completed a three-point play with 2:09 left, and Johnson-Odom hit a 3-pointer 18 seconds later.The Golden Eagles never got closer until Maurice Acker hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left.
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Gordon Hayward scored 25 points Saturday to lead Butler to an 84-55 victory over UIC.Hayward was 10-for-16 from the field and led the Bulldogs (16-4, 9-0 Horizon) with eight rebounds. Butler shot 56 percent from the field in the game and 13 players scored for the Bulldogs.Hayward scored 17 in the first half when Butler built a 37-26 lead. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 32 points with a minute to play. Butler scored 23 points off 13 UIC turnovers.Jeremy Buttell had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Flames (5-14, 1-8). Zavion Neely also had 13 points for UIC, which made 38 percent of its outside shots.
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PEORIA—Sam Maniscalco led five Bradley players in double figures with 19 points as the Braves handed Evansville its 10th consecutive loss in a 74-64 decision Saturday.Andrew Warren scored 17 points for Bradley (10-9, 5-4 Missouri Valley), which won its third in a row. Chris Roberts and Will Egolf had 11 apiece, and Taylor Brown added 10.The Braves continued a trend by raising their record to 10-1 when they outshoot opponents. Bradley hit 25 of its 48 shots (52.1 percent), including 7 of 12 from 3-point range, to Evansville’s 22 of 56 (39.3 percent).The Purple Aces (6-13, 0-9) were led by Denver Holmes’ 18 points. Colt Ryan scored 12 and Kavon Lacey 10.After going ahead 7-6, Bradley led the rest of the way. The lead crested at 59-42 on Brown’s jumper with 7:45 to play.
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CARBONDALE—Anthony Booker’s layup with a minute remaining in overtime held up as the winning basket as Southern Illinois defeated Illinois State 81-80 on Saturday.ISU led 80-77 after Osiris Eldridge’s jumper with two minutes to go in the extra period, but the Redbirds didn’t score again. Justin Bocot made a pair of free throws with 1:43 left and after Eldridge missed a jumper, Booker scored for the Salukis.Eldridge, who finished with 16 points, missed three shots in the final minute for Illinois State. The game saw 15 ties and 17 lead changes.Kevin Dillard led Southern Illinois (11-7, 4-5 Missouri Valley) with 18 points. Bocot had 14 points and eight rebounds.Dinma Odiakosa and Tony Lewis also scored 16 points for Illinois State (14-6, 5-4), which forced the overtime on Lloyd Phillips’ free throws with 30 seconds left in regulation.