Boeheim ties Smith with victory No. 879

* TOP 25

Fab Melo scored a career-high 14 points in his return after a three-game absence and Jim Boeheim tied Dean Smith for third place on the victory list with win No. 879 as No. 2 Syracuse dominated St. John's (10-13, 4-7) 95-70 on Saturday at New York.

Syracuse (23-1, 10-1 Big East) rallied behind the return of the 7-foot Melo, taking a 41-27 halftime lead and blowing it open by starting the second half on a 16-3 run in front of a sellout crowd of 19,979 at Madison Square Garden, most of whom were wearing orange.

Melo missed the last three games as he resolved an academic issue. He had been allowed to practice with the team and he looked ready from the start of his first game back, once again a force in the middle on the back line of the 2-3 zone.

No. 1 Kentucky 86, South Carolina 52: At Columbia, S.C., Anthony Davis had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks as Kentucky (23-1, 9-0 SEC) routed South Carolina (9-13, 1-7).

No. 3 Ohio State 58, No. 19 Wisconsin 52: At Madison, Wis., Jared Sullinger scored 24 points and William Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping Ohio State (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) beat the Badgers (18-6, 7-4).

No. 4 Missouri 74, No. 8 Kansas 71: At Columbia, Mo., Marcus Denmon hit three 3-pointers in the final 2:05, the last for the go-ahead points, as Missouri fought off Kansas in Game 1 of what could be the schools' final border showdown.

Denmon scored 29 points, two off his career best, and ended a long-range shooting slump with a career-best six 3-pointers in nine attempts.

Missouri (21-2, 8-2 Big 12) beat Kansas for only the second time in the last 12 meetings, and the Tigers' impending departure for the SEC added spice to the final conference meeting in Columbia, Mo.

Thomas Robinson had 25 points and 13 rebounds for Kansas (18-5, 8-2).

No. 5 North Carolina 83, Maryland 74: At College Park, Md., Tyler Zeller scored 22 points, John Henson had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and North Carolina (20-3, 7-1) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half to squeeze past Maryland (13-9, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).

No. 6 Baylor 64, Oklahoma 60: At Stillwater, Okla., Perry Jones III had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Quincy Acy provided the go-ahead basket and a key offensive rebound down the stretch and Baylor (21-2, 8-2 Big 12) edged Oklahoma State (11-12, 4-6).

No. 10 Murray State 65, Tennessee-Martin 58: At Martin, Tenn., Isaiah Canaan, Latreze Mushatt and Jewuan Long each scored 11 points and Murray State (23-0, 11-0 Ohio Valley Conference) beat the Skyhawks (3-22, 0-12) to remain the lone undefeated men's team in Division I.

Wyoming 68, No. 11 UNLV 66: At Laramie, Wyo., Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz scored 16 points apiece and Wyoming (18-5, 4-3 Mountain West Conference) throttled UNLV's (21-4, 5-2) high-scoring offense.

No. 12 Florida 73, No. 25 Vanderbilt 65: At Gainesville, Fla., Kenny Boynton scored 18 points, Bradley Beal added 16 and Florida (19-4, 7-1) beat Vanderbilt (16-7, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) for its seventh consecutive victory.

Northern Iowa 65, No. 13 Creighton 62: At Cedar Falls, Iowa, Anthony James buried a 3 at the buzzer as Northern Iowa (16-9, 6-7 Missouri Valley Conference) upset Creighton (21-3, 11-2), snapping the Bluejays' 11-game winning streak.

No. 14 Georgetown 75, South Florida 45: At Washington, Henry Sims scored 13 points and had nine rebounds, and Georgetown (18-4, 8-3 Big East) routed South Florida (13-10, 6-4).

Notre Dame 76, No. 15 Marquette 59: At South Bend, Ind., freshman Pat Connaughton had 23 points and 11 rebounds as Notre Dame (15-8, 7-3 Big East) made 11 3-pointers and beat Marquette (19-5, 8-3).

No. 17 San Diego State 83, TCU 73: At San Diego, Jamaal Franklin had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead San Diego State (20-3, 6-1) past TCU (13-9, 3-4 Mountain West Conference), giving the Aztecs their seventh straight 20-win season.

No. 20 Indiana 78, Purdue 61: At West Lafayette, Ind., Victor Oladipo scored a career-high 23 points to help Indiana (18-6, 6-6 Big Ten) defeat Purdue (15-8, 5-5) and break a five-game losing streak to its in-state rival.

No. 21 Florida State 58, No. 16 Virginia 55: At Tallahassee, Fla., reserve Okaro White scored 13 points and Xavier Gibson added 10 as Florida State (16-6, 7-1) held off Virginia (17-4, 4-4) to keep a share of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with its seventh straight league victory.

No. 22 Mississippi State 91, Auburn 88: At Starkville, Miss., Arnett Moultrie scored 21 points, Renardo Sidney added 17 and Mississippi State (18-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) beat Auburn (13-10, 3-6).

* Pac-12

Arizona 56, Stanford 43: At Stanford, Calif., Kyle Fogg scored 14 points to help Arizona (16-8, 7-4 Pac-12) beat Stanford (16-7, 6-5).

Jesse Perry added 11 points and Nick Johnson and Solomon Hill had 10 each for the Wildcats, who have won two in a row for the first time since a three-game winning streak at the end of December.

California 68, Arizona State 47: At Berkeley, Calif., Allen Crabbe scored 19 points before injuring his right ankle in the second half to help California beat Arizona State (7-16, 3-8).

Jorge Gutierrez added 10 points and five rebounds for the Golden Bears (18-6, 8-3 Pac 12), who bounced back with their most lopsided win of the season two days after being knocked out of first place in the conference.

Crabbe, Cal's leading scorer and the conference freshman of the year in 2011, was hurt while diving to the floor for a loose ball. He was taken to the locker room with 14:37 remaining but returned and made a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 56-28 lead before sitting out the final nine minutes.

Oregon State 76, Utah 58: At Salt Lake City, Jared Cunningham scored 20 points and Oregon State's (15-8, 5-6 Pac-12) defense registered 16 steals en route to a victory over Utah (5-18, 2-9).

Colorado 72, Oregon 71: At Boulder, Colo., Nate Tomlinson was fouled with one second remaining by E.J. Singler and sank the first free throw before deliberately missing the second to give Colorado (16-7, 8-3) a win over Oregon (16-7, 7-4 Pac-12).

Oregon's Olu Ashaolu tied it at 71 with 7.6 seconds left and was fouled by Askia Booker, but he missed the free throw, and Andre Roberson corralled the rebound for Colorado.

Washington 69, Southern California 41: At Seattle, Tony Wroten had 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and the Huskies (16-7, 9-2 Pac-12) routed the Trojans (6-18, 1-10).

New Mexico State 83, Louisiana Tech 72: At Las Cruces, N.M., Hamidu Rahman scored 20 points to lead New Mexico State (17-7, 6-2) past Louisiana Tech (11-12, 3-5 Western Athletic Conference).

Fresno State 60, Utah State 54: At Fresno, Calif., Kevin Olekaibe scored a game-high 26 points and the Bulldogs (11-14, 3-6 WAC) beat Utah State (12-12, 4-5).

Hawaii 83, San Jose State 81, OT: At San Jose, Calif., Joston Thomas scored 29 points and Hawaii (13-9, 5-3 WAC) beat the Spartans (7-16, 0-8).

San Diego 70, Santa Clara 65: At San Diego, Johnny Dee scored 19 points to lead San Diego (9-14, 4-7) past Santa Clara (8-15, 0-10 West Coast Conference), running the Broncos' losing streak to 11 games.

Loyola Marymount 90, San Francisco 88: At Los Angeles, Drew Viney had 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Lions (15-9, 8-3 WCC) past the Dons (15-10, 5-6).

BYU 79, Portland 60: At Portland, Ore., Brandon Davies had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead BYU (20-6, 8-3 WCC) past Portland (6-18, 3-8).

* NORTHWEST

Montana 67, Montana State 58: At Bozeman, Mont., Kareem Jamar scored 21 points and Derek Selvig added 15 to lead Montana (16-6, 9-1 Big Sky Conference) past the Bobcats (11-11, 6-5).

Former Post Falls High standout Shawn Reid came off the bench to record nine points, four rebounds and two steals for the Bobcats.