Donnie Freeman scored 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting to highlight Syracuse’s 94-86 home victory over Florida State on Tuesday.

Tyler Betsey knocked down 6 of 8 3-point attempts en route to 18 points for the Orange (12-5, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Naithan George dished out 13 assists to go with eight points. J.J. Starling chipped in with 15 points for Syracuse, which has won six of its past seven games.

Florida State (7-10, 0-4) was coming off a 113-69 home loss to North Carolina State and delivered a much sharper effort in this one. However, the Seminoles still allowed the Orange to shoot 59.7% from the field and 40.7% from beyond the arc while falling for the ninth time in 11 games.

Kobe MaGee led Florida State with 20 points, while Martin Somerville had 16 points off the bench. Robert McCray V contributed 14 points but also committed half of his team’s 14 turnovers, and Lajae Jones scored 13 points.

After leading by three points at halftime, Syracuse scored the first seven points of the second half. Freeman began that push with a three-point play before William Kyle III (11 points) threw down back-to-back slams to make it 50-40.

The Orange still held a 10-point advantage before the Seminoles reeled off eight straight points to get within 57-55. Shortly thereafter, Somerville’s 3-pointer with 13:36 left brought Florida State into a 61-61 tie.

The Seminoles led by a point with 9:47 to play before Betsey’s 3-pointer ignited an 8-0 run by the Orange.

The game got close in the final minute before George’s alley-oop to Kyle with 28 seconds left essentially sealed the outcome.

Florida State jumped out to an 11-3 lead, although Syracuse caught up at 26-26. The Seminoles regained a 36-30 advantage after two MaGee 3-pointers before the Orange answered with 13 of the next 15 points.

Betsey made two 3-pointers during that surge and Freeman added one to put the hosts in front 43-38 with under a minute left in the half.

Alex Steen dunked on the other end, bringing the visitors within 43-40 at intermission.

Betsey led all scorers with 12 points at the break.

–Field Level Media

Tre White scored 19 points and freshman sensation Darryn Peterson added 16 as Kansas shocked No. 2 Iowa State 84-63 on Tuesday in a Big 12 game in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Jayhawks (12-5, 2-2) dominated the Cyclones (16-1, 3-1) from the start in ending Iowa State’s school-record 16-game winning streak.

The Cyclones have now lost eight straight in Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas built a 26-point lead in the first half, but the Cyclones were able to cut it to 11 with 13:30 left in the game.

That was as close as the Jayhawks would let Iowa State get, however.

Everything went right for Kansas as it hit 51% of its 3-point attempts (31-of-61) and had 17 assists to keep the Cyclones off balance the whole game.

Iowa State was led by Joshua Jefferson and Jamarion Batemon with 12 points each.

The Cyclones only hit 37% from the field (24-65).

This was the third straight game in which the Cyclones fell behind in the first half, but this was a whole different story.

Iowa State only shot 24% from the floor in the first half (8-of-33) and had 10 turnovers.

The Cyclones forced an average of 17 turnovers a game, but the Jayhawks only turned the ball over twice in the first half.

The Jayhawks dominated in the paint, outscoring the Cyclones 15-4 in building a shocking 44-23 lead at the break.

White led the way for Kansas with 12 points, including hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers.

Iowa State had problems from the start, with four turnovers in the first five minutes and only making one shot from the floor in the first six minutes of the game.

The Jayhawks took advantage by taking a 20-9 lead with 11:22 to go on back-to-back White 3-pointers.

At that point, the Cyclones had still only hit 3-of-9 shots and had six turnovers.

The Jayhawks extended their lead from there as the Cyclones went nearly three minutes without scoring.

Peterson scored on an 11-footer and a layup, and White hit another 3-pointer for a 29-14 Kansas lead with 8:01 left.

A Flory Bidunga hook shot made it 31-14 with 7:21 left.

–Field Level Media

Tounde Yessoufou scored a game-high 23 points Tuesday night to lead five Baylor players in double figures as the Bears stopped Oklahoma State 94-79 in Stillwater, Okla., for their first Big 12 Conference win.

Michael Rataj added 19 points and seven rebounds while Cameron Carr chipped in 17 points and six assists for the Bears (11-5, 1-3 Big 12). Obi Agbim drained five of Baylor’s 13 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, and Isaac Williams IV came off the bench to tally 14, all in the first half.

Even though it cooled off in the second half, Baylor still converted 35 of 59 shots (59.3%) from the field and canned 52% of its 3-point attempts.

Four players finished in double figures for the Cowboys (13-4, 1-3). Parsa Fallah scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half before being hampered by an apparent groin injury after the break. Anthony Roy added 17 points, Vyctorius Miller hit for 14 before fouling out and Kanye Clary contributed 13.

The Bears led for all but 36 seconds of the game, pushing the margin as high as 67-43 with 15:58 left. Oklahoma State sliced the deficit to 80-70 with 7:44 remaining on a 3-pointer by Jaylen Curry but couldn’t crawl any closer.

The pregame storyline concerned Baylor’s ability to bounce back from dropping three straight conference games, including a 77-55 decision Saturday night at home against No. 7 Houston. The Bears averaged only 59.3 points in those contests.

The Bears indicated immediately they got over that stretch of losing by scoring on their first 10 possessions. They finished the first half at a blistering 22 of 30 (73.3%) from the field, including 9 of 14 (64.3%) from the 3-point arc, and put four players in double figures.

Baylor led 57-39 at the break, giving itself the working margin it needed to make it through the second half. Oklahoma State wasn’t that bad on offense, shooting 46.9% from the floor in the opening half, but couldn’t get stops to stay close.

–Field Level Media

Thomas Haugh scored 21 points to lead No. 19 Florida to a 96-79 win over Oklahoma on Tuesday in Norman, Okla.

The Gators’ size, including the 6-foot-9 Haugh and 6-foot-10 Rueben Chinyelu, helped them dominate on the boards and in the paint.

Florida outrebounded the Sooners 43-31 and outscored them in the paint 60-22 and on second-chance points 22-12.

Chinyelu tied his career high with 19 points and had a game-high 12 rebounds.

Haugh and Chinyelu combined to go 15 of 24 from the field as the Gators shot 53.5% overall.

Boogie Fland added 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Florida.

The Sooners led early after a four-point play by Xzayvier Brown to go up 8-6.

But Brown’s 3-pointer would be the last field goal Oklahoma would hit for more than 4:30, as Florida ripped off a 29-7 run to take control.

The Sooners missed seven consecutive shots and 15 of their next 17 as the Gators’ big front-line helped them control things on both ends of the floor.

Haugh scored the final five points of the stretch.

Florida’s lead didn’t get below 18 in the second half until the final two minutes.

The Gators (12-5, 3-1 SEC) have won three consecutive games and seven of their last eight.

Oklahoma has dropped three consecutive games after winning five straight before their recent skid.

Brown led the Sooners (11-6, 1-3) with 24 points while Tae Davis added 17.

Kirill Elatontsev, who was playing just his fifth game of the season after joining the Sooners in late December following an eligibility ruling from the NCAA, had by far his most productive game.

Elatontsev finished with 17 points, going 4 of 4 from beyond the 3-point line. Elatontsev had scored just eight points and hadn’t hit a 3-pointer coming into the game.

While Elatontsev had a big game, Oklahoma’s leading scorer coming in, Nijel Pack, struggled.

Pack finished with a season-low five points on 2-of-8 shooting.

After shooting just 29% in the first half, the Sooners shot 58.6% in the second half.

–Field Level Media

Career-best outbursts from Labaron Philon Jr. and Aiden Sherrell helped No. 18 Alabama recoup from two straight Southeastern Conference losses by trouncing Mississippi State 97-82 on Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss.

Philon, a sophomore guard, poured in 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range for his first career 30-point game. Sherrell, a sophomore forward, had a career-high 22 points to go with five rebounds for the Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-2 SEC). They both shot lights out from the free-throw line with Philon shooting 9-for-10 and Sherrell 10-for-11.

Aden Holloway chipped in 15 points while Amari Allen had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

After allowing 96 and 92 points in dropping its last two games, Alabama anchored down on defense to stump the Bulldogs (10-7, 2-2) by holding them to just 36.8% (28 of 76) from the field.

Josh Hubbard tallied 23 points and Jayden Epps had 13 for Mississippi State but the pair shot a combined 11 of 31 from the field.

The Crimson Tide followed up its lowest-scoring first half of the season (36 points) by coming out hot to start the second half with a 17-5 run to open up a 53-39 lead after just four minutes expired.

Philon and Sherrell continued to push the effort against the Bulldogs behind a 16-6 run. Sherrell made a pair of free throws while Philon attacked inside again and again and the Crimson Tide’s lead ballooned to 81-59 with 8:17 to play.

The Crimson Tide shot 17 of 34 from the field and had just two turnovers to ice the 61-point second half.

Mississippi State set the tone early with staunch defense, which the Bulldogs turned into a 9-2 early run. Epps’ jumper pushed the lead to 15-6 with just over six minutes into the contest.

Alabama was in a blender, missing 16 of its first 21 shots with 10 of the misses coming from 3-point range. But after being held scoreless over two minutes, the Crimson Tide showed their high-scoring prowess with five straight field goals.

Philon made a nifty layup and big man Sherrell stepped out for a 3 as Alabama used a 12-3 run to close it to 32-27 with 4:28 remaining in the first half.

Philon made a pair of free throws to cap his 12-point half and to give Alabama its first lead since it was 1-0. The Crimson Tide’s 12-2 run to close the frame gave Alabama a 36-34 lead at the break.

The Bulldogs missed seven of eight field-goal attempts to close the half.

–Field Level Media

Milos Uzan scored 17 points as No. 7 Houston cruised to a 77-48 home win over West Virginia in a Big 12 Conference tilt Tuesday.

Emanuel Sharp added 13 points, and Joseph Tugler recorded 10 points, six rebounds and four steals. Kingston Flemings scored 10 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds, and Chris Cenac Jr. contributed seven points and 10 rebounds for Houston (16-1, 4-0 Big 12), which has won 10 straight games.

Reserve forward DJ Thomas connected on 4 of 5 3-point attempts and led West Virginia (10-6, 2-2) with 16 points. Honor Huff chipped in 13 points.

West Virginia opened the game with turnovers on consecutive possessions as the Cougars took a 10-2 lead on a Cenac dunk. The Mountaineers racked up 15 turnovers, which led to 17 Houston points. The Cougars had seven turnovers.

Houston ripped off a 15-2 run to open the game as the Mountaineers were ice cold. West Virginia shot 26% in the first half (6 of 23). Huff finally connected on a 3-pointer at the 12:11 mark as West Virginia trailed 15-5.

When Uzan, Cenac and Sharp all connected on threes in a 13-0 Houston rally, the Cougars’ lead swelled to 28-5 with 5:05 left in the first half.

A Treysen Eaglestaff three snapped the West Virginia scoring drought. Thomas followed with a pair of shots from beyond the arc as West Virginia broke into double digits and trailed 28-14.

Thomas nailed his third three of the first half as West Virginia trailed 33-18 at the break.

West Virginia chipped away at the Houston lead with a 9-0 run as an Eaglestaff three and a Brenen Lorient layup cut Houston’s lead to 38-27. But it would be the closest the Mountaineers would get the rest of the way.

Sharp ended the rally with a three to kick off an 8-0 Houston outburst as the Cougars stretched their lead to 46-27 with 14:20 remaining.

Houston put the game out of reach with a 17-0 scoring spree and took its largest lead of the night at 65-34 on an Isiah Harwell triple from the corner with 7:25 to play.

–Field Level Media

Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager each hit seven 3-pointers and No. 8 Nebraska extended the nation’s longest active win streak to 21 in a 90-55 win over Oregon on Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.

The Cornhuskers (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) turned a tie game late in the first half into a blowout by making 17 3-pointers and turning 16 Oregon turnovers into 23 points.

Sandfort, a junior, scored 28 on 9-of-15 shooting, including 7 of 11 from beyond the arc for his sixth 20-point game of the season. Frager, a freshman reserve forward, tallied a career-high 23 on 8-of-13 shooting with 7 of 11 from outside. Sam Hoiberg added 11 points, five assists and six steals.

The Cornhuskers shot 53.3% overall and were 17 of 36 (47.2%) from 3.

Oregon (8-9, 1-5) got 14 points from Wei Lin, 12 from Takai Simpkins and 10 from Nate Bittle. The Ducks played a fourth straight game without junior guard Jackson Shelstad, who was averaging 15.6 points per game before suffering a hand injury.

This is the latest in a season they’ve been below .500 since 2010-11, coach Dana Altman’s first year with the program.

Nebraska led 42-30 at halftime thanks to a 14-2 run to end the first half. The Cornhuskers quickly upped the lead to 17, extending to a 59-37 advantage on a Hoiberg 3 with 12:31 left in the second half. A 3-pointer by Sandfort made it 74-44 with 8:05 to go as Nebraska hit nine straight shots at one point.

Oregon started 9 of 13 from the field but seven turnovers led to many empty possessions early. The Ducks tied the game at 26 on a 3-pointer by Lin with 4:46 left in the first half, one of seven ties before halftime. Nebraska hit four triples in the final 3:30 before halftime to build a double-digit lead.

A win Saturday at Northwestern will match Nebraska’s best start in conference play when it began 7-0 in the Big Eight in 1965-66.

–Field Level Media

Tarris Reed Jr. tied his season high with 21 points, Alex Karaban netted 13 and Braylon Mullins scored 11 to help No. 3 UConn escape with a 69-64 victory over No. 25 Seton Hall on Tuesday in Newark, N.J.

The Huskies (17-1, 7-0 Big East) won their 13th straight game despite Seton Hall charging back from an 18-point deficit to make it a one-point game in the final minute. UConn had not won at Seton Hall since March 2021.

UConn shot 51% from the field but made just 3 of 17 3-point attempts and gave up 17 turnovers that the Pirates turned into 20 points.

Mike Williams III led Seton Hall (14-3, 4-2) with 16 points and made the team’s only 3-pointer of the night with 47 seconds left. Adam “Budd” Clark had 12 points before fouling out and Najai Hines added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Seton Hall was 0-for-13 from 3-point range to start the game before Williams drilled a second-chance three from the left corner to make it 65-64 with 47 seconds left. The Pirates outrebounded the Huskies 37-34 but had Clark and Stephon Payne foul out among their 22 fouls.

Reed led all players with nine boards.

The Huskies’ lead was 46-28 with 14:48 to play before Seton Hall, for the fourth straight game, clawed back from a double-digit deficit. The Pirates continually got to the free-throw line, trimming it to 56-50 with eight minutes left and 60-54 when Trey Parker had a steal and layup.

Mullins, a freshman, hit a tough paint floater in response, but two minutes later Parker snatched the ball from Mullins and took it the length of the floor, finishing with an acrobatic up-and-under to make it 62-56 with 3:47 to go.

Parker’s o-board and putback cut it to four, and Elijah Fisher forced a UConn turnover in the backcourt that led to Clark’s midrange jumper to make it 62-60 with 2:18 left.

UConn failed to make a field goal for the final 5:41 following Mullins’ shot, but it inched away with free throws. After Williams’ huge triple made it 65-64 with 48 seconds left, Silas Demary Jr. salted it away with a 4 for 4 showing at the line.

Demary finished with eight points and seven assists.

The first half was contested within three points until UConn’s 16-2 run to end the half. The Pirates were held without a made field goal for the final 7:04, missing their final six shots.

Solo Ball ran out in transition for a high-flying dunk that established UConn’s 35-22 halftime advantage.

–Field Level Media

Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 19 of his career-high 23 points in the first half to lead No. 12 Michigan State to an 81-60 home win over Indiana in a Big Ten contest on Tuesday.

Fears went 8 of 14 from the field and added 10 assists for Michigan State (15-2, 5-1 Big Ten), which finished a three-game homestand 3-0.

Jaxon Kohler had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Scott and Kur Teng each added 11 points off the bench for Michigan State.

The Spartans went 8 of 26 from 3-point range (30.8%), but made 19 of 27 from inside the arc and went 19 of 24 from the free-throw line.

Lamar Wilkerson scored 19 points and went 5 of 11 from 3-point range in defeat for Indiana (12-5, 3-3), which dropped its second straight.

Indiana went 10 of 31 from long distance and was outrebounded 37-19 by the Spartans.

The game was tied at 53-53 with 11:19 remaining, but Michigan State pulled ahead with a 19-0 run, taking a 72-53 lead with 5:23 left after a pair of free throws by Carson Cooper.

Indiana went nearly seven minutes without scoring before Tucker DeVries hit a jumper with 4:34 left that ended Michigan State’s run and made it 72-55.

But by then, the damage had been done.

Michigan State continued its surge, scoring nine in a row to grab an 81-55 lead with 2:35 remaining following a Cooper alley-oop.

Trailing 43-35 with 18:52 remaining, Indiana went on a 13-6 run to cut Michigan State’s lead to 49-48 with 15:27 left.

Indiana held a 22-17 lead in the first half, but Michigan State answered with a 9-0 run to take a 26-22 lead with 4:46 remaining until halftime.

The Spartans later went on a 7-0 spurt to grab a 36-27 lead with 2:28 to go in the first half.

Michigan State eventually took a 39-32 lead into the locker room at halftime.

–Field Level Media

No. 23 Utah State will put its undefeated Mountain West record on the line Wednesday night when it faces Nevada in Logan, Utah.

The Aggies (14-1, 5-0), ranked for a school-record third season in a row, joins No. 9 Gonzaga as one of two teams from mid-major conferences in the Top 25.

The Wolf Pack (12-4, 4-1) are also off to a strong start in conference action and are one of five MWC teams with one or fewer losses in league play.

Utah State has been dominant in conference action, most recently picking up an impressive 93-68 win at Boise State on Saturday. The 25-point margin of victory was the Aggies’ biggest-ever against the Broncos.

“It was a complete team effort,” USU coach Jerrod Calhoun told the Herald Journal News. “I thought a lot of guys played great.”

That included a 10-0 start to the game and a 25-point performance from MJ Collins Jr. Mason Falslev added 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block, while Drake Allen totaled a season-best 14 points along with eight assists despite nearly missing the game due to an illness.

“He was on an IV (Saturday). I didn’t know if he was going to play, he hadn’t eaten in 24 hours. He was tremendous,” Calhoun told reporters. “Drake is a warrior. I should have (known) he would play. I’m really proud of him.”

The Aggies also have double-digit victories over Air Force, San Jose State and Colorado State along with a nine-point road win against Fresno State.

Utah State enters this matchup on a seven-game winning streak, with its only loss of the season coming at South Florida, 74-61, on Dec. 4.

Nevada had its own seven-game winning streak snapped last week after falling at home to San Diego State 73-68 last Tuesday. The Wolfpack bounced back with a 92-83 win over Wyoming on Saturday, with Corey Camper Jr. leading the way with 31 points and seven rebounds. Elijah Price contributed 20 points, 13 boards and three blocks.

“I’m just really proud of them with all of the injuries and guys missing games. We’ve really gone through a stretch here of winning a lot of games,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “We have a long way to go. We had a slippage defensively.”

Price was named Mountain West Player of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and 11.5 rebounds last week.

Nevada wraps up a two-game road trip Saturday at Air Force.

“We have a big week ahead of us,” Alford said. “I’m really pleased with the start of the conference season and the midpoint of the season – to be at 12 wins.”

Utah State won both meetings last season, with the Wolfpack having won their only matchup in the 2023-24 campaign. The Aggies follow up Wednesday’s game with a tilt Saturday at Grand Canyon.

–Field Level Media