Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past No. 13 California 95-73 on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic in New York.
Arinza Onuaku added 12 points for the Orange, who made Madison Square Garden feel like home in the tournament benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Syracuse will play No. 6 North Carolina for the championship tonight.
Jerome Randle finished with 25 points for Cal (2-1).
Also Thursday
More Top 25 Men
No. 1 Kansas 94, Central Arkansas 44: Tyrel Reed hit four 3-pointers for 12 points, and Kansas scored 23 straight points in the first half to overwhelm Central Arkansas.
Coming off a tight victory over Memphis two days earlier, Kansas (3-0) dismantled Central Arkansas (1-2) from the start.
No. 4 Kentucky 102, Sam Houston St. 92: DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 18 rebounds as host Kentucky outlasted Sam Houston State in the Cancun Challenge.
Patrick Patterson had 20 points and nine rebounds, and John Wall of Raleigh added 21 points and six assists as the Wildcats (3-0) overcame a record-setting shooting performance by the Bearkats (2-1).
No. 5 Villanova 69, George Mason 68: Freshman guard Isaiah Armwood hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying Villanova over George Mason 69-68 in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan.
After Sherrod Wright made one of two free throws for George Mason, Armwood made his 3 ofr Villanova (3-0). The Patriots (2-1) did not get off another shot.
No. 24 Minnesota 76, Utah Valley 51: Freshman Rodney Williams had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals in his first career start, helping host Minnesota (3-0) pull away from Utah Valley (1-2).
Top 10 women
No. 2 Stanford 99, Pepperdine 50: Kayla Pedersen had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Stanford extended its winning streak at Maples Pavilion to 30 games in its home opener.
All-American Jayne Appel added 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots for the Cardinal (3-0).
No. 3 Ohio State 92, West Virginia 69: Samantha Prahalis had 14 points and 12 assists, and host Ohio State scored the first 17 points to roll in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT.
Jantel Lavender led Ohio State (3-0) with 19 points. The Mountaineers (2-1) got 23 points from Liz Repella.
No. 5 Notre Dame 68, No. 21 Michigan State 67: Ashley Barlow scored 18 points and hit a tiebreaking free throw with 10 seconds left, lifting Notre Dame (2-0) over host Michigan State (1-2).
Area women
East Carolina 72, UNC Wilmington 52: Ashley Clarke scored a game-high 15 points and matched her career high with eight assists to lead host East Carolina (3-0).
Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
Hours after the Smith Center emptied and the cameras left, long after he and his North Carolina teammates went their separate ways, Tar Heels point guard Kendall Marshall lay awake in the early hours of Thursday morning with certain parts of Duke's 85-84 victory against UNC playing on a loop in his mind. 
Forget about Duke's comeback win over North Carolina. The evidence from this season suggests that the Blue Devils' biggest test of the week will come today when Maryland comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium. 
East Chapel Hill sophomore Ben Griffin was about 13 years old when he challenged a group of then-current and former University of North Carolina golfers. 
Robert Orr, a Raleigh attorney who represented UNC football players Quinton Coples and Devon Ramsay during the school's recent NCAA-related problems, said Friday that the firing of Butch Davis and hiring of Larry Fedora as head football coach would not fundamentally change the chances of similar issues cropping up at the school. 
If Wake Forest wants to extricate itself from the ACC's cellar, wins in its next two games would be a good place to start. 
Rameses, North Carolina's 18th ram mascot, died Thursday night of natural causes. He was 8 years old. 
Remember when ACC teams began conference play about a month ago, and how it seemed like the road to the regular-season championship would be limited to a two-team race between North Carolina and Duke? 
While there will be bonus time to draw up a game plan for Thursday's trip to Duke, the break also comes at a good time for C.J. Williams. Keep up with the latest sports stories with our free e-mail newsletters, delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to Sports - it's free!
Subscribe to Hurricanes - it's free!
Subscribe to College Sports - it's free!
Subscribe to Duke - it's free!
Subscribe to ECU - it's free!
Subscribe to NCSU - it's free!
Subscribe to UNC - it's free!
Subscribe to Wake Forest - it's free!
Subscribe to Preps - it's free!
