Syracuse (24-2, 11-2 Big East), which held off Connecticut 72-67 on Wednesday night after squandering a 16-point lead in the second half, had won 11 straight since a loss to Pittsburgh.
It was the fifth straight win over the Orange for Louisville (16-9, 7-5), which was 0-4 against ranked teams entering the
Samuels scored his first points of the game on a pair of free throws with 7:46 left and followed with a hook off the glass to tie the game at 50. Mike Marra’s 3 from the left corner gave the Cardinals a three-point edge and Samuels made a twisting layup through traffic to put Louisville up 55-52 with 5:14 left.
Samuels’ dunk off an inbounds pass gave the Cardinals their biggest lead at 59-52 with 3:04 to go.
Six straight free throws by the Orange closed the gap to 62-58 with 64 seconds remaining, but Syracuse was unable to score again after Kris Joseph’s slam dunk with 31.9 seconds left made it a two-point game.
Joseph was then called for an intentional foul on Smith, who sank both free throws.
Edgar Sosa and Marra each had 12 points to lead Louisville. Jared Swopshire had 10 points.
Wes Johnson had 14 points, Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku each had 12, and Joseph 10 for the Orange.
Rutgers 71 No. 7 Georgetown 68: In Piscataway, New Jersey, Jonathan Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points, including the clinching free throws with 4.1 seconds to play, and Rutgers upset No. 7 Georgetown, the Scarlet Knights’ first win over a top 10 team in seven years.
Mitchell’s previous career high was 21 points against the Hoyas in an 88-63 loss in January.
He was 9 of 12 from the field for Rutgers (13-12, 3-9 Big East), which kept Georgetown (18-6, 8-5) from going on any extended run.
The Hoyas took a 66-65 lead on Greg Monroe’s up-and-under move with 52 seconds to play. Dane Miller, who finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, had a tip-in with 21 seconds left to get the Scarlet Knights the lead back, and made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left.
Austin Freeman’s two free throws with 5.7 seconds left made it 69-68. Mitchell made his clinching free throws, then Freeman’s 23-footer bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
No. 13 Ohio State 72 Illinois 53: In Champaign, Illinois , Jon Diebler scored 18 points, hitting six 3-pointers, to lead Ohio State over Illinois.
David Lighty added 17 points and Evan Turner came within two assists of a triple double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
The win kept the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten with Michigan State. The Illini fell from the top spot and are a game back of the leaders.
After falling behind by one early, the Buckeyes (20-6, 10-3 Big Ten) used an 18-6 run to finish the Illini (17-9, 9-4) off early.
