Syracuse (26-1, 13-1 Big East) held the Cardinals (20-6,
8-5) without a point over the final 3 1/2 minutes and Fair hit the go-ahead
layup with 2:11 left.
Fab Melo scored 11 points and the best shooting team in
the Big East overcame a 34.4 percent effort, including 1 of 15 from 3-point
range, to win for the sixth straight time since losing at Notre Dame.
Freshman Chane Behanan had 16 points and nine rebounds
for the Cardinals, who had won six straight conference games.
The Orange came in shooting 48.1 this season, while the
Cardinals' defensive field goal percentage was fourth-best in the nation at
37.2.
In Manhattan, Tyshawn
Taylor had 20 points and Jeff Withey added 18 points and 11 rebounds for
Kansas, which is alone in first place in the Big 12.
The Jayawks (21-5, 11-2) won for the 36th time in their
last 39 games against the Interstate 70 rival.
Jamar Samuels had a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds
for the Wildcats (17-8, 6-7).
The Wildcats briefly pulled ahead midway through the
second half, and were within 55-51 when Rodney McGruder knocked down a jumper
with 1:14 left. But they came up empty on their next three trips, unable to
take advantage of the Jayhawks' balky foul shooting.
McGruder finished with 12 points for Kansas State, while
Will Spradling had 10.
The Jayhawks used a big first-half run en route to a
67-49 win in Lawrence last month.
In Waco, Texas, Perry Jones
III scored 18 points and Baylor rebounded from consecutive losses.
Jones already had 10 points by halftime, one more than he
had combined last week when Baylor (22-4, 9-4 Big 12) lost to No. 4 Kansas and
No. 3 Missouri for the second time in four weeks. The Bears are undefeated
against the rest of the Big 12 and everybody else they have played.
Freshman Quincy Miller, who matched Jones with 8-of-13
shooting, added 16 points for the Bears. Anthony Jones had 12 points and Quincy
Acy 11.
Melvin Ejim had 17 points to lead Iowa State (18-8, 8-5),
which had won four of its previous five games to tie Baylor for third place in
the league behind Kansas and Missouri. Royce White added 14 points.
