MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL Marquette routs Villanova, 73-61

Texas defeated Georgia in a battle of top 25 teams.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Marquette opened a quick early lead and then used a shower of 3-point baskets to secure a 73-61 season-opening victory over Villanova in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Dwyane Wade led the Golden Eagles with 17 points, including an alley-oop basket with eight minutes left that was the game's most spectacular play.
The Wildcats started freshmen Randy Foye and Allan Ray in the backcourt, and Ray missed six of seven shots in the first half but finished as Villanova's leading scorer with 16. Andrew Sullivan and Jason Fraser had 13 each.
Marquette, playing in the Garden for the first time since 1995, raced to an 11-2 lead on the shooting of senior transfer Robert Jackson and Scott Merritt. Then Marquette hit six 3-pointers, three of them by Travis Diener, to open a lead that ballooned to as many as 20 points.
Jackson had 15 points and Diener 12.
Joe Chapman, Merritt and Steve Novak had the other 3-pointers, as six of Marquette's last seven first-half baskets came from beyond the arc.
No. 4 Texas 77, No. 16 Georgia 71
NEW YORK -- T.J. Ford matched his career high with 22 points and had eight assists as No. 4 Texas overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 16 Georgia in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Ford, who became the first freshman to lead the nation in assists when he averaged 8.3 last season, doubled his 10.8 scoring average from last season, and the Longhorns saved the Big 12 Conference from a rough two days at Madison Square Garden at the expense of the Southeastern Conference.
Northern Illinois 56, Winthrop 50
MADISON, Wis. -- Marcus Smallwood and P.J. Smith each scored 15 points as Northern Illinois beat Winthrop in the opening round of the NABC Classic. Eugene Bates added 11 points for the Huskies (1-0), including two key free throws with 32 seconds left after the Eagles (0-1) had cut a 10-point deficit to three.
Wisconsin 81, E. Washington 55
MADISON, Wis. -- Kirk Penney scored 25 points and led four Badgers in double figures as Wisconsin overcame a slow start in a rout of Eastern Washington. Penney added seven rebounds and was 5-of-6 from three-point range for the Badgers (1-0), who will face Northern Illinois (1-0) in the NABC Classic championship tonight at the Kohl Center.
Eastern Washington (0-1) faces Winthrop in the consolation game.