COLLEGE BASKETBALL Orangemen survive scare, edge Rhode Island, 69-65

Michigan State dropped DePaul in the title game of the Spartan Classic.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim breathed a sigh of relief after his defending national champion Orangemen narrowly averted a second straight loss to start the season.
"To get a win in these two games, the way we played, was good," Boeheim said Sunday after No. 7 Syracuse rallied for a 69-65 victory over Rhode Island.
"Now we have December to try and get ourselves better," he said. "I felt after preseason practice that we were a team that was going to struggle for a while."
And the Orangemen certainly did against Rhode Island (3-2).
They won despite shooting just 39.2 percent and being outrebounded 55-41. If the Rams, who scored 44 points in the paint, hit a couple of outside shots, Syracuse might have started 0-2 for the first time since the 1968-69 team lost its first five.
Rhode Island was 1-for-22 from 3-point range, shot only 32.9 percent overall, and lost despite taking 25 more shots than Syracuse.
"We knew we were not going to make a lot of shots from outside," Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said. "So we had to be aggressive going to the glass, and we were able to do that."
Hakim Warrick scored a career-high 30 points -- 11 during a decisive second-half spurt -- to lead Syracuse.
No. 3 Michigan St. 89, DePaul 81
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Kelvin Torbert scored 19 points and Chris Hill added 15 points and a career-high 11 assists for Michigan State in the championship game of the Spartan Classic.
Alan Anderson scored all 17 of his points in the second half to help the Spartans (3-1) hold off the Blue Demons (3-1).
Delonte Holland scored 27 points for DePaul.
No. 20 Stanford 60, Rice 56
HOUSTON -- Rob Little and Chris Hernandez each scored 17 points for Stanford (3-0). Jason McKrieth led Rice (3-1) with 14 points.
Women
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Jessica Moore had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for her third career double-double to lead top-ranked Connecticut past Holy Cross 76-42 Sunday.
Moore, a 6-foot-3 junior center, helped the Huskies (3-0) outscore the Crusaders 40-14 in the paint. Her first field goal of the game was the first 3-pointer of her career.
No. 2 Texas 85, Montana 46
HONOLULU -- Tiffany Jackson had 18 points and 14 rebounds for Texas in the championship game of the Rainbow Wahine Classic.
No. 3 Tennessee 83, No. 17 Notre Dame 59
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Shyra Ely scored 20 points and Ashley Robinson added 14 as No. 3 Tennessee beat No. 17 Notre Dame for the 16th straight time.
No. 4 Duke 66, No. 25 Auburn 57
DURHAM, N.C. -- Alana Beard scored four of her game-high 27 points during a decisive 11-point run late in the second half to lead No. 4 Duke past No. 25 Auburn in the title game of the Duke Women's Basketball Classic.
No. 6 Stanford 61, No. 10 Georgia 59
STANFORD, Calif. -- Nicole Powell had 21 points and 12 rebounds for Stanford. Kelley Suminski added 14 points, including three key 3-pointers in the second half.
Clemson 69, No. 15 Rutgers 64
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Julie Talley scored 10 of her 15 points in the second half as Clemson dealt No. 15 Rutgers its second straight loss.
No. 21 Arizona 66, Hawaii 57
HONOLULU -- Dee-Dee Wheeler scored nine of her 18 points during a key second-half run in Arizona's victory over Hawaii in the fifth-place game of the Rainbow Wahine Classic.