TOP 25 ROUNDUP Men's basketball

No. 2 North Carolina 69, Saint Louis 48
ST. LOUIS -- Tyler Hansbrough had 15 points and matched his career best with 13 rebounds to lead North Carolina over Saint Louis. Danny Green added 14 points for the Tar Heels (10-1), who pulled away from a one-point halftime lead. The result was a convincing win in the program's first game in St. Louis since coach Roy Williams led them to an NCAA title here in 2005. The game drew a record sellout crowd of 22,539 to the Scottrade Center. Among the crowd were about 3,000 fans from Hansbrough's hometown of Poplar Bluff, Mo., a town of about 16,000 near the Missouri boot heel. Ian Vouyoukas had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Saint Louis (9-3), which lost for the first time in six home games. Saint Louis led by as many as six points in the first half before North Carolina took a 27-26 halftime lead. The Tar Heels took control in the second half with an 18-4 run.
No. 13 Texas A & amp;M 87, Auburn 58
AUBURN, Ala. -- Acie Law scored 21 points to lead five Texas A & amp;M players in double figures. The Aggies (10-2) shot 57 percent from the field and never led by fewer than 20 points in the second half. It was Texas A & amp;M's third straight blowout win since consecutive losses in the team's only previous road games. It was the worst home loss for Auburn (9-4) since 1952 and the worst-ever in the 39-year-old Beard-Eaves Coliseum. Quan Prowell led Auburn with 20 points. He was 4-of-8 from 3-point range while the rest of the team was 2-for-24.
No. 16 Butler 76, Evansville 65
INDIANAPOLIS -- A.J. Graves scored 22 points and Mike Green added 16 to lead Butler to its 15th straight home win. Jason Holsinger had 17 points for Evansville (8-4), which had a four-game winning streak end. Consecutive 3s by Graves and Brandon Crone sparked a 10-0 run that gave Butler an 18-11 lead with 8:48 left in the half and Evansville never led again. Butler was 6-1 against in-state schools this season, including its first sweep of Notre Dame, Indiana and Purdue since 1948-49. The only loss was at Indiana State.
No. 19 Marquette 77, Morgan St. 57
MILWAUKEE -- Jerel McNeal scored 15 of his career-high 25 points in the decisive first half to lead Marquette. The sophomore guard went 8-of-15 from the field and a personal best 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He matched his career high with seven assists for Marquette (12-2), which never trailed. Reggie Holmes had three 3-pointers and scored 13 points for the Bears (2-8), who dropped to 0-5 on the road this season, losing by an average margin of 17.4 points.
No. 23 Syracuse 85, Hofstra 60
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Demetris Nichols had 20 points and Josh Wright and Paul Harris each had 12 as Syracuse snapped the Pride's six-game winning streak. Eric Devendorf finished with 16 points, 11 from the free throw line, for Syracuse (10-3), while Darryl Watkins had four points, nine rebounds, and four of the Orange's six blocks. Antoine Agudio had 22 points to lead Hofstra (6-4), while Loren Stokes finished with 19 points. Syracuse played without senior forward Terrence Roberts, who sprained his left knee in Tuesday night's loss to Drexel and is day-to-day.
No. 25 Nevada 73, Akron 71
AKRON -- Nick Fazekas had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Nevada, which has won nine straight road games. Ramon Sessions added 22 points for the Wolf Pack (10-1), who tied the best start in history, set in 1978-79 and matched last season. Dru Joyce scored 23 points to lead Akron (7-3) but he missed an open 14-footer at the buzzer that could have tied the game.
Associated Press
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