Tuesday's Shootaround: K-State and the Cuse win

Kansas State 71, Texas 62: The Wildcats held off the Longhorns on the strength of 20 points and 12 boards from Jamar Samuels and 17 and 8 form Curtis Kelly. We wrote about this game in depth here.

Syracuse 84, Notre Dame 71: For the third time in six days, Syracuse won a road game in the Big East, which is no small feat these days. Last night, the Orange went into the newly renovated Joyce Center Purcell Pavilion and knocked off the Irish. Wes Johnson had 22 points and Andy Rautins added 21, including five first half threes that helped the Orange open up a seven point halftime lead. Syracuse was able to hold a cushion for most of the second half, until the Irish used an 8-1 run to make it 55-53. That run was capped by an intentional foul called on Andy Rautins, who caught Tory Jackson in the chops with an elbow clearing space on an offensive rebound. Syracuse would score the next six point, however, and ND never got close again. Luke Harangody played well, scoring 31 points and grabbing 14 boards, but became too much of a jump shooter down the stretch, needing 26 shots to get those 31 points while only attempting four free throws. Not exactly the efficiency you want from your best post player. Tim Abromaitis added 26 points.

Other notable games

• Virginia 69, UNC-Wilmington 67: UNCW used a 21-4 run to take a 61-58 lead late in the game, but the Cavs used a 9-3 run in the final three minutes, including a 15 footer from Sylvan Landesberg with 2.2 seconds left to win it.
• Middle Tennessee State 47, Western Kentucky 46: James Washington his a three pointer with six seconds left to give MTSU the win and completely throw anything we thought we knew about the Sun Belt in to disarray.
• Virginia Tech 72, NC Central 30: This was no contest, as the Hokies were up 30-8 at the half.
• Siena 83, Manhattan 68: The Saints used a 19-7 run midway through the first half to open up a cushion on the Jaspers. Alex Franklin had 23 points in the win, while Ryan Rossiter added 19 points and 14 boards.