COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Providence Run Finishes Syracuse

Providence had No. 12 Syracuse down several times Tuesday night before the Orangemen were out.

Michael Smith scored six of his 23 points from the free-throw line in the final 1:36 as the Friars finished with a 15-3 run to upset Syracuse, 87-73, Tuesday night in a Big East game at Providence, R.I.

“One thing I like about this win is that Syracuse is such an outstanding team,” Providence Coach Rick Barnes said. “Every time they punched, we counter-punched.”

The Friars (10-10, 2-6) led, 72-70, with 2:24 to play before the Orangemen went cold from the field. Syracuse (14-3, 6-3) scored only one more basket, a three-pointer by Adrian Autry.

The Friars beat Syracuse for only the fourth time in their last 29 games.

No. 3 Oklahoma State 64, Southern Methodist 53--Byron Houston scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half for the Cowboys (19-0) at Dallas.

Southern Methodist (8-9) gave the Cowboys problems with a 2-3 zone defense, but Houston, who averages 21 points, shook free just enough to hurt the Mustangs.

No. 4 Indiana 106, Purdue 65--At Bloomington, Ind., Calbert Cheaney scored 23 points and the Hoosiers won their 13th game in a row.

Indiana (15-2, 6-0) gave Gene Keady his worst loss to Indiana in 12 years as coach at Purdue (11-7, 3-3).

No. 5 Kansas 85, Marquette 61--Adonis Jordan scored 14 points and the Jayhawks used a late first-half spurt and their hustling defense to rout Marquette at Milwaukee.

Kansas (15-1) went on an 11-0 run to take a 35-24 halftime lead, then pulled away in the second half over the Warriors (11-7).

No. 20 Georgia Tech 77, Charleston 70--Freshman Travis Best scored all 14 of his points in the second half to lead the Yellow Jackets (15-5) over Charleston (14-3) at Atlanta.

No. 22 Alabama 83, South Carolina 81--Latrell Sprewell scored 29 points, including six in overtime, and Robert Horry added 27 to lead the Crimson Tide (16-4, 4-3) over South Carolina (10-7, 2-6) at Columbia, S.C., in a Southeastern Conference game.

No. 24 Louisville 78, Virginia Tech 68--Everick Sullivan scored 25 points and the Cardinals (12-4) opened the second half with a nearly flawless shooting display, hitting 13 of their first 14 shots from the field in a Metro Conference game against the Hokies (7-9, 1-4) at Blacksburg, Va.