The Associated Press
SYRACUSE — Tyus Battle scored 23 points, Elijah Hughes had 21 and No. 16 Syracuse beat Morehead State 84-70 on Saturday night.
Oshae Brissett added 17 points and 13 rebounds for Syracuse (2-0), which opened the season with a 66-34 victory over Eastern Washington on Tuesday night. Paschal Chukwu also had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Next up for the Orange is a matchup with former Big East rival Connecticut on Thursday night.
Jordan Walker led Morehead State (1-2) with 24 points, including 19 in the second half. Lamontray Harris had 14 and Malek Green finished with 12.
Syracuse outrebounded the outmanned Eagles 51-37 and had 44 points in the paint.
A dunk by Harris got the Eagles within three with about 16 minutes to go, but the Orange responded with a 12-0 run, keyed by Hughes’ seven points. Morehead State closed to 66-58 on a layup by A.J. Hicks with under seven minutes remaining, but Syracuse slowly pulled away in the final minutes.
Battle scored 18 in the second half after he had eight points in the season opener.
No. 9 Villanova 86, Quinnipiac 53
PHILADELPHIA — Phil Booth scored a career-high 23 points, and No. 9 Villanova routed Quinnipiac 86-53 on Saturday night.
Booth made three of Villanova’s 12 3-pointers. The Wildcats (2-0) shot 47.1 percent (32 for 68) from the floor.
Villanova led by as many as 37. The Wildcats (2-0) outrebounded the Bobcats 50-29, including 20 offensive rebounds that led to 26 second-chance points.
Collin Gillespie went 4 for 6 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points at Wells Fargo Center. Senior forward Eric Paschall had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, added eight rebounds and three assists.
Quinnipiac (0-1), coached by former Villanova assistant Baker Dunleavy, made just 34 percent of its shots. Cameron Young scored 18 points for the Bobcats.
No. 19 Michigan 56, Holy Cross 37
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Charles Matthews scored 20 points and Ignas Brazdeikis added 19 as No. 19 Michigan held off Holy Cross 56-37 on Saturday night.
Brazdeikis, a freshman from Mono, Ontario, scored 15 points in the first 4:49 of the second half as part of a 32-8 run that gave Michigan a commanding lead.
Reserve forward Connor Niego scored 13 points for Holy Cross (1-1), all on 5-of-5 shooting in the first half, including 3 for 3 on 3-pointers. He did not score in the second half, missing two shots.
Jacob Grandison scored 12 points for the Crusaders, who led by as many as nine points in the first half and six at halftime.
No. 24 Purdue 84, Ball State 75
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Carsen Edwards scored 23 points on 8-for-22 shooting, and No. 24 Purdue pulled away from Ball State for an 84-75 victory on Saturday night.
Edwards struggled with his shooting stroke at times, but managed to contribute in a variety of ways. The junior guard also had five rebounds, five assists and blocked a shot.
Matt Haarms had 16 points for Purdue (2-0) despite batting foul trouble.
Evan Boudreaux added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Nojel Eastern finished with 12 points and nine boards.
Tayler Persons led Ball State with 19 points and eight rebounds. But he was shut down after Purdue coach Matt Painter put Eastern on him in the second half.
The Cardinals (1-1) also got 13 points from K.J. Walton.
Eastern had six offensive rebounds, helping Purdue to a 40-29 edge on the boards.
