NEW YORK — Bill Self sounded like a coach whose team had just won a game with a less-than-perfect outing.
“We’ve got a fun team, but we’re wild. We’ve got to harness some of that,” Self said after No. 4 Kansas beat No. 13 Memphis 81-68 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
The Jayhawks (8-0) had a tough first half with the ball, turning it over 12 times, more than their season average of 11.9 for a game. But Kansas opened the second half on an 11-4 run to take a 48-39 lead with 16:08 to play.
The Tigers (7-1) missed 16 of their first 23 shots in the second half and Kansas took advantage of the poor shooting, taking a 67-54 lead on a jumper by Marcus Morris with 6:19 left.
Memphis didn’t get closer than 10 points the rest of the way with Kansas’ biggest lead coming on a 3-pointer by Brady Morningstar that made it 74-59 with 3:33 to play.
No. 8 Syracuse 72, No. 7 Michigan State 58
NEW YORK — The Orange (9-0) took the lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game and never relinquished it against the Spartans (6-3).
No. 19 Purdue 76, Valparaiso 58
VALPARAISO, Ind. — The Boilermakers (8-1) led 30-28 at halftime before shooting 57 percent from the field and holding the Crusaders (6-3) to 13-of-41 shooting after the break.
Georgia 73, Georgia Tech 72
ATLANTA — Dustin Ware hit his seventh 3-pointer of the game with 15.3 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs (6-2) a 73-70 lead, and the Yellow Jackets (4-4) passed up a chance at a tying 3, settling for Glen Rice’s uncontested layup with 6.8 seconds remaining for the final margin.
Women
Miami 81, No. 11 Georgetown 72 (OT)
MIAMI — The Hurricanes (8-1) went 8-for-8 at the foul line in overtime, while the Hoyas (7-2) hit 2-of-9 from the floor in the extra period.
The Associated Press
