No. 2 Duke rallies past No. 4 Ohio State 73-68

Mason Plumlee had 21 points and a career-high-tying 17 rebounds, and No. 2 Duke rallied late and held on to beat No. 4 Ohio State 73-68 on Wednesday night.

Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon scored all 17 points in the second half. Ryan Kelly added 15 and hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips downcourt early during the 20-7 run that put the Blue Devils (7-0) ahead to stay and sent them to their third win over a top-five team this month.

Deshaun Thomas scored 16 points for Ohio State (4-1), while Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. had 11 apiece.

Shannon Scott pulled the Buckeyes within 66-64 with a free throw with 28.9 seconds left before Quinn Cook sealed it by hitting six free throws in the final 27.3 seconds.

Cook finished with 12 points for Duke, which shot 58 percent in the second half to remain unbeaten at home in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and preserve its school-record winning streak at home against nonconference opponents.

The Blue Devils — who beat then-No. 3 Kentucky in Atlanta and then-No. 2 Louisville in the Bahamas — won their 97th straight against non-ACC visitors to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

But for much of the way, nothing came easy for them. They were outrebounded 40-37, couldn’t get anything going on the offensive glass, struggled to keep up with Ohio State’s quick ball movement and couldn’t find their touch.

Then came the flurry of 3-pointers that put them in control.

Sulaimon buried one from the key to pull the Blue Devils within 51-50 with about 6 1/2 minutes left. Kelly then hit 3s on consecutive trips down the court, including one in Amir Williams’ face that put Duke ahead to stay, 56-53 — its first lead since the 14-minute mark of the first half.

Plumlee then followed up Cook’s missed layup with a dunk that made it 58-54 with 4 minutes left and sent the rowdy Cameron crowd into ear-splitting madness.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes could do little right down the stretch. With Cook in his face much of the game, Craft finished 3 of 15 from the field. His jumper with just over 3 minutes left was Ohio State’s last field goal until Evan Ravenel’s dunk with 3 seconds left.

Yet after Cook’s first two late free throws, Ohio State had a chance to make it a one-possession game again, but Scott dribbled off his foot with 20 seconds left.

This old building was rocking at levels usually reserved for the annual visit from North Carolina — although the Buckeyes certainly did their best to hush the place early.

Duke trudged through a decidedly un-Duke-like opening half in which the Blue Devils went 10 minutes between field goals, missed 13 of their final 16 shots, didn’t get their first offensive rebound until there were nearly 4 minutes left and were fortunate to only be down 31-23 at halftime.

The Buckeyes generated plenty of open looks by whipping the ball around the perimeter, and when they missed, they gave themselves plenty of second chances. Williams’ free throw with 1:13 left put Ohio State up 31-21 — Duke’s first double-digit deficit at home this season. Duke erased its rare 10-point deficit early in the second half with an 11-4 run.

No. 9 Arizona beats up on NAU 93-50

Mark Lyons scored 18 points, Nick Johnson had 10 points and seven assists, and No. 9 Arizona rolled over Northern Arizona 93-50 on Wednesday night.

Arizona (4-0) overwhelmed the Lumberjacks from the get-go, showing no signs of rust after an eight-day break.

Dropping in 3-pointers and soaring in for dunks, the Wildcats built an 18-point lead in the first half and shut down Northern Arizona in the second for their 29th straight win over the Lumberjacks (2-4).

Arizona shot 58 percent, made 12 of 21 from 3-point range and had 22 assists on 30 field goals to kick off a stretch of four games in 11 days.

Solomon Hill had 17 points, Brandon Ashley grabbed 11 rebounds and Johnson added four steals for the Wildcats.

Dewayne Russell had 13 points and Blake Hamilton 11 for Northern Arizona, winless in 24 all-time games against ranked opponents.

Marks’ 35 keys Boise St. upset of No. 11 Creighton

Derrick Marks scored a career-high 35 points, including 18 straight in the second half, and Boise State upset No. 11 Creighton 83-70 on Wednesday night.

The Broncos (5-1), who played No. 13 Michigan State within four points on the road last week, beat a ranked opponent for the first time in four seasons and on the road for the first time since March 2005.

Creighton (6-1) hadn’t lost a regular-season November home game since 1989.

Anthony Drmic had 17 points and Jeff Elorriaga added 12 for the Broncos.

Doug McDermott led Creighton with 21 points and Grant Gibbs added 17.

Boise State led 39-33 after shooting 64 percent from the field the first half. The Broncos made seven straight 3-pointers and were 9 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, with Elorriaga making 4 of 5.

Miami beats No. 13 Michigan State 67-59

Senior Trey McKinney Jones scored a career-high 18 points and the Miami Hurricanes beat No. 13 Michigan State 67-59 on Wednesday night.

McKinney Jones went 5 for 7 from 3-point range, including a basket that capped a 14-2 run to start the second half that put them ahead 41-33.

The lead grew to 57-45, and the Hurricanes went 8 for 8 from the free throw line over the final 2:11 to seal the victory.

Miami (4-1) held the ball in the final seconds to run out the clock, and students then stormed the court, hoisting at least one player and the team mascot onto their shoulders and chanting, “ACC.” The game was part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Spartans (5-2) lost for the first time since the season opener against Connecticut.

No. 22 Illinois beats Georgia Tech 75-62

Joseph Bertrand made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and scored every point in a 10-0 run to ignite No. 22 Illinois to a 75-62 victory over Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge game.

Illinois (8-0) took charge behind Bertrand, who also scored on a drives in the decisive surge to lift the Illini from a 58-54 deficit late in the second half.

The Illini finished the game on a 21-4 run.

Bertrand scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. Brandon Paul also scored 15 points for the Illini while forward Tyler Griffey and guard D.J. Richardson had 14 points apiece.

Kammeon Holsey led Georgia Tech (4-2) with 14 points while Jason Morris and Mfon Udofia scored 10 points apiece. The Yellow Jackets appeared to grab control with a 12-3 run midway through the second half for a 54-50 lead.

No. 24 UNLV beats UC Irvine 85-57

Freshman Anthony Bennett and junior Mike Moser scored 19 points apiece to lead No. 24 UNLV to an impressive 85-57 victory over UC Irvine on Wednesday night.

Using tenacious defense, the Rebels held UC Irvine scoreless during a crucial 5 minutes of the second half, long enough to widen their lead to 20 points and take the Anteaters out of the game. UNLV outscored UC Irvine 51-31 in the second half to pull away for the easy win.

Katin Reinhardt added 13 points for the Rebels (4-1).

UC Irvine (3-4) scored just 21 points over the final 14:59 of the game — nine of which came from the free throw line.

Daman Starring had 18 points and Adam Folker added 12 for the Anteaters, who lost by four points or fewer in their first three losses. This was their second straight loss by double digits following a 10-point loss to Pepperdine last Saturday.

No. 25 New Mexico beats Mercer 76-58

Alex Kirk had 16 points and 13 rebounds and Cameron Bairstow added a career-high 16 points and No. 25 New Mexico beat Mercer 76-58 on Wednesday night.

It was Kirk’s second straight double-double for the Lobos (7-0).

Travis Smith scored 16 points to lead the Bears (3-4).

Bairstow provided an early spark off the bench, scoring 10 points in his first 5 minutes of play with one block, one rebound and he also drew a charge on a Mercer fastbreak opportunity.

Most of Bairstow’s damage came during a 17-2 New Mexico run as he combined with Tony Snell to score 14 of those points, putting the Lobos up 19-5.

Mercer was never able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way.