William Buford scored 21 points and No. 3 Ohio State weathered Florida's fast start to beat the seventh-ranked Gators 81-74 Tuesday. Jared Sullinger added 16 points, Deshaun Thomas had 15 and Aaron Craft 13 points and seven assists for the Buckeyes (2-0), who forced 16 turnovers and hit 27 of 34 free throws to pull away in the second half. Freshman Bradley Beal had 17 points, Kenny Boynton 15 and Patric Young and Erik Murphy 14 apiece for the Gators (1-1), who have never beaten a top-3 team in a true road game. No. 5 Syracuse 98, Albany 74: Kris Joseph and James Southerland each scored 19 points, and No. 5 Syracuse beat upstate New York foe Albany in the NIT Season Tipoff. Syracuse (3-0) advances to the tournament semifinals against Virginia Tech in New York. No. 10 Memphis 97, Belmont 81: At times during his years at Memphis, senior forward Wesley Witherspoon has disappeared. He's not playing up to his potential or been plagued by injuries. Against Belmont, Witherspoon not only showed up but hit all eight shots enroute to 22 points and a win for the No. 10 Tigers. Will Barton scored 23 points to lead Memphis (1-0). No. 11 Baylor 77, San Diego State 67: Q-squared proved to be quite a winning formula for 11th-ranked Baylor. That's Quincy old and Quincy new. Senior Quincy Acy and freshman Quincy Miller sparked a second-half run that finally put the Bears in control in a victory over San Diego State. Miller's inside basket broke a tie and started an 18-5 run that put Baylor (3-0) ahead to stay. No. 13 Xavier 86, IPFW 63: Tu Holloway returned from a one-game suspension and scored 24 points to lead No. 13 Xavier to a victory over IPFW. Holloway was suspended for the season opener against Morgan State for playing in too many summer league games, a violation of NCAA rules. No. 18 Vanderbilt 8, Bucknell 68: Jeffery Taylor scored 14 points and led five players in double digits to help No. 18 Vanderbilt beat Bucknell with two starters out due to injuries. The Commodores (2-1) bounced back after losing to Cleveland State to drop from No. 7. John Jenkins, the Southeastern Conference's leading scorer last season, tweaked his right ankle in the loss. No. 20 Cincinnati 73, Jacksonville State 59: Dion Dixon scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, shooting over Jacksonville State's undersized zone defense, and the 20th-ranked Bearcats weathered a sluggish second half for a victory. Cincinnati (2-0) opened with a 26-9 run behind Dixon's 3-point shooting. Jacksonville State (1-2) got 16 points apiece from Brian Williams and Mason Leggett.
