Villanova coach Jay Wright watched No. 10 Missouri and saw a lot of things that reminded him of his 2006 team that reached the final eight of the NCAA tournament and was ranked in the top five all season. The Tigers, just like Wright's team six years ago, played four guards, rebounded and played solid defense in their 81-71 victory Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Wright's current team has a chance to be good, too, but it may take a while for a team that has a lot of young players trying to crack the rotation. Marcus Denmon had his second straight strong game from 3-point range, this time making six 3s and scoring 28 points. The 6-foot-3 senior guard made seven 3s while scoring a career-high 31 points in the Tigers' last game against Northwestern State. He came into the game averaging 20.6 points and 3.3 3-pointers. On Tuesday, he was 6 of 10 from 3-point range, making all three attempts in the first 7:41 of the second half when Missouri (8-0) opened a 16-point lead. Ricardo Ratliffe added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who last started a season with eight straight wins in 2006-07. Kim English had 15 points for Missouri, which cracked the top 10 this week. No. 3 Syracuse 62, Marshall 56: Dion Waiters had 15 points and Kris Joseph had 11 and eight rebounds, as No. 3 Syracuse continued to win amid a federal investigation, this time outlasting Marshall at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim figured the Thundering Herd (5-2), which beat Cincinnati of the Big East in overtime on the road, would offer a tough challenge for the Orange. No. 4 North Carolina 97, Evansville 48: Harrison Barnes scored 17 points to help No. 4 North Carolina beat Evansville. Reggie Bullock added 15 points off the bench for the Tar Heels (7-2), who had an easy time bouncing back from their loss at top-ranked Kentucky. North Carolina ran off 10 straight points midway through the first half to blow the game open, then pushed a 30-point halftime lead to as many as 51 points in the second half. No. 13 Kansas 88, Long Beach 80: Thomas Robinson had a career-high 26 points to go with 11 rebounds, Jeff Withey came within one blocked shot of a triple-double and No. 13 Kansas held off Long Beach State after blowing a big first-half lead. No. 15 Pittsburgh 97, VMI 70: Jamie Dixon believes No. 15 Pittsburgh can become a pretty good rebounding team. VMI gave the Panthers plenty of practice. Ashton Gibbs scored 20 points and Pitt set a school record with 60 rebounds in a victory over the Keydets. No. 21 Memphis 71, Miami 54: Sophomore Will Barton had career highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 21-ranked Memphis overcome a poor night of outside shooting and beat the Miami Hurricanes. In the only other game Marquette beat Washington 79-77.
