C. J. Fair scored a career-high 21 points and Scoop Jardine added 17, including a game-sealing 3-pointer with 1 minute 11 seconds left Sunday, as No. 2 Syracuse escaped another close call with a 74-64 victory at Rutgers. The Orange (27-1, 14-1) widened their lead in the Big East standings to two and a half games over No. 12 Marquette and No. 23 Notre Dame. Syracuse had won two of its previous three games by 3 points or fewer, and Sunday's looked to be going the same way. The Scarlet Knights (12-15, 4-10) beat two top-10 teams this season at home — Florida and Connecticut — and they were right there with the Orange. Gilvydas Biruta matched his career high with 21 points for Rutgers, which was 2 points behind four times in the final 8:45. But the Scarlet Knights could not tie the score or take the lead on seven possessions with the 2-point deficit. Duke 75, Boston College 50: Seth Curry scored 18 points and No. 5 Duke (23-4, 10-2) used its smothering defense to cruise into a tie for the Atlanta Coast Conference lead. Duke's defense was so effective that the Eagles went without a basket for more than 14 minutes after taking a 13-7 lead. Michigan St. 76, Purdue 62: Draymond Green had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists, and shut down Purdue's Robbie Hummel in the second half. No. 7 Michigan State (22-5, 11-3 Big Ten) took a one-game lead in the conference title race over Ohio State and Michigan with four games remaining. In other games, Josh Gasser scored 15 points for No. 15 Wisconsin (20-7, 9-5 Big Ten) in its 65-55 victory over Penn State, which dropped to 1-10 on the road, including 0-8 in conference play and Matt Gaten scored a career-high 30 points and host Iowa beat No. 18 Indiana, 78-66, to end the Hoosiers' three-game winning streak.
