The Big Ten and the Big East. Two basketball conferences always listed among the nation's best, it seems only logical their first-place teams, even this early in the season, would be among the country's top teams.

Fourth-ranked Indiana remained the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten with an 89-74 victory over No. 16 Michigan on Tuesday night, increasing its overall record to 14-2 and its conference lead to 1 1/2 games over Ohio State and Minnesota with a 5-0 record.Villanova's 70-60 victory over No. 13 Syracuse on Tuesday night vaulted the Wildcats into first place in the Big East with a 5-1 record, one-half game ahead of Connecticut and a lot better than their overall mark of 7-7.

No. 4 Indiana 89, No. 16 Michigan 74

The Hoosiers won their 12th straight as Damon Bailey and Calbert Cheaney had 22 points each. Indiana went to the free throw line an Assembly Hall-record 50 times, making 33.

Bailey was 8-for-10 from the free throw line, grabbed a team-high five rebounds and tied teammate Chris Reynolds with five assists. That's not enough to wow his coach.

"I'm waiting to see Bailey better than this," Bob Knight said. "He's improved, he's got a way to go.

"An awful lot of our free throws came from Michigan offensive boards. We blocked out pretty well."

All those foul shots meant a lot of fouls, and three of Michigan's heralded five freshmen fouled out, including Juwan Howard, who led the Wolverines with a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wolverines (10-4, 2-3) closed to 53-51, but Indiana rallied with 10 straight points.

Villanova 70, No. 13 Syracuse 60

Wildcats coach Rollie Massimino admitted his team was affected by playing for first place.

"We were a little apprehensive early, I guess because of the intensity of playing for first place," Massimino said.

That means defense, and Villanova held the Orangemen (13-2, 5-2) to their lowest output of the season, 22 points below their season average.

No. 1 Duke 95, Boston U. 85

Christian Laettner had 25 points for the Blue Devils (13-0), who won their 19th consecutive game. Visiting Duke took advantage of its height advantage and spent a good portion of the night at the free throw line, making 36 of 56.

Tennesee 107, No. 8 Kentucky 85

With just over three minutes to play, the Volunteers (10-6, 3-2) led 83-76 and then went to work from the free throw line, making 17 of 22 foul shots in that span while Kentucky managed just two field goals.

No. 19 N.C. Charlotte 82

Davidson 70

View Comments

The 49ers (12-2) rallied from their weekend loss at Duke to win the "Battle of I-85." Henry Williams had 21 points and James Terrell added 19 as North Carolina Charlotte led by at least seven and as many as 20 in the second half.

No. 21 Tulane 87

Va. Commonwealth 85, OT

Freshman guard Pointer Williams made five of six free throws in the final 31 seconds of overtime as the Green Wave (14-1, 3-0) rebounded from their first loss of the season with the Metro Conference win. The Rams (9-6, 2-2) had one last chance, but Rod Ladd's 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim at the buzzer.

Join the Conversation
Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.