SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim winced with every early shot by Georgetown. When the game was over, he couldn't help but smile after the Orange's stirring comeback.
Kris Joseph scored 15 points, Wes Johnson added 14 and fourth-ranked Syracuse rallied from a big early deficit to beat No. 7 Georgetown 73-56 on Monday night.
The Orange trailed 14-0 just 3 minutes into the game. They rallied to take the lead before the break, and started the second half with an 18-8 surge to take command.
"We recovered from the worst start I can remember," Boeheim said. "Our defense picked up and our offense got going. To go into halftime ahead was really unbelievable. To dominate a top-10 team after giving them 14 points is quite an effort. That's as good as we can play. Everybody was looking for each other."
Boeheim earned his 819th career win, breaking a tie with Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun for sixth in Division I. Boeheim also extended his Division I record for most 20-win seasons to 32 in his 34 years at his alma mater.
Syracuse (20-1, 7-1 Big East) has won seven straight since a home loss to Pittsburgh and has defeated Georgetown (15-4, 6-3) six consecutive times in the Carrier Dome.
Andy Rautins also scored 15 points for Syracuse, 10 on free throws, and had six assists and six steals. Johnson added nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
Austin Freeman paced Georgetown with 23 points and Jason Clark had 15. Greg Monroe had eight points and only four rebounds before fouling out with 6:27 left. Chris Wright, averaging 15 points, finished with seven on 3-for-10 shooting, missing all six 3-pointers he attempted.
No. 2 Kansas 84, Missouri 65
LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Cole Aldrich had 12 points, 16 rebounds and blocked seven shots, helping No. 2 Kansas run over rival Missouri.
Kansas (19-1, 5-0 Big 12) dominated inside and hounded Missouri defensively to turn the Border Showdown into a beatdown.
Marcus Morris scored 11 of his 17 points to help Kansas build a 20-point lead by halftime and twin brother Markieff Morris grabbed 11 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who haven't lost to Missouri at home since 1999. Tyrel Reed was 4-for-4 from 3-point range in adding 14 points.
The Tigers (15-5, 3-2) needed a good shooting night to end a 10-game losing streak in Lawrence and didn't get it. Missouri had trouble getting shots off inside against Aldrich and couldn't hit from the outside, either, shooting 28 percent.
Justin Safford had 19 points to lead the Tigers, who got 17 combined points from leading scorers Kim English, Marcus Denmon and Laurence Bowers.
Surprisingly, even defense was a problem for Missouri.
The Tigers haven't consistently gotten "The Fastest 40 Minutes of Basketball" revved up this season, ramping up their frenetic pressure only in spurts. Been more like "The Fastest 30-to-32 Minutes in Basketball."
Against Kansas, it was about 4.
Even in turning it over 23 times, the Jayhawks made Missouri's press seem almost at a standstill, whipping passes up the court for layups and dunks on the way to shooting 49 percent. Kansas had its way inside, too, outscoring Missouri 36-18 in the paint, grabbing 28 more rebounds and scoring 17 points off 18 offensive boards.
The Jayhawks were clearly ready for the start of their rivalry week, which concludes Saturday at Kansas State.
Kansas brought in 70s rocker Eddie Money for an enthusiastic rendition of the national anthem and the fans had Allen Fieldhouse roaring like a jet hanger just before tipoff, creating shifting walls of blue as they jumped up and down.
Unlike Baylor, which left during the pregame video and player introductions the last game at Allen Fieldhouse, the Tigers stood around and took it, then went right at the Jayhawks.
Missouri took Kansas' initial hit, even opened the game with an 8-3 run in The Phog.
Then it went dark for the Tigers.
Kansas started hitting shots and swarmed Missouri inside and out, holding the Tigers scoreless for over 5 minutes during a 15-3 run.
The Jayhawks never gave Missouri a chance after that.
Aldrich was seemingly everywhere, blocking five shots, even wiping up his sweat off the floor after diving for loose ball. He combined with Markieff Morris for 22 rebounds in the first half -- seven more than Missouri -- and Kansas had a 28-6 advantage inside to build a 50-30 lead.
Brady Morningstar capped the half with an off-balance, pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer that banked off the glass, hovered above the rim for a second then dropped in as the crowd followed along with "ooh-ahh-yeah!"
It was that kind of night for Kansas.
