Henson ignites Tar Heels

Tyler Zeller scored 22 points, Sickles High graduate John Henson had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 5 North Carolina rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half to squeeze past Maryland 83-74 Saturday.

The Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) got all they could handle from the upstart Terrapins, who didn't lead in the final nine minutes but never let North Carolina get comfortable down the stretch.

UNC star Harrison Barnes, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday against Wake Forest, scored 18 points on 5-for-15 shooting. He started slowly but was instrumental after Zeller picked up his fourth foul with 11:44 to go.

Henson scored 12 points during the final 10:12. His basket on a goaltending call against Alex Len with 2:04 left put the Tar Heels up 74-69.

Kendall Marshall contributed 16 assists, helping North Carolina to its fifth straight win and 14th in 15 games.

Terrell Stoglin scored 20 for Maryland (13-9, 3-5). It marked the first time that Terrapins coach Mark Turgeon faced his former mentor at Kansas, Carolina coach Roy Williams.

NO. 1 KENTUCKY 86, SOUTH CAROLINA 52: Anthony Davis had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks as visiting Kentucky (23-1, 9-0 SEC) wiped away the memories of the last time the top-ranked Wildcats came to South Carolina.

Kentucky has won 15 straight and will stay atop the rankings, unlike in 2010 when the No. 1 Wildcats were stunned 68-62 by the Gamecocks.

This time, Davis and Terrence Jones made sure there wouldn't be a similar flop. The two combined for 34 points in the first half as Kentucky took a 52-25 lead at the break and eventually increased the margin to 41 points.

Damien Leonard scored a career-high 19 points for South Carolina (9-13, 1-7).

NO. 2 SYRACUSE 95, ST. JOHN'S 70: Fab Melo scored a career-high 14 points in his return after a three-game absence, and Jim Boeheim tied Dean Smith for third place on the victory list with win No. 879 as visiting Syracuse (23-1, 10-1 Big East) dominated St. John's.

Syracuse rallied behind the return of the 7-foot Melo, taking a 41-27 halftime lead and blowing it open by starting the second half on a 16-3 run in front of a sellout crowd of 19,979 at Madison Square Garden, most of whom were wearing orange.

NO. 3 OHIO STATE 58, NO. 19 WISCONSIN 52: Jared Sullinger scored 24 points and William Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping visiting Ohio State (20-3, 8-2 Big Ten) beat Wisconsin (18-6, 7-4).

Deshaun Thomas scored 16 points and Buford added 11 for the Buckeyes, who held onto their lead in the conference standings. Sullinger also had 10 rebounds as Ohio State snapped a nine-game losing streak to Wisconsin in Madison.

Ryan Evans scored 14 points for the Badgers, who were 5-for-27 from 3-point range.

NO. 6 BAYLOR 64, OKLAHOMA ST. 60: Perry Jones III had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Quincy Acy provided the go-ahead basket and a key offensive rebound down the stretch and visiting Baylor (21-2, 8-2 Big 12) edged Oklahoma State (11-12, 4-6).

Brian Williams scored a career-high 23 points for Oklahoma State, which was bidding to win back-to-back home games against top-10 opponents.

NO. 10 MURRAY ST. 65, TENN. MARTIN 58: Isaiah Canaan, Latreze Mushatt and Jewuan Long each scored 11 points and visiting Murray State (23-0, 11-0 Ohio Valley) remained the lone undefeated team in Division I.

Dane Smith led Tennessee Martin (3-22, 0-12), which lost its 13th straight, with 24 points.

WYOMING 68, NO. 11 UNLV 66: Leonard Washington and Francisco Cruz scored 16 points apiece and host Wyoming (18-5, 4-3 Mountain West) edged UNLV (21-4, 5-2).

Luke Martinez added 15 — all on 3-pointers — and Adam Waddell scored 14 for Wyoming, which snapped a four-game losing streak against UNLV and got its first victory against a Top 25 team since beating New Mexico in 1996. Quintrell Thomas led UNLV with 15.

NORTHERN IOWA 65, NO. 13 CREIGHTON 62: Anthony James buried a 3 at the buzzer as host Northern Iowa (16-9. 6-7 Missouri Valley) upset Creighton (21-3, 11-2) to snap the Bluejays' 11-game winning streak.

James scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half and Seth Tuttle added 13 points for the Panthers, who handed Creighton its first loss since late December. Antoine Young scored 23 points and Doug McDermott, who originally committed to Northern Iowa, had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Creighton.

NOTRE DAME 76, NO. 15 MARQUETTE 59: Freshman Pat Connaughton had 23 points and 11 rebounds as host Notre Dame (15-8, 7-3 Big East) made 11 3-pointers in beating Marquette (19-5, 8-3) for its fourth straight win and its fifth against a ranked team this season.

Eric Atkins chipped in 18 points and Jerian Grant had 12 in a strong performance by the Irish backcourt. The loss snapped a seven-game conference winning streak for Marquette. Darius Johnson-Odom scored 10 points for the Golden Eagles in the first half, but he was held to two points the rest of the game.

NO. 20 INDIANA 78, PURDUE 61: Victor Oladipo scored a career-high 23 points to help visiting Indiana (18-6, 6-6 Big Ten) snap a five-game losing streak against in-state rival Purdue (15-8, 5-5).

Cody Zeller had 16 points and eight rebounds and freshman Remy Abell scored a season-best 13 points for the Hoosiers. Indiana had lost five of its previous seven games, but claimed just its fourth road win of the season.

NO. 22 MISSISSIPPI STATE 91, AUBURN 88: Arnett Moultrie scored 21 points and Renardo Sidney added 17 to lead host Mississippi State (18-5, 5-3 SEC) to victory.

Dee Bost hit three consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half, turning Mississippi State's 44-43 halftime deficit into a 52-44 lead. The Bulldogs would never trail again, shooting 60.4 percent (29 of 48), including 63.2 percent (12 of 19) from 3-point range.

TAMPA 56, BARRY 55: Ashton Graham scored a game-high 24 points, Osby Kelly added 10 points, and Callum Townsend pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds as host Tampa (6-15, 2-9) won its second consecutive game.