Minutemen hold on

UMass (7-3) still had a 10-point lead with 6:02 to play when East Carolina (4-4) started a big run to close to 59-58 with 40 seconds left.

The Minutemen hit only 4 of 8 free throws in the last 35 seconds, with four players going 1 of 2, but it was enough to seal the win as East Carolina missed two 3-pointers and had a turnover.

Guard Chaz Williams added 10 points for UMass, but also had 10 of the Minutemen’s 24 turnovers. UMass, which came in ranked second nationally in steals, recorded nine, while the Pirates, who ranked fifth, had 13 takeaways in the first meeting between the two programs.

Syracuse 62, Marshall 56 - Dion Waiters had 15 points and Kris Joseph had 11 points and eight rebounds as the No. 3 Orange (9-0) outlasted the visiting Thundering Herd (5-2).

North Carolina 97, Evansville 48 - Harrison Barnes scored 17 points to help the No. 4 Tar Heels (7-2) knock off the visiting Purple Aces (3-4).

Missouri 81, Villanova 71 - Marcus Denmon had his second straight strong game from 3-point range, making six and scoring 28 points as the No. 10 Tigers (8-0) knocked off the Wildcats (5-3) in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Marquette 79, Washington 77 - Jae Crowder’s 3-pointer from the corner with 6.3 seconds to play gave the No. 11 Golden Eagles (8-0) the win over the Huskies (4-3) in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Kansas 88, Long Beach State 80 - Thomas Robinson had a career-high 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and Jeff Withey came within one blocked shot of a triple-double as the thirteenth-ranked Jayhawks (6-2) held off the visiting 49ers (4-4).

Pittsburgh 97, VMI 70 - Ashton Gibbs scored 20 points and the No. 15 Panthers (8-1) rolled to their sixth straight win, beating the visiting Keydets (3-5).

Memphis 71, Miami 54 - Will Barton’s career highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds led the No. 21 Tigers (5-2) over the host Hurricanes (5-3).

Bradley 79, Northeastern 68 - Walt Lemon Jr. had 24 points and Dyricus Simms-Edwards added 19 as the host Braves (4-4) snapped a four-game losing streak. The Huskies (3-4) got 18 points from Quincy Ford, 17 from Joel Smith, and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Jonathan Lee.

Columbia 46, Holy Cross 45 - Marc Cisco scored 14 points, including the deciding foul shot with two seconds left, as the Lions (6-4) won their sixth straight, erasing a 16-point halftime deficit to beat the visiting Crusaders (3-6).

Quinnipiac 70, Hartford 61 - Ike Azotam scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the visiting Bobcats (4-4) hold off an upset bid by the Hawks (0-9).

Women’s basketball

UConn 81, Texas A&M 51 - Tiffany Hayes and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis each scored 14 points as the second-ranked Huskies (8-0) routed the No. 8 Aggies (6-2) at the Jimmy V Classic in Hartford, extending an NCAA record with their 91st straight home win.

Harvard 69, UNH 62 - Cari Reed erupted for a career-high 32 points, including a school-record eight 3-pointers, but the Wildcats (3-4) came out on the short end against the visiting Crimson (3-4). Reed notched 27 second-half points, connecting on her first seven 3-pointers of the stanza, to help UNH rally from 14 points down to take a 52-50 lead. But the Crimson responded with a 9-0 run and withstood Reed’s effort down the stretch to escape with the win. Victoria Lippert led Harvard with 17 points.