SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Jim Boeheim notched his 903rd career victory, breaking a tie with Bob Knight for second all-time among Division I men's coaches, and No. 7 Syracuse rolled past Rutgers 78-53 on Wednesday night in the Big East opener for both teams.
Boeheim, in his 37th season at his alma mater, trails only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who has 940 victories.
Syracuse (13-1, 1-0) has won 33 straight home games, the longest active streak in the nation, and has beaten Rutgers (9-3, 0-1) 13 straight times. The Orange's last home loss was to Georgetown, 64-56, on Feb. 9, 2011.
Brandon Triche had a season-high 25 points, hitting 5 of 7 3-point attempts, and added six assists to lead Syracuse. Michael Carter-Williams finished with 12 points and 10 assists, his eighth double-double, and C.J. Fair had 15 points and three blocks.
Eli Carter led Rutgers with 19 points.
No. 1 Duke 67, Rutgers 50
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Ryan Kelly scored 18 points to help No. 1 Duke remain unbeaten with a victory over Davidson.
Quinn Cook scored 15 points and Mason Plumlee scored eight of his 10 in the second half for the Blue Devils (13-0), who are one of only four undefeated teams remaining in Division I.
The game was tied 29-all at halftime before Duke opened the second half with a 12-0 run. The Blue Devils, who led by as many as 19 in the second half, heated up from 3-point range after the break, going 3 for 4 in the early minutes
Jake Cohen led Davidson (7-6) with 19 points and eight rebounds despite battling through early foul trouble, and De'Mon Brooks added eight points and 12 rebounds in the Wildcats' 24th straight loss to Duke.
This was the final tuneup for both teams before opening conference play Saturday night. Duke hosts Wake Forest, while Davidson hosts UNC-Greensboro.
No. 4 Louisville 80, Providence 62
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Russ Smith scored a game-high 23 points and No. 4 Louisville shot 53 percent to run away from Providence in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Gorgui Dieng and Luke Hancock each added 11 points and Chane Behanan and Peyton Siva had 10 each as the Cardinals (13-1, 1-0) won their eighth straight.
Louisville, coming off Saturday's 80-77 victory over archrival Kentucky, didn't let down against Providence. Motivated by the memory of last season's 31-point road loss to the Friars, the Cardinals responded by handing Providence its worst defeat of the season.
Besides forcing 16 turnovers that led to 27 points, Louisville broke the game open in the second half with 63 percent shooting (15 of 24) after hitting 15 of 33 from the field before halftime.
Kadeem Batts had 17 points to lead Providence (8-5, 0-1)), which fell to 0-7 all-time in Louisville.
No. 8 Ohio State 70, Nebraska 44
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Deshaun Thomas outscored Nebraska in the first half 18-17 and finished with 22 points to lead No. 8 Ohio State past the Cornhuskers in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 17 points for Ohio State (11-2, 1-0), which won its 15th consecutive Big Ten home opener. The Buckeyes have a tough test on Saturday at No. 11 Illinois.
The Buckeyes led by at least 20 points for almost all of the second half.
How bad was it for the Cornhuskers (9-5, 0-1)? Only 8:27 remained when they finally exceeded the 31 points that their football counterparts scored in a 14-point loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl a day earlier.
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