Top Teams Get the Ol’ 1-2-3-5-6-7

It was a day of upsets in college basketball, as six of the top seven teams fell.

The only team to survive was No. 4 Missouri, which defeated top-ranked Kansas. No. 2 Georgetown was upset by unranked Connecticut, No. 3 Oklahoma fell to No. 23 Arizona, No. 5 Syracuse was beaten by Providence, No. 6 Michigan lost to Iowa and No. 7 Illinois lost to No. 24 Purdue.

The upsets began at Columbia, Mo., where the Tigers, who trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, came back to defeat Kansas, 95-87.

“At halftime there were a lot of sad faces,” said Missouri’s Anthony Peeler, who scored 24 points. “But we just talked about treating them as just another team.”

It was the 26th consecutive victory at home for the Tigers (17-1 overall, 4-0 in the Big Eight), who made 18 of 29 shots in the second half. It is also the second consecutive season that the Tigers have defeated a top-ranked team on their home court. They beat then-No. 1 Oklahoma, 97-84, last February.

The Jayhawks (19-1, 2-1) led, 46-43, at halftime, but the Tigers scored the first six points of the second half and took the lead for good with 17 minutes remaining.

Terry Brown brought Kansas to within 67-65 with 10:44 remaining. The Jayhawks pulled to within two points of the lead on three more occasions, the last time at 77-75.

Doug Smith scored 23 points for Kansas, 19 in the second half.

Connecticut 70, No. 2 Georgetown 65--The Hoyas, the only undefeated major-college team after Kansas was beaten earlier in the day, lost when the Huskies connected on seven of eight free throws in the final 1:04 for a Big East Conference victory at Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (15-3, 5-2) broke a 60-60 tie with 3:46 left on a three-point basket by Nadav Henefeld and never trailed again. The Hoyas (14-1, 4-1) got as close as 63-62, and made it 67-65 on a three-point basket by Mark Tillmon with 32 seconds left.

The Huskies held the Hoyas scoreless for the first 7:03 and had a 14-0 lead before Alonzo Mourning, who had 23 points, scored on a dunk.

No. 23 Arizona 78, No. 3 Oklahoma 74--The Sooners had shooting troubles all day against the Wildcats. But in the end, it was the shot the third-ranked Sooners didn’t take that gave the Wildcats the victory at Tucson.

Kermit Holmes cost the Sooners (12-2) a chance at the tying basket when he lost the ball out-of-bounds with four seconds left. The Wildcats’ Sean Rooks was fouled one second later and hit two free throws.

The Wildcats limited the high-scoring Sooners to seven-for-28 shooting in the first half and 24-for-69 for the game. The Sooners, who lost Tuesday to Kansas State, last lost consecutive games two years ago--to Louisiana State and Kansas State.

Providence 87, No. 5 Syracuse 86--Junior guard Eric Murdock made a jump shot from the foul line with four seconds to play and the Friars defeated the Orangemen for the first time in 11 years in a Big East game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Leading, 86-85, the Orangemen’s Dave Johnson missed the the first free throw of a one-and-one with 33 seconds remaining. After Murdock’s shot, Richard Manning of the Orangemen missed a short jumper in the lane as time expired.

The Friars (11-4, 4-2), led by Murdock’s 25 points and 16 assists, ended more than a decade of futility against the Orangemen (12-3, 3-3), who had won 21 in a row from the Friars since the league was formed in 1979.

Iowa 78, No. 6 Michigan 76--Les Jepsen scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and sank the winning free throws in overtime as the Hawkeyes overcame a 15-point deficit to stun the Wolverines in a Big Ten game at Iowa City, Iowa.

The Hawkeyes (9-6, 1-4) broke a five-game losing streak. The Wolverines are 13-3, 3-2.

Rumeal Robinson, who scored 22 of his 28 points for the Wolverines in the first half, drove the length of the court but missed a flying, off-balance layup at the buzzer.

Michael Ingram’s layup with 39 seconds left in regulation gave Iowa a 71-71 tie and capped a 24-9 run in which the Hawkeyes rallied from a 62-47 deficit with 11:24 left. The Wolverines had a 44-33 halftime lead.

Matt Bullard led the Hawkeyes with 23 points. Terry Mills scored 15 points for Michigan.

No. 24 Purdue 81, No. 7 Illinois 68--At West Lafayette, Ind., the Boilermakers turned a 17-2 second-half run into a runaway to remain undefeated in Big Ten play while beating a higher-ranked team for the third time in their last four games.

Purdue (13-2, 4-0) scored the first four points of the game and never was caught, taking a 17-7 lead in the first eight minutes.

The Illini (13-3, 3-3) trailed by 12 points with 14:43 left when the Boilermakers put the game out of reach by scoring 10 consecutive points and then adding another seven for a 21-point advantage.

Kendall Gill scored 23 points for the Illini. Marcus Liberty, the Illini’s leading scorer, was eight of 18 shots.