NEW YORK — Jim Boeheim has always made a point of telling the media not to get too caught up in runs because basketball, especially on the college level, is a game of runs.

He could only smile as he was asked about Syracuse's 22-1 run to open the second half of an 87-71 victory over No. 6 North Carolina last night in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.

"That's about as good as it gets," he said, "and it was against North Carolina and it was here."

The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Garden with blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1).

North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry as Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the run ended 8 minutes into the second half, Syracuse had a 59-40 lead.

"We had to get rebounds and get out and push and they wanted me and Arinze to be more aggressive," Triche said of the start to the second half. "We definitely responded and Wes played a tremendous game."

Tournament MVP Wesley Johnson had 25 points for the Orange, who beat California 95-73 in the semifinals. Onuaku finished with 15 points and Triche had 11.

Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Iowa State, was 10 of 17 from the field, including making half of eight 3-point attempts, and had eight rebounds.

He was proudly wearing an orange — what else? — T-shirt that said "Shut It Down."

"It's all about energy," he said. "We let up at the end of the first half. 'Shut It Down,' that's the motto. We knew they would make a run and we had to counteract it and we did."

Ed Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Ginyard added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who missed their first 13 shots of the second half and turned the ball over six times as the Orange just didn't miss.

Syracuse started the half by making 10 of its first 14 shots that made it 57-40.

"Two air balls on our first two shots and then two turnovers. Our first four possessions of the second half we don't even hit the rim," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "We didn't have an answer for guarding Wes and it was the snowball effect from there. It's frustrating no question about that. We've got to play better and they're good."

The Tar Heels closed to 68-60 on a 3 by David Wear with 7:04 left, but Onuaku had the first and last baskets of a 6-0 run that ended any thoughts of a comeback for the ages.

"We made two really good plays right in a row and got it right back up because they're going to keep coming at you," said Boeheim, who earlier this month became the eighth Division I coach to reach 800 wins.

Syracuse lost 82-79 to Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game earlier this month. The Orange fell off the national radar after that. Not anymore.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN STATE 75, TOLEDO 62

Draymond Green had 15 points, and the host Spartans (3-0) beat the Rockets (0-3) for their 42nd straight home victory against a nonconference opponent. The Spartans will host Valparaiso tomorrow before heading to Atlantic City, N.J., for a Nov. 27 game with Florida in the semifinals of the Legends Classic.

NO. 5 VILLANOVA 71, NO. 18 DAYTON 65

Corey Fisher scored 18 points and the Wildcats (4-0) saw their 18-point lead trimmed to 62-60 with 2:23 before making nine straight free throws to turn back the Flyers (2-1) in the second round of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off at San Juan.

NO. 7 PURDUE 74, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 63

E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points and the Boilermakers (2-0) used a 9-0 run for a 50-39 lead with 13:12 left to beat the Jackrabbits (2-1) in the first round of the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam at St. Thomas. Purdue will play St. Joseph's tomorrow night in the second round.

NO. 10 TENNESSEE 105, EAST CAROLINA 66

Scotty Hopson scored 25 points and the Volunteers (3-0) raced to a 43-27 halftime lead in cruising past the Pirates (1-3), who committed 35 turnovers in the first round of the Paradise Jam at St. Thomas. Tennessee will play DePaul in the second round tomorrow.

NO. 15 OHIO STATE 76, NO. 13 CALIFORNIA 70

Evan Turner had 26 points and 14 rebounds, his fourth double-double in four games, and the Buckeyes (3-1) took a 38-25 halftime lead which never dipped below seven points thereafter to beat the Bears (2-2) for third place in the 2K Sports Classic in New York.

NO. 15 MICHIGAN 77, HOUSTON BAPTIST 55

Manny Harris scored 25 points, and DeShawn Sims added 22, and each had 12 points during a decisive 29-13 run at the end of the first half that put the host Wolverines in front for good in beating the Huskies (0-4), playing their third season in NCAA Division I.

NO. 21 GEORGIA TECH 70, GEORGE MASON 62

Gani Lawal had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Derrick Favors scored 18 points, and the Yellow Jackets (2-1) made 9 of 11 free throws for their final points in holding off the Patriots (2-2) in the consolation game of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off at San Juan.

NO. 22 CLEMSON 89, UNC GREENSBORO 67

Trevor Booker scored a season-high 17 points, Milton Jennings added 14 points and the visiting Tigers (3-0) closed the first half with a 17-3 run for a 42-24 lead to beat the Spartans (0-3) and extended its school-record winning streak in nonconference road games to 11.

NO. 25 MARYLAND 82, NEW HAMPSHIRE 55

Landon Milbourne scored a career-high 24 points, and the host Terrapins (3-0) cruised past the Wildcats (1-1) in their final tuneup for the Maui Invitational. After three straight blowouts at home, the Terrapins will head to Hawai'i for a first-round game Monday against Chaminade.

WAC

NO. 14 WASHINGTON 80, SAN JOSE STATE 70

Quincy Pondexter set a career high for the second consecutive game with 30 points, including 13 in a row to begin the second half, and had a career-best 15 rebounds to lead the host Huskies (4-0) past the Spartans (1-1).

LOUISIANA TECH 74, MIAMI (OHIO) 62

Kyle Gibson scored 27 to lead three teammates in double figures as the Bulldogs (2-0) beat the Redhawks (0-3) in the opening game of the Basketball Travelers World Vision Classic at Albuquerque, N.M.

LOCAL DIVISION II MEN

ST. MARTIN'S 84, HAWAI'I-HILO 69

Galen Squiers scored 22 points and Blake Poole added 17 as St. Martin's (1-0) beat Hawai'i-Hilo (0-1) at the Western Oregon/Phoenix Inn DII Shootout in Monmouth, Ore. Justin Smith scored 19 points and Andrew Gipson added 16 for the Vulcans.

HAWAI'I PACIFIC 77, SONOMA STATE 76

Mike Helton scored 20 points, including a 3-pointer as time expired, to lift the Sea Warriors (1-1) over the Seawolves (0-1) at Rohnert, Calif. Ray Murdock added 12 points, and C.J. Jackson and Adrian den Dulk each had 11 for HPU, which trailed 38-29 at halftime.

RANKED WOMEN

NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 87, HOLY CROSS 34

Maya Moore scored 21 points, Tina Charles added 18 and the host Huskies (3-0) coasted to their 42nd straight victory, beating the Crusaders (2-2).

It was the 117th consecutive win against unranked non-conference opponents for the Huskies, who have won their first three games by an average margin of 49.3 points after going undefeated last season.

During their run to their sixth national championship last season, the Huskies beat teams by an average of 30 points.

Last night, they controlled the inside, frustrated the Crusaders with a new-look fullcourt press and tipped passes that led to easy baskets from a scrappy 1-2-2 zone, but they allowed some open 3s.

The Huskies led 52-22 at halftime, but Holy Cross nailed five 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who captured his 699th career win, was satisfied with his team's defense.

"We did a couple of different things (defensively) and I thought we handled it very well, especially our big kids," he said. "I thought they handled it very well. Maya was Maya. Tina was Tina and everybody else filled in."

NO. 10 TEXAS 96, NORTH TEXAS 52

Kat Nash scored 20 points to lead five teammates in double figures and the Lady Longhorns (2-1) used a 23-9 first-half run and never looked back in cruising past the Mean Green (0-3).

NO. 13 FLORIDA STATE 101, STETSON 35

Alysha Harvin scored 19 points and the host Seminoles (3-0) broke from a 7-all tie with a 35-7 run en route to a 52-19 lead at intermission in romping past the Hatters (0-3).

NO. 17 DEPAUL 89, CORNELL 50

Katherine Harry came off the bench to score 16 points, and the Blue Demons (3-0) beat the Big Red (2-1) to advance to today's championship game of the Maggie Dixon Classic in Chicago.San Diego (2-1) got 19 points from Emily Hatch in a 79-45 victory over Tennessee State in the other semifinal.

NO. 22 VANDERBILT 75, UC RIVERSIDE 60

Jence Rhoads scored 14 points and the host Commodores (3-0) held the Highlanders (1-3) to one free throw and no field goals for 8:40 of the first half to take a 38-18 halftime lead and were never threatened thereafter.