Illini hang on to edge Cornell

Meyers Leonard had 19 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to lead No. 25 Illinois (11-1) to a 64-60 victory over Cornell (4-4) on Monday night at Champaign, Ill.

After trailing for the most of the game, Illinois, which beat Gonzaga 82-75 on Dec. 3, was sparked by D.J. Richardson's nine points in the second half and narrowly avoided its second consecutive loss.

No. 5 North Carolina 99, Nicholls State 49: At Chapel Hill, N.C., Dexter Strickland scored 14 points to help the Tar Heels (10-2) beat Nicholls State(4-8).

Freshman James Michael McAdoo added a season-high 14 off the bench for North Carolina, which dominated the undersized and overmatched Colonels for their fourth straight victory.

No. 6. Baylor 95, Paul Quinn 54: At Waco, Texas, Quincy Acy and Baylor got their high-flying act going in a hurry and the Bears (10-0) flattened Paul Quinn (2-10).

Acy, who finished with 24 points, had a dunk in the opening minute before 6-foot-11 sophomore standout Perry Jones III followed with a putback slam of Brady Heslip's missed 3-pointer for a quick 6-0 lead.

No. 7 Duke 90, UNC Greensboro 63: At Durham, N.C., freshman Quinn Cook scored all of his season-high 14 points in the second half, and the Blue Devils (10-1) routed the Spartans 2-10).

Mason Plumlee had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Austin Rivers added 14 points for Duke.

LSU 67, No. 11. Marquette 59: Ralston Turner scored 22 points to lead the Tigers (8-3) past Marquette (10-1).

Jae Crowder paced the Golden Eagles with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Davidson 80, No. 12. Kansas 74: At Kansas City, Mo., Nik Cochran hit 4 of 5 3-point attempts and finished with 21 points and the Wildcats (7-3) upset the Jayhawks (7-3).

Kansas' Thomas Robinson controlled the boards, finishing with 17 rebounds and led KU with 21 points.

No. 11 Florida 82, Mississippi Valley St. 54: At Gainesville, Fla., Erving Walker scored 19 points, one of five starters in double figures, and the Gators (9-2) overwhelmed the Delta Devils (1-9).

Kenny Boynton (16), Bradley Beal (13), Patric Young (12) and Erik Murphy (11) also scored in double digits for the Gators, who extended their home winning streak to 11.

No. 17 Indiana 107, Howard 50: At Bloomington, Ind., the Hoosiers (11-0) shot 67.3 percent from the field, hit 11 3-pointers and forced 19 turnovers in beating Howard (3-9).

No. 19 Michigan St. 89, UMKC 54: At East Lansing, Mich., Branden Dawson got off to a great start in the first few minutes and scored a career-high 16 points to lead the Spartans (10-2) past the Kangaroos (7-6).

Dawson had eight quick points and finished 8 for 12 from the field for Michigan State, which has won 10 straight.

No. 23 Creighton 83, Tulsa 64: At Tulsa, Okla., sophomore Doug McDermott scored a career-high 35 points and the Bluejays (9-1) routed Tulsa (5-7).

Vanderbilt 99, Longwood 71: At Nashville, Tenn., Jeffery Taylor scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half, and the Commodores (7-4) beat Longwood (4-7).

• Orangemen top poll: Syracuse is on top of The Associated Press' college basketball poll for a second week and UNLV and Virginia are newcomers to the Top 25.

The Orange (11-0) received 53 first-place votes Monday from the 64-member national media panel. The next six places remained the same from last week: Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Baylor and Duke. Ohio State had five first-place votes, while Kentucky had four and Louisville two.