The Associated Press

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Playing with four fouls, Ben Gordon scored eight of his 22 points over the final 41/2 minutes, and top-ranked Connecticut barely hung on to beat Rutgers 75-74 Tuesday night.

Connecticut's Ben Gordon gets around Rutgers' Marquis Webb. (AP photo)

Emeka Okafor had 21 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Huskies (12-1, 1-0 Big East) won their ninth straight game. Charlie Villaneuva added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Herve Lamizana had 20 points and Ricky Shields 19 for Rutgers (7-4, 0-2).

Rutgers, which beat Connecticut at the Rutgers Athletic Center in January 2002, is now 0-6 against top-ranked teams.

No. 2 Duke 99, Fairfield 58

DURHAM, N.C. - Chris Duhon had 20 points, nine assists and seven steals for Duke, which won its 34th straight home game.

Shavlik Randolph added 18 points for the Blue Devils (11-1). J.J. Redick scored 10 points, and hit his 48th consecutive free throw to tie the Atlantic Coast Conference record set by Jeff Lamp during the 1979-80 season.

Deng Gai had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Fairfield (7-4).

With the victory, coach Mike Krzyzewski improved to 17-0 against his former assistant coaches and players. Stags coach Tim O'Toole, an assistant at Duke from 1995-97, has lost all three meetings with his mentor.

No. 5 Wake Forest 86, Brown 47

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Eric Williams scored 14 points and Trent Strickland added 13 to lead Wake Forest to its 23rd consecutive home victory.

Justin Gray had 12 points, and a career-high six assists. He also tied his career best with seven rebounds for the Demon Deacons (10-0).

Luke Ruscoe led Brown (3-9) with 14 points.

No. 9 St. Joseph's 71, Richmond 60

RICHMOND, Va. - Jameer Nelson scored 18 of his 32 points in the first half, and St. Joseph's made it 12 straight victories to start the season.

Nelson made nine for 14 shots with five 3-pointers for St. Joseph's, 2-0 in the Atlantic 10. Dwayne Jones added 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Richmond (8-6, 1-1) was led by Tony Dobbins led Richmond with 17 points.

No. 15 Pittsburgh 78, Virginia Tech 59

PITTSBURGH - Julius Page scored 20 points and led a decisive run that helped Pittsburgh beat Virginia Tech in a Big East Conference opener.

Jaron Brown had 21 points and freshman Chris Taft 17 for the Panthers (15-0), who stretched the nation's longest home court winning streak to 35 games.

Bryant Matthews had 22 points for the Hokies (7-5).

No. 21 Wisconsin 79, Indiana 45

MADISON, Wis. - Mike Wilkinson had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Wisconsin began defense of its Big Ten title with an easy 79-45 victory.

Devin Harris added 15 points and nine assists for Wisconsin (10-2), which won its 21st straight home game.

Sean Cline scored 12 points in the league opener for Indiana (6-6).