The Associated Press

HARTFORD, Conn. - Emeka Okafor had 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks and No. 5 Connecticut cruised to an 84-56 win over No. 18 Syracuse Monday.

Okafor had his 14th double-double of the season, and 43rd of his career.

Ben Gordon finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Huskies (18-3, 6-1 Big East), winners of eight of their last 12 meetings with the Orangemen.

Hakim Warrick led Syracuse (14-4, 4-3) with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

SYRACUSE (14-4)-Warrick 11-18 4-6 26, Nichols 3-7 0-0 8, Forth 0-0 0-0 0, McNamara 2-17 3-3 9, Pace 1-6 1-2 3, Kouwe 0-0 0-0 0, Herron 0-0 0-0 0, Watkins 0-4 1-6 1, Gorman 0-2 0-0 0, Roberts 0-2 0-0 0, McNeil 2-2 0-0 4, McCroskey 2-9 1-2 5. Totals 21-67 10-19 56.

CONNECTICUT (18-3)-Boone 0-0 0-0 0, D.Brown 6-10 2-2 15, Okafor 9-11 7-13 25, Gordon 4-14 3-5 13, T.Brown 2-4 0-2 4, Swaller 0-0 0-2 0, Villanueva 2-8 8-9 12, Armstrong 2-5 1-3 5, Baisch 0-0 0-0 0, Tooles 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 3-11 1-2 8, Evanovich 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 28-63 24-40 84.

Halftime-Connecticut 41, Syracuse 31. 3-Point goals-Syracuse 4-20 (Nichols 2-4, McNamara 2-11, Pace 0-1, McCroskey 0-4), Connecticut 4-22 (Gordon 2-9, D.Brown 1-3, Anderson 1-8, Villanueva 0-2). Fouled out-Nichols. Rebounds-Syracuse 44 (Warrick 11), Connecticut 53 (Okafor 11). Assists-Syracuse 10 (McNamara 3), Connecticut 20 (Gordon 8). Total fouls-Syracuse 26, Connecticut 18. A-16,294.

No. 3 St. Joseph's 74, Villanova 67

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Saint Joe's got the challenge everyone expected from Villanova. But the third-ranked Hawks are still undefeated.

The perimeter trio of Jameer Nelson, Delonte West and Pat Carroll combined for 60 points to extend St. Joseph's school-record winning streak to 19 games.

The Hawks (19-0) and No. 2 Stanford (18-0) remain the only unbeaten teams in Division I.

ST. JOSEPH'S (19-0)-Carroll 6-8 0-0 16, Bryant 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 3-6 1-5 7, Nelson 8-18 7-8 23, West 5-15 10-10 21, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Barley 1-2 0-2 3, Stachitas 0-0 1-2 1, Mallon 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 24-51 19-27 74.

VILLANOVA (12-8)-Sumpter 1-14 7-13 9, Fraser 2-5 1-4 5, Foye 2-3 0-0 4, Nardi 5-9 2-2 16, Ray 5-12 2-2 13, Bloch 4-6 0-0 10, Snowden 0-3 0-0 0, Claxton 0-0 0-0 0, Sheridan 5-8 0-1 10. Totals 24-60 12-22 67.

Halftime-St. Joseph's 34-23. 3-Point goals-St. Joseph's 7-13 (Carroll 4-4, Mallon 1-1, Barley 1-2, West 1-3, Nelson 0-3), Villanova 7-20 (Nardi 4-6, Bloch 2-3, Ray 1-7, Snowden 0-1, Sumpter 0-3). Fouled out-Foye, Snowden. Rebounds-St. Joseph's 37 (West 11), Villanova 47 (Fraser 8). Assists-St. Joseph's 14 (West 6), Villanova 15 (Nardi 5). Total fouls-St. Joseph's 20, Villanova 25. A-6,500.

No. 20 Kansas 65, Missouri 56

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Wayne Simien had 18 points, including two free throws with 42 seconds left, and No. 20 Kansas held on for the win against rival Missouri.

Kansas (15-4, 6-1 Big 12) led by one point at halftime and was never able to pull away until the final minutes in the 97-year-old rivalry.

MISSOURI (9-9)-Bryant 4-10 1-4 10, Paulding 5-10 3-3 14, Johnson 6-15 3-5 15, McKinney 5-15 0-0 10, Gardner 1-9 0-0 3, Conley 1-1 0-0 2, Laurie 0-0 0-0 0, Young 1-2 0-0 2, Kroenke 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 7-12 56.

KANSAS (14-4)-Langford 5-12 0-0 10, Simien 7-12 4-4 18, Padgett 3-4 0-0 6, Miles 3-9 4-4 11, Giddens 4-10 0-0 11, Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0, Case 0-1 0-0 0, Lee 1-5 0-0 3, Nash 0-1 0-0 0, Graves 1-2 2-4 4, Niang 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 25-57 10-14 65.

Halftime-Kansas 29-27. 3-Point goals-Missouri 3-18 (Paulding 1-3, Bryant 1-4, Gardner 1-6, Kroenke 0-1, McKinney 0-4), Kansas 5-14 (Giddens 3-7, Lee 1-3, Miles 1-3, Langford 0-1). Fouled out-Graves. Rebounds-Missouri 39 (Bryant 10), Kansas 40 (Langford, Giddens 7). Assists-Missouri 8 (Johnson, McKinney 3), Kansas 18 (Miles 8). Total fouls-Missouri 17, Kansas 14. A-16,300.

ANOTHER KNIGHT TALE: Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight got into a verbal spat with the university chancellor at a grocery store Monday, prompting a review by school officials.

School spokeswoman Sally Logue Post said she did not know details of the encounter between the coach and Dr. David Smith. No one was injured, she said.

"This is obviously an issue that is internal to the university," Smith told the Associated Press. "Right now the athletic director and the president's office at the university are looking into the incident."

Asked whether there was any discussion of removing Knight, Smith said: "I can't comment on any of those things right now."

Gerald Myers, the university's athletic director who was instrumental in bringing Knight to Tech in 2001 after he was fired at Indiana, witnessed the encounter, Post said.

The men were getting food around lunchtime at Market Street, a grocery store about two miles from the school, said Dan Sanders, chief marketing officer for United Supermarkets, which owns the store where the incident occurred.

"Apparently, there was some sort of disagreement," Sanders said. "It took place very quickly."

MEN'S TOP 25: Utah State earned its first spot in the Associated Press men's basketball poll since 1971 on Monday at No. 24, one of many changes in the national rankings - except at the top.

For the third straight week, the first three spots remained the same: Duke, Stanford and Saint Joseph's. Other Top 25 teams didn't fare as well, with 12 of them losing a total of 14 games.

Kentucky dropped from No. 5 to No. 9.

NAVY: Coach Don DeVoe will retire after this season, ending a career in which he recorded more than 500 wins at five schools.

The Ohio State graduate is one of 29 active coaches to lead three different teams to the NCAA Tournament. He has also coached at Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Wyoming and Florida.

WISCONSIN: Sophomore forward Alando Tucker said Monday he has decided to sit out the remainder of the season due to an injured right foot.

Tucker broke his foot on Oct. 9, and missed the Badgers' two exhibition games and the first five games of the regular season.

He returned to the lineup Dec. 10 and played in four games, averaging 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, before missing the last eight after re-injuring his right foot against Ohio.

WOMEN'S TOP 25: Tennessee survived a close call to keep a wide lead at the top of the Associated Press women's basketball poll.

The Lady Vols led the poll for the second straight week on Monday, but needed a late surge in their last game to stay there. They scored the final six points of regulation to force overtime in beating Auburn 68-61 Sunday.

Tennessee (18-1) received 44 of 47 first-place votes from a national media panel and had 1,172 points - 66 more than No. 2 Duke (16-2). Texas (19-2) remained third with three first-place votes and 1,083 points.

While the top six stayed the same, Notre Dame, Florida and Southwest Missouri State moved into the Top 25 at the bottom. It was the first appearance of the season for Florida and Southwest Missouri State.