Missing a handful of starters by the end of a game in which they overcame a 19-point deficit, Virginia Tech (11-2) escaped Elon 82-81 Saturday at Cassell Coliseum.

Freshman center Christian Gurdak made a layup off a Ben Hammond pass with 10 seconds remaining for the go-ahead points, the seventh lead change of overtime. Hammond made a steal, but Tech’s Izaiah Pasha missed two free throws with four seconds remaining before blocking Bryson Cokley’s 26-footer at the buzzer for the Phoenix (7-5).

Star guard Neoklis Avdalas (illness), Tobi Lawal (foot) and Antonio Dorn (back) didn’t play. Amani Hansberry fouled out with 3:51 left in overtime after compiling 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Elon went ahead 41-22 when Chandler Cuthrell hit two free throws with 3:46 left in the first half. Tech pulled to 43-35 by halftime and went ahead 63-62 on a Hansberry layup with 5:25 left in the second half. The game was close throughout after that, with Hansberry’s 9-footer at the 28-second mark forcing OT.

Gurdak scored 17, Hammond 15, Pasha 11 and Jaden Schutt 10 for Tech. Cuthrell led Elon with 18.

Christopher Newport 79, Denison 73: Toa Hollenbeck scored 24 points as the Captains (9-3) gained a split of two games at the Jay Bilas Classic in Johnson & Wales-Charlotte’s Wildcat Arena, turning back the Big Red (6-4) from Granville, Ohio.

CNU trailed 20-8 but bounced back for a 46-41 halftime edge and led throughout the second half.

Ethan Ward added 14 points and five rebounds, Tyler Sprague 11 points (all in the first half) and Collin Hines 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists for CNU.

Kellon Smith paced Denison with 19 points.

No. 9 Michigan State 79, Oakland 70: Coen Carr scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half in Detroit for MSU (11-1). The Spartans have won three straight since a six-point setback to No. 3 Duke.

The Golden Grizzlies (6-7) led for much of the first half and were ahead by as many as seven points before trailing the entire second half. MSU coach Tom Izzo and Oakland coach Greg Kampe coordinated to wear custom-made holiday sweaters.

No. 11 Louisville 94, Montana 54: Sananda Fru scored a season-high 18 points for the Cardinals (10-2) in a home win. Just like Tuesday, when they lost 83-62 at No. 20 Tennessee, the Cardinals (10-2) played without star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr., who sat out with a back injury.

While Louisville started slowly against the Grizzlies (6-7), the Cardinals never trailed and eventually pulled away, ending the first half on a 17-0 run to lead 42-20.

Kentucky 78, No. 22 St. John’s 66: Otega Oweh scored 20 points and Kentucky (8-4) stifled St. John’s (7-4) in the second half, beating former Wildcats coach Rick Pitino and the Red Storm in Atlanta.

St. John’s led 41-33 after Zuby Ejiofor converted a three-point play with 16:07 remaining. But Kentucky turned up the defensive pressure, ripping off a 14-0 run and holding the Red Storm without a field goal for nearly nine minutes. Pitino faced his former school for the first time since 2016 — his final season of a successful but scandal-plagued tenure with Louisville. Kentucky coach Mark Pope was a captain on Pitino’s 1996 Kentucky championship team.

No. 12 North Carolina 71, Ohio State 70: Seth Trimble hit three second-half 3-pointers at the CBS Sports Classic. In his first appearance after missing nine games with a broken bone in his left forearm, Trimble had 17 points, three assists and two rebounds.

Freshman Caleb Wilson, playing his first college game in his hometown of Atlanta, scored 16 second-half points and had 20 overall while also grabbing a season-high 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double in his first 12 games. Wilson’s block with one second left clinched the win for UNC.

Henri Veesaar hit 7 of 12 shots, including a go-ahead dunk with seven seconds left, and posted his sixth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Liberty 64, Dayton 61: Kaden Metheny scored 16 points and Zach Cleveland notched a double-double and made a go-ahead free throw with 43 seconds left for the Flames (8-3) against the Flyers (9-4) in Ohio.

Metheny went 7 of 14 from the field (2 for 5 from 3-point range), including a layup for a 64-61 lead at the 12-second mark. Dayton’s Jacob Conner missed a 24-foot try to tie in the waning seconds.

Cleveland tallied 12 points and 16 rebounds to go with three blocks and a pair of steals. Brett Decker Jr. scored 15 points, and Colin Porter had 13 for Liberty.

Amael L’Etang finished with 19 points and Javon Bennett 17 for Dayton. Keonte Jones had nine points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Longwood 74, North Carolina Central 72: With less than a second left in regulation, Elijah Tucker’s putback of a Redd Thompson miss lifted the Lancers (7-7) past the Eagles (4-10) in Durham.

Thompson and Jacoi Hutchinson each scored 17 points for Longwood. Emanuel Richards added 15.

For NCCU, Khouri Carvey and Jae Slack each had 17 points, with Carvey grabbing 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Gage Lattimore led all scorers with 22 points.

Georgia Tech 95, Lafayette 81: Lamar Washington had 20 points, 10 assists and three steals, Akai Fleming and Kowacie Reeves Jr. also scored 20 points, and the Yellow Jackets (7-4) won in Atlanta. For the Leopards (3-10), Mark Butler had 20 points and eight assists, and Caleb Williams had 20 points to go with six assists.

Syracuse 91, Northeastern 83: Naithan George had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists as the host Orange (8-4) held off the Huskies (4-6). Nate Kingz and William Kyle III scored 14 each.

Ryan Williams had 20 points and Xander Alarie 19 points and 11 rebounds for Northeastern.

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