Murray St. still perfect

ISAIAH CANAAN scored 32 points and No. 10 Murray State remained unbeaten with an 81-73 win over visiting Southeast Missouri State last night.

Jewuan Long added 13 points for Murray State (22-0, 10-0), which is off to the best start by an Ohio Valley Conference team since Western Kentucky opened 21-0 in 1953-54.

Marcus Brister had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Redhawks (12-10, 7-3).

The lead changed hands three times in the first half, and Murray State trailed the Redhawks, 39-33, at the break. Murray State took the lead for good less than 10 minutes into the second half.

Southeast Missouri forced the Racers into 14 turnovers, but Murray State outrebounded the Redhawks, 43-34.

In other games * 

At Virginia Tech, Austin Rivers scored 18 points, Ryan Kelly had 15, and No. 7 Duke (19-3, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) used a late first-half run to open a double-digit lead it never relinquished in a 75-60 victory over the Hokies.

* At Florida, Kenny Boynton scored 24 points and Bradley Beal added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the No. 12 Gators (18-4, 6-1 Southeastern Conference, beat South Carolina, 74-66.

* At St. Mary's (Calif.), Rob Jones had 28 points as the No. 18 Gaels (22-2, 11-0 West Coast Conference) beat San Diego, 84-73.

* At Northwestern, John Shurna scored 28 points and Drew Crawford added 21 to lead the Wildcats (13-8, 3-6 Big Ten) to an 84-74 win over Nebraska, ending a three-game losing streak.

* At Iona, junior guard Lamont Jones scored a career-high 43 points, matching the second-highest total in school history, and the Gaels (18-5, 10-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) rolled over Canisius, 105-86.

Noteworthy * 

Syracuse center Fab Melo was reinstated following an academic issue and will play in the Orange's road game against St. John's tomorrow. He missed three games while dealing with the problem but had continued to practice during that time.