AUBURN, Ala. — James Florence scored a game-high 25 points as Mercer beat Auburn 78-74 on Wednesday night to take its second consecutive victory over an SEC school in four days.

The Bears (3-0 ) defeated Alabama 72-69 Sunday.

Down by two points, Auburn (1-1 ) had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Guard Quantez Robertson raced the length of the court and drove to the basket, but was tied up by Mercer defenders and the ball went out of bounds. One official gave possession to Auburn, but the call was overturned by another official and ruled a charge.

Mercer’s Calvin Henry made two free throws with 2. 4 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

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The Bears outrebounded the Tigers 46-21. Daniel Emerson had 12 rebounds and 12 points.

Auburn was led by Tay Waller with 22 points. MISSISSIPPI STATE 102, NORTH ALABAMA 61 STARKVILLE, Miss. — Jarvis Varnado had 16 points, 14 rebounds and 7 blocks, Barry Stewart scored 16 points, Romero Osby added 15 points and Elgin Bailey chipped in 10 as Mississippi State (3-0 ) beat North Alabama (2-1 ). Stewart was 5 of 8 from the field, including 3 of 5 on three-point attempts. The Bulldogs made a season-high 11 three-pointers. North Alabama hit only 23 of 72 shots and was stymied by the Bulldogs for most of the second half. ALABAMA 89, FLORIDA A&M 48 TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ronald Steele had 15 points and younger brother Andrew added 10 to help Alabama (1-1 ) beat Florida A&M (0-3 ).

Anthony Brock added 13 points, JaMychal Green 12 and Mikhail Torrance 11 for the Crimson Tide, who jumped to an 18-0 lead in the opening 4: 54.

Florida A&M (0-3 ) trailed by 33 points in the first half and 44 in the second. The Rattlers shot only 32. 4 percent (22 of 68 ) from the field, 36. 4 percent (4 of 11 ) from the free-throw line and missed all 20 of their three-point attempts.

Alabama hit 50 percent (32 of 64 ) of its field goals, including 9 of 16 on three-point attempts. The Crimson Tide also made 16 of 17 free throws.

Larry Jackson led the Rattlers with 12 points.

TOP 25 MEN NO. 5 MICHIGAN STATE 70, IPFW 59 FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Raymar Morgan scored eight of his 22 points during a decisive 13-0 run as Michigan State (2-0 ) beat Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne (0-2 ). Kalin Lucas added 17 points and Goran Suton had 10 rebounds for the Spartans. Ben Botts led IPFW with 22 points despite going 4 for 17 from three-point range and David Carson scored 17 points. Michigan State led 32-24 at halftime, but opened the second half making just 1 of 10 shots. The Spartans fell behind twice by three points. Trailing 44-42, the Spartans took control midway through the second half. It started with a free throw by Delvon Roe. Then Lucas quickly added a 17-foot jumper. Then Morgan scored on an inbounds pass and a moment later added a free throw.

The Spartans then forced Mastodons turnovers on three consecutive possessions. The Mastodons missed only two shots during the 13-0 run, but the Spartans forced four turnovers.

IPFW outshot the Spartans 46 percent to 43 percent.

But the Spartans had a 38-28 rebounding advantage and made 19 free throws on 28 attempts compared to IPFW’s 6 of 7.

The Mastodons twice managed to grab the lead, 18-15 on a three-pointer by Carson with 3: 48 left in the half and 21-20 when Botts hit a three-pointer with 2: 46 left. The Spartans appeared ready to take control, scoring four consecutive baskets inside before Korie Lucious capped the run with a three-pointer with two seconds left to give Michigan State a 32-24 halftime lead.

But then the Spartans shooting went cold to start the second half. Michigan State was finally able to find its touch, though, making 10 of 21 shots the rest of the way as the Spartans finally put the Mastodons away. NO. 20 WAKE FOREST 120, N. C.-WILMINGTON 88

WINSTON-SALEM, N. C. — Jeff Teague scored a career-high 31 points, James Johnson added 25 and Chas McFarland had 19 points as Wake Forest (2-0 ) beat North Carolina-Wilmington (2-1 ) to improve to 11-0 all-time in the series

Johnny Wolf scored 24 points to lead the Seahawks (2-1 ). UNC-Wilmington shot 48 percent for the game and hit 12 threepointers, though the Seahawks struggled to match up with Teague, Johnson and McFarland all night.

Teague went 10 of 17 from the field and 9 of 12 from the free throw line while spending time defending UNC-Wilmington’s top scorer, Chad Tomko. Tomko came in averaging 30 points, but finished with seven on 3-for-13 shooting.

Johnson, a versatile 6-9 forward, also had 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks.

McFarland, a 7-footer, also had eight rebounds, part of the Demon Deacons’ 52-30 advantage in rebounds.

The Demon Deacons shot 57 percent and scored 41 points off 24 turnovers.

Wake Forest jumped to a 22-point lead midway through the first half and led 61-44 at halftime. The Seahawks got as close as 69-60 on a three-pointer from Wolf with 15: 40 to play. NO. 23 VILLANOVA 77, NIAGARA 62

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Scottie Reynolds scored 19 points, Corey Fisher had 15 and Reggie Redding 14 as Villanova (3-0 ) beat Niagara (1-1 ) for its 18 th consecutive home victory.

The Wildcats played their third consecutive game without swingman Dwayne Anderson (foot ), and 6-10 center Casiem Drummond (foot ) was limited to only two minutes. Corey Stokes scored seven points and played with a taped sprained left thumb.

Reynolds made two free throws at 8: 00 and a jumper by Redding helped the Wildcats make it 60-48.

Tyrone Lewis scored 16 points and Rob Garrison had 15 for Niagara.

This was a homecoming of sorts for some of the Purple Eagles. Coach Joe Mihalich was a former La Salle standout and assistant coach for the Explorers, assistant coach Phil Martelli Jr. played at Saint Joseph’s for his father, and forward Bilal Benn transferred after playing two seasons for Villanova.

Niagara lost its 18 th consecutive game against ranked opponents and hasn’t beat a Top 25 team since a victory over No. 4 St. John’s in 1984.

SEC / TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 13 VANDERBILT 80, EASTERN KENTUCKY 38 NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Christina Wirth scored 16 points, including four threepointers, Hannah Tuomi scored 12 points, Jessica Mooney added 11 points and Jennifer Risper had 9 points and 8 rebounds as Vanderbilt (3-0 ) beat Eastern Kentucky (2-1 ). Kayla Drake scored 14 points to lead Eastern Kentucky. The Commodores opened with a 14-0 run, including six points by Tuomi, and led by at least 11 the rest of the way. NO. 20 AUBURN 71, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 45 STATESBORO, Ga. — Alli Smalley scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half, De-Wanna Bonner added 11 points and freshman Chantel Hilliard had 10 as Auburn (3-0 ) beat Georgia Southern (2-1 ). Ashley Melson scored 12 points to lead Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern kept the game close for most of the first half before Auburn went on a 8-1 run to take a 36-27 lead. The Tigers went on a 22-6 run to start the second half and put the game away. Smalley scored 10 points during the spurt.