The crowd at Madison Square Garden was treated to a show on Wednesday night, as the SEC and Big East split the first night of their invitational.

• Georgia tried to come back in the final moments at St. John's, but fell short, 66-56. 
• No. 4 Kentucky jumped out to a big lead in the first four minutes on No. 14 Connecticut, who crept back in over the next four minutes, with a back and forth thriller resulting. The Wildcats held off the Huskies, 64-61, with an amazing John Wall finish and subsequent foul shot giving the Cats the lead at the end.

In other Wednesday action

• No. 5 Purdue hammered Valparaiso, 86-62. 
• No. 6 West Virginia doubled up Duquesne, 68-39. 
• Providence put on a show at George Washington, winning 110-97.
• No. 1 Kansas routed Radford, 99-64.
• Missouri fell at Oral Roberts, 60-59.
• No. 3 Villanova won the Holy War, holding off St. Joseph's, 97-89, at the Palestra. 
• Michigan got smoked by Utah in Salt Lake City, 68-52.
•  Arizona had little trouble with Louisiana Tech, winning 83-67. 
• Washington State defeated neighbors Idaho, 76-64.
• La Salle won at Rider, 69-60. 
• Buffalo beat local rival Niagara, 86-80. 
• Austin Peay upset Ohio in Athens, 68-66.
• Harvard won at Boston College for the second straight season, 74-67. Jeremy Lin scored 25 for the Crimson.  He hung 27 on the Eagles last season.
• Virginia Tech pulled away from VMI, 98-73.
• Notre Dame routed IUPUI, 93-70. 
• No. 20 Wisconsin fell at in-state rival Green Bay, 88-84 in OT. 
• California had no problem with Pacific, winning in Stockton 79-54. 
• New Mexico survived a trip to San Diego, prevailing 82-78. 
• Cal State Fullerton fell at San Diego State, 82-68. 

If you don't see your team's score, click any of the score links above.  You'll find a rundown of all of Wednesday's game along the right side of the page.

It's a pretty quiet Thursday, meaning the focus of the college basketball world shifts to Tampa for night two of the SEC/Big East Invitational.

• DePaul vs. Mississippi State (ESPN2, 6:30): This matchup is definitely the undercard (ESPN Regional Television is a smart group of schedulers).  However, this one would have been something to see if 6-10 DePaul forward Mac Koshwal wasn't sidelined with a left foot injury. Now, Jarvis Varnado should dominate inside and lead the Bulldogs to a comfortable win.
• No. 7 Syracuse vs. No. 10 Florida (ESPN, 9): I know I should probably be more neutral, but this is Dobber Bowl III -- as the team I grew up cheering for faces my alma mater.  This one should be a good one, as the Orange and Gators are probably the two biggest surprises on the national scene so far. Wes Johnson has established himself as a serious Naismith candidate in Central New York, while in North Central Florida, Billy Donovan seems to have his first team since the beloved 2006-07 repeat national champs to completely buy into his system. This should be a five-star matchup.  Expect a pro-Gator crowd, with a heavy dose of Orange. (The crowds at Cuse-USF hoops games at the Sun Dome tend lean Orange.)

Here's a list of the rest of tonight's televised action

• Oakland at  No. 12 Michigan State (Big Ten, 7)
• Chicago State at Nebraska (Full Court, 8)
• Miami (OH) at No. 19 Cincinnati (ESPN2, 8:30)
• Colorado at Colorado State (the mtn., 9:30)

For a full list of televised games, including contests that are only going to be televised regionally, visit Matt Sarz' College Sports on TV site.