Cole Aldrich had 18 points, 11 rebounds and blocked five shots, helping top-ranked Kansas overcome a sloppy night to hold off Memphis, 57-55, in a rematch of the 2008 national championship game on Tuesday in St. Louis.

Kansas (2-0) led most of the night despite 21 turnovers, but could never shake the scrappy and supposedly overmatched Tigers.

Memphis (1-1) closed within three on Doneal Mack’s 3-pointer with a minute left, then cut the lead to 56-55 on Elliot Williams’ long 3 with 16.7 seconds left.

Sherron Collins hit one of two free throws at the other end to give Memphis a final chance, but Williams’ contested 3-pointer clanged off the back iron.

Collins scored 12 points while struggling with leg cramps and former Memphis recruit Xavier Henry added 11.

Memphis wasn’t supposed to have much of a chance against the depth and talent of Kansas, and had a miserable night from 3-point range, hitting six of 25. The Tigers hung around with scrappy defense. Williams had 21 points to lead Memphis.

The last time these teams played, it turned into one of the greatest games in Final Four history. That was 18 months ago, and these aren’t the same teams.

Collins is the only major contributor left for KU. Aldrich logged four minutes in the final. The rest of the Jayhawks were either on the bench or watched it on TV.

Memphis’ Pierre Henderson-Niles, Willie Kemp and Mack played a combined seven minutes in the title game. None of the other Tigers were even on the roster.

At No. 9 Duke 101, Charlotte 59: Nolan Smith scored a career-high 24 points in his return to the Blue Devils’ lineup, and Duke routed the 49ers (2-1) in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Jon Scheyer added 20 points and Kyle Singler had 17 for the Blue Devils (3-0), who never trailed.

At No. 10 Tennessee 124, UNC Asheville 49: Scotty Hopson had a career-high 25 points and the Vols (2-0) set a school record for points in a game by blowing out Asheville (2-1). The 124 points broke Tennessee’s previous single-game record of 121 points, last achieved in the opening round of the 2007 NCAA tournament against Long Beach State.

At Eastern Washington 100, Whitman 88: Benny Valentine scored 23 points and Brandon Moore had 19 points and career-best totals of 19 rebounds and five blocked shots, carrying the Eagles to their first victory over the Division III Missionaries. Mark Dunn added a career-high 21 points for the Eagles (1-2).

Also noteworthy

Jerome Dyson scored 23 points and No. 12 Connecticut, down by nine with nine minutes remaining, rallied for a 76-67 victory over Hofstra (1-2) in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Dyson tallied nine straight points in the closing 1:39. ... Willie Warren scored 24 points and No. 17 Oklahoma (2-0) notched the 1,500th win in the program’s history, with a 72-61 triumph over visiting Louisiana-Monroe (1-2). ... Greg Monroe scored on a driving layup with 6.5 seconds to play, rescuing No. 19 Georgetown and giving the Hoyas (2-0) a 46-45 win over visiting Temple (1-1). ... Reginald Delk scored 20 points in a reserve role and sparked key surges in both halves as No. 20 Louisville (1-0) gave coach Rick Pitino his 750th career win, 96-66, over Arkansas (1-1) in St. Louis.

Women’s games

No. 1 UConn 83, No. 10 Texas 58: Maya Moore had 20 points and 11 rebounds and top-ranked Connecticut cruised in its first test of the season with a win over the Longhorns in San Antonio.

Tina Charles added 15 points and 11 rebounds as UConn never trailed in what was basically a home game for the Longhorns. But the defending champion Huskies looked far more comfortable in San Antonio, home of the Final Four in April.

The Huskies played like they’ll be coming back. All five starters for UConn were in double figures as it blew out another opponent, after going unbeaten last season with 39 double-digit victories.

At No. 3 Ohio State 88, UAB 55: Jantel Lavender scored 21 of her 30 points in the first half and the Buckeyes (3-0) beat the Blazers (1-1).

No. 6 Tennessee 91, Texas Tech 53: Taber Spani scored 18 points and Glory Johnson added 17 points to lead the Vols to a win.

At No. 8 Baylor 100, Tennessee Tech 55: Baylor freshman Brittney Griner had 10 points, 11 rebounds, eight blocks and missed her only dunk attempt before fouling out with 10 minutes left as the Lady Bears’ (1-1) won.