College Basketball Roundup : North Carolina Ends Duke’s Home Win Streak at 22 Games, 85-77

Duke entered Saturday’s game against North Carolina with a 22-game home winning streak, and Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith knew even a slim victory over the Blue Devils would be a major accomplishment.

It was anybody’s game until Jeff Lebo ignited a 12-point spurt to lift third-ranked North Carolina to an 85-77 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over No. 17-ranked Duke at Durham, N.C.

“I’d say Purdue, Duke and Illinois are equally good,” Smith said. “I expected this much of a battle. I thought if we were fortunate enough to win by one, I’d be thrilled.”

North Carolina (12-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC) extended its winning streak to 11 games in the nationally televised game. Duke, victorious in its previous 10 games, fell to 11-2 and 1-1.

Duke led, 72-71, with 3:16 remaining, but the Tar Heels broke open the game with their late run. Lebo, who finished with 13 points, scored a 3-pointer to put North Carolina ahead for good, 74-72, with 2:47 left.

After a layup by Tar Heel Steve Bucknall, freshman forward J.R. Reid tossed in an off-balance, one-handed bank shot to give North Carolina a 78-72 lead with 72 seconds to go.

Duke missed four consecutive 3-point attempts before Tommy Amaker hit a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left to cut North Carolina’s lead to 83-75. The Tar Heels scored their last seven points from the foul line, including four consecutive free throws in the last 14 seconds by Ranzino Smith.

“Overall, we played well, we just made some mistakes of inexperience,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We had our chances to win but we fouled a little too much.

“I think we did a pretty good job of eliminating most of their 3-point shots but what we didn’t do a good job on was keeping them off the line and denying them second shots. Those eventually wore us out.”

Senior Joe Wolf, who missed the Tar Heels’ last two games due to a strained back, scored a team-high 20 points, including 11 in the second half. Senior Kenny Smith added 14 points and Reid, who grabbed 11 rebounds in final 20 minutes for a season-high 15, finished with 11 points.

Sophomore John Smith led the Blue Devils with 22 points. Amaker scored 19 points, Kevin Strickland added 12, and Danny Ferry 11.

“They were the better team down the stretch,” Amaker said. “They executed better than we did. They’re an experienced team with a lot of power.”

Clemson 91, Wake Forest 88--Jerry Pryor score 22 points, 11 in overtime, as the unbeaten and 20th-ranked Tigers handed the Demon Deacons their 19th straight ACC loss at Greensboro, N.C.

Clemson (13-0 and 2-0) scored the first six points in overtime for an 84-78 lead after Wake Forest had tied the game, 78-78, in regulation on a rebound shot at the buzzer.

The Deacons (7-4 and 0-2) closed to 84-80, but Pryor put the Tigers ahead, 87-80, when he scored a basket in the lane and then hit a foul shot with 2:22 to play.

Michael Tait also scored 22 points for Clemson, hitting six of seven 3-point field goals, while Horace Grant scored 18 and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Tyrone Bogues led Wake Forest with a career-high 23 points and 17 assists.

N.C. State 63, Georgia Tech 62--Mike Giomi, hitting all of his eight shots in the first half, scored a career-high 24 points for the Wolfpack who held on after taking an early 15-point lead at Raleigh, N.C.

Giomi also had nine rebounds for N.C. State (10-3 and 2-1). Tom Hammonds had 24 points for Georgia Tech (7-4 and 1-1).

Georgia Tech played the first half without 7-foot Antoine Ford, held out because he missed a team meeting last week.

Tennessee 75, Kentucky 68--Tony White scored 32 points, including eight in a row during a second half run, as the Volunteers stunned the No. 9 Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee (8-4 and 2-1) never was headed after guard Elvin Brown scored underneath to give the Vols a 20-18 lead with 6:41 left in the first half.

Kentucky (7-4 and 1-3) was outrebounded by Tennessee, 34-22.

Brown, who finished with 18 points, held Kentucky freshman Rex Chapman to 5 points, 12 below his average. Dyron Nix, a 6-7 sophomore, grabbed 17 rebounds and hit 11 points for Tennessee.

Florida 80, Mississippi 72--Andrew Moten and Vernon Maxwell each scored 21 points as the Gators (12-3 and 4-0) took the lead with a 12-4 spurt in the second half at Oxford, Miss.

Eric Smith had 32 points and 16 rebounds for Ole Miss (8-4 and 1-2).

Alabama 75, Vanderbilt 71--Mike Gottfried scored 10 of his 29 points in the final three minutes for the Crimson Tide who improved to 10-2 and 2-0 with their fifth straight win at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Gottfried, 6-2 senior guard, hit a three-pointer with 1:48 remaining to put Alabama ahead for good, 71-69.

Barry Booker had 22 points for Vanderbilt (10-5 and 2-2).

Auburn 66, Mississippi State 52--Aundree Davis came off the bench to spark the flu-stricken Tigers with four three-point shots at Starkville, Miss.

Sonny Smith, coach of the 13th-ranked Tigers, said four starters and one reserve have been hit by the flu in the past two weeks, including 6-7 center Jeff Moore, who lost 20 pounds during the period.

Auburn (9-2 and 2-1) led only 33-30 at the half but used a 16-2 run over a nine-minute stretch early in the second half to build a 51-36 lead with 9:51 remaining.

Davis wound up with 14 points for the Tigers, as did Mike Jones. Hubert Henderson scored 13 for Mississippi State (4-8 and 0-3).

Georgetown 82, Pittsburgh 70--Reggie Williams had 31 points and 9 rebounds for the 16th-ranked Hoyas who took advantage of a technical foul on Pitt Coach Paul Evans to wrap up a Big East win at Pittsburgh.

Georgetown (11-1 and 2-1) was leading, 63-59, when Evans was assessed a technical after arguing in vain for a double-dribble call against the Hoyas. Williams made the two technical-foul free throws and Ronnie Highsmith converted a three-point play on the ensuing in-bounds play to make it 68-59 with 2:47 left.

Jerome Lane scored 24 points and Charles Smith added 20 for No. 14 Pitt (10-3 and 1-1). Jaren Jackson scored 19 points off the bench for Georgetown.

Syracuse 92, Seton Hall 84--Sherman Douglas scored 23 points and Rony Seikaly added 20 at Syracuse, N.Y. as the Orangemen won their 14th straight game, equaling their best start ever under Coach Jim Boeheim.

The fifth-ranked Orangemen improved to 3-0 in the Big East, while Seton Hall fell to 9-3 and 1-3. Mark Bryant led the Pirates with 21 point.

Providence 96, Villanova 78--Delray Brooks, a transfer from Indiana, scored a career-high 34 points at Villanova, Pa. as the Friars defeated the Wildcats for the first time in 13 games dating back to February 1981.

Villanova led, 44-38, early in the second half before Providence went on a 13-2 run, including eight points by Brooks. For the game, Brooks was 8 of 9 on 3-pointers.

Billy Donovan added 24 points for Providence (10-3 and 1-2), while Doug West had 25 for Villanova (10-4 and 2-1).

St. John’s 62, Boston College 58--Mark Jackson scored 23 points, including five free throws in the last 11 seconds, as the No. 10 Redmen turned back the Eagles at New York.

Jackson also had eight assists for the Redmen (10-2 and 2-2). Boston College (7-5 and 0-2) was led by Dana Barros with 29 points. He was 7 of 10 on 3-pointers.

Iowa 78, Minnesota 57--The second-ranked Hawkeyes took command with an 11-0 spurt in the first half and once led, 73-48, in the Big Ten game at Minneapolis.

Roy Gamble had 17 points for the Hawkeyes (15-0 and 3-0). Kim Zurcher scored 21 points, all in the second half, for the Gophers (9-4 and 2-1).

DePaul 59, Notre Dame 54--The unbeaten Blue Demons rallied behind a three-point play by Rod Strickland with 53 seconds to play at Rosemont, Ill.

With DePaul trailing, 53-52, Strickland sank a layup and a free throw to put the Blue Demons ahead to stay. Stanley Brundy’s breakaway dunk with eight seconds remaining increased the lead to 57-53.

Strickland had 17 points and Terence Greene added 15 points for the ninth-rated Blue Demons (12-0).

Strickland also stifled David Rivers, Notre Dame’s leading scorer, until the final seven minutes of the game. DePaul led, 50-40, until Rivers scored 7 points to rally the Irish.

Donald Royal had a season-high 21 points for Notre Dame (8-3), which had a eight-game winning streak broken. In one second-half stretch the Irish went 9 1/2 minutes without scoring a field goal.

Missouri 87, Oklahoma 83--Derrick Chievous scored a career-high 34 points as the Tigers overcame an 80-74 deficit with 2:39 remaining to upset the 11th-ranked Sooners in a Big Eight opener at Columbia, Mo.

Harvey Grant scored 28 points and David Johnson had 23 for Oklahoma (9-3). Lynn Hardy added 18 points for Missouri (10-6).

Kansas State 114, Nebraska 82--Sophomore forward Norris Coleman celebrated his return to the Wildcat lineup by scoring 23 points in the rout of the Cornhuskers at Manhattan, Kan.

Coleman, the highest-scoring freshman in the country last year, sat out a 14-game suspension on orders of the NCAA for a deficient high school grade-point average.

Kansas State (10-3) made 13 of 17 three-point attempts in scoring its most points ever at home. Derrick Bick had 15 points for Nebraska (10-4).

Navy 95, James Madison 70--David Robinson scored 45 points, tying a Navy record, and had 21 rebounds in the Colonial Athletic Assn. game at Harrisonburg, Va.

Robinson tied the record set by John Tolmie in 1967.

Navy improved to 8-3 and 3-1, while James Madison, which had won eight straight, fell to 10-2 and 1-1.