Tar Heels Handed First Home Loss

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Freshman Terrell Stokes made three free throws in the final 20.4 seconds Tuesday night as Maryland handed No. 12 North Carolina its first home loss of the season 84-78.

Duane Simpkins, who scored 18 points, led a decisive 12-2 secondhalf run that gave the streaking Terrapins (12-7, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) their sixth win in seven games.

The win moved Maryland, which started 0-3 in the league, within 1-1/2 games of North Carolina (16-6, 7-3) and Wake Forest for the ACC lead.

The Tar Heels have the best home record in the ACC in the last decade.

(1) UMass 73, Fordham 47

At New York, the top-ranked Minutemen didn’t need overtime to remain unbeaten, just a devastating second half.

Massachusetts (22-0, 10-0 Atlantic 10), the nation’s only undefeated team, led Fordham by one point at halftime. Most of the crowd at Madison Square Garden was thinking back to Sunday, when Massachusetts needed overtime to beat Xavier of Ohio.

This time, the Minutemen took care of things well before the regulation buzzer sounded against the Rams (2-17, 0-10).

Marcus Camby finished with 26 points for Massachusetts, 19 in the second half, when a 20-2 run turned a three-point game into a 56-35 lead with 7:59 to play.

(4) UConn 99, Providence 77

At Storrs, Conn., Doron Sheffer scored 22 points and Ray Allen added 21 as the Huskies capitalized on Austin Croshere’s early foul trouble en route to win over the Friars.

Kirk King added 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting for Connecticut (22-1, 12-0 Big East), which extended its win streak to 21 games and kept the Friars (12-8, 5-7) winless in six games at Gampel Pavilion.

(11) Va. Tech 69, Duquesne 63

At Blacksburg, Va., Keefe Matthews and Damon Watlington scored 17 points apiece as the Hokies blew a 17-point second-half lead before holding on to beat the Dukes.

The Hokies (17-2, 9-1 Atlantic 10) won their 16th straight at Cassell Coliseum.

Mike James, who scored 28 points, brought Duquesne (8-11, 3-7) within 63-60 with 1:16 remaining.