Tar Heels Survive Mauling By Tigers
Top 25 college basketball
If North Carolina’s last game was a thing of beauty, this one was an ugly duckling.
North Carolina’s second-ranked Tar Heels, coming off a 48-point win over Florida State, were able to survive Clemson’s rough and tumble tactics and war of words for an 88-79 victory Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.
With the win, North Carolina (21-1, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved within one-half game of league-leading and top-ranked Duke, which plays Maryland tonight. The Tar Heels made 41 of 59 free throws.
Meanwhile, the Tigers (12-8, 3-5) - a preseason Top 5 team - have lost five of their last seven and are 0-44 in Chapel Hill.
The Tigers committed an ACC record 41 fouls.
Clemson coach Rick Barnes and North Carolina forward Ademola Okulaja exchanged heated words during the first half in a rivalry that has grown ugly at times since Barnes and former North Carolina coach Dean Smith went toe-to-toe several years ago at the ACC tournament.
(5) Kansas 94, Baylor 47
At Lawrence, Kan., an aggressive, trapping defense by the Jayhawks (23-3, 7-1 Big 12) took the Bears (10-8, 5-3) completely out of their offense and Kansas rolled to victory behind 21 points by Raef LaFrentz and 18 by Billy Thomas.
Georgia 70, (12) Mississippi 68
At Athens, Ga., reserve Larry Brown, a tight end on Georgia’s football team, scored eight of his 14 points in the second half - including five straight in a late surge - to lead the Bulldogs (10-9, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) to an upset of the Rebels (14-3, 5-2).
(13) South Carolina 74, Florida 72
Freshman Antonio Grant scored a career-high 14 points, including a game-winning tip-in with less than a second to go, as the Gamecocks (15-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) rallied to defeat the Gators (10-7, 3-4) at Columbia, S.C.
(15) Arkansas 85, LSU 68
At Baton Rouge, La., Pat Bradley was 4 of 8 from 3-point range and scored 26 points as the Razorbacks (17-3, 6-1 Southeast Conference) defeated the Tigers (9-9, 2-6).
Penn St. 67, (16) Iowa 65
At State College, Pa., Joe Crispin had a career-high 23 points as the Nittany Lions (10-7, 3-4 Big Ten) gave the Hawkeyes (15-5, 4-3) their third straight loss.
(17) West Virginia 76, Pittsburgh 72
Jarrod West’s 3-pointer with 2:46 to play put the Mountaineers (18-3, 8-3 Big East) ahead to stay, and Adrian Pledger’s two free throws finished off the Panthers (7-8, 2-6) in Pittsburgh.
(22) Michigan St. 84, (25) Indiana 66
At East Lansing, Mich., Charlie Bell matched his career high with 17 points to lead five double-figure scorers and the Spartans (14-4, 7-1) stayed atop the Big Ten standings with the victory over the Hoosiers (14-6, 5-3).
WEST GAMES
Weber St. 70, Montana 63
At Ogden, Utah, Andy Jensen and Alex Fisher scored 15 points each to lead the Wildcats over the Grizzlies. Eric Ketchum finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Weber (8-11, 6-3 Big Sky Conference). Mike Warhank had 18 points for Montana (11-11, 4-5).
Oregon St. 67, Portland St. 63
Jerome Vaden sank four free throws in the final 14 seconds to lead the Beavers (11-9) past the Vikings (10-8) in a nonleague game at Corvallis, Ore.
WOMEN’S TOP 25
(1) Tennessee 102, (17) Georgia 43
Chamique Holdsclaw scored 28 points to lead the rout at Knoxville, Tenn.
The Volunteers (22-0, 8-0 SEC) overwhelmed the outmanned Bulldogs (13-6, 4-3) from start to finish. Semeka Randall added 20 points, Tamika Catchings had 16 and Kristen Clement 12.
Tennessee led by as much as 34 points in the first half. The Volunteers opened a 15-4 lead in the first 5 minutes with Holdsclaw scoring nine points.
Georgia went nearly 7 minutes without scoring midway through the first half, committing 10 turnovers in a 16-0 Tennessee run that made the score 22-6.