Longhorns stomp Rice, await Duke
Other than a blown dunk, Daniel Gibson had a happy homecoming Monday night.
Now, he and second-ranked Texas can focus on the weekend showdown with top-ranked Duke.
Brad Buckman had 17 points and 11 rebounds and LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 10 boards as the Longhorns beat Rice (3-4) 85-58 at the Toyota Center.
“We did some good things,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said, “but I’ll always say we still have some work to do.”
Gibson, Houston’s all-time prep scorer at Jones High School, had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Longhorns (8-0), who meet the Blue Devils at East Rutherford, N.J., Saturday.
Gibson got off to a shaky start with his parents and about 30 friends and family members in the stands. He missed his first three shots, including a breakaway, one-handed dunk attempt after a steal.
He was coming off a career-high 29 points in the Longhorns’ 93-55 win over Texas-Arlington on Saturday.
That performance was long forgotten after his embarrassing goof. One by one, his teammates – and even Barnes – gave him some ribbing as the game wore on.
“Coach Barnes always gives me a hard time,” said Gibson, who went 6-for-12 from the field and hit three 3-pointers. “LaMarcus, P.J. (Tucker) – pretty much everybody down the line got their laughs in.”
(5) Louisville 53, Richmond 45: Taquan Dean scored 20 of his season-high 30 points in the second half and the Cardinals rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Spiders at the Colonial Classic in Louisville, Ky.
Louisville (4-0) avoided the upset behind Dean and a defense that held the Spiders (4-3) to 19 points and seven field goals the final 20 minutes.
With his teammates either unwilling or unable to provide any help, Dean carried the Cardinals.
After the Spiders took a 32-22 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining, Dean got rolling. He scored 11 of Louisville’s next 12 points to pull them within 36-32. Minutes later, he banked in a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game with 7:20 to go.
Kevin Steenberge led Richmond with 15 points and four rebounds and five blocked shots.
(11) Illinois 75, Ark.-Little Rock 49: Freshman reserve Jamar Smith hit six 3-pointers and had 23 points to lift the host Ilini (8-0) to victory over the Trojans (3-3).
Smith was 8 of 10 from the field and had three assists and two steals. He scored seven points and had an assist during a 20-0 second-half run that broke the game open.
James Augustine scored 12 points for Illinois. Brian Randle and Warren Carter each added 11 points.
(19) George Washington 78, (21) Maryland 70: Reserve Maureece Rice scored a career-high 19 points and Mike Hall had 14 points and 12 rebounds, leading the Colonials (5-0) past the Terrapins (5-2) in the BB&T Classic in Washington.
Danilo Pinnock also scored 19 points for George Washington, off to its best start since 1992.
Chris McCray scored 21 points and James Gist had 11 for Maryland, which couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers and a spirited performance by the Colonials in the one-day tournament that featured three games involving Washington-area teams.
Women
Ivory Latta had 21 points and five assists and No. 7 North Carolina dealt Connecticut its worst home loss in the Geno Auriemma era, beating the eighth-ranked Huskies 77-54 in Hartford, Conn.
The Tar Heels (8-0) were nearly unstoppable on offense, extending their lead to 33 points, and they shut down the Huskies (6-1) for long stretches.
When Latta left the game with 2:22 remaining, the speedy guard received a round of applause from UConn fans who remained.
(16) Oklahoma 83, (22) UCLA 78: Courtney Paris scored 24 points and set an Oklahoma freshman record with 22 rebounds, leading the Sooners (8-1) to victory over the visiting Bruins (4-3).
UCLA rallied from a 19-point, second-half deficit closing to 78-77 on Noelle Quinn’s 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:14 to play.
Paris answered with a basket inside for the Sooners and, after Nikki Blue missed a driving basket, Leah Rush made two free throws to give Oklahoma an 82-77 lead with 29.7 seconds remaining.