Wake Forest forces three-way tie for first

Justin Gray scored 18 points, Eric Williams added 15 and No. 6 Wake Forest (20-3, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) held off North Carolina State (13-10, 3-7) 86-75 on Thursday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Taron Downey, the first man off the bench, was 4 of 4 on 3-pointers and finished with 14 points as Wake Forest moved into a first-place tie with Duke and North Carolina.

(21) Cincinnati 65, Xavier 54: At Cincinnati, Eric Hicks scored 16 points and Jason Maxiell added 15 as the Bearcats (18-5) defeated the cross-town rival Musketeers (11-9).