Top 25: Cavs keep momentum rolling with upset of Duke
Sean Singletary tied the game with a jumper late in regulation, then hit a falling, one-handed floater with a second left in overtime Thursday night at Charlottesville, Va., lifting Virginia past No. 8 Duke 68-66.
The Cavaliers (14-6, 6-2 ACC), who trailed 59-51 with 3:42 left in regulation, pulled even on Singletary’s 15-footer with 24.8 seconds left, his first basket in nearly 16 minutes. Duke’s Josh McRoberts missed a driving attempt in the final seconds of regulation, and Singletary and the Cavaliers never trailed in the extra period.
It was Virginia’s fifth victory in a row, and second straight that required a dramatic comeback. They erased a 16-point deficit in the last nine minutes at Clemson on Saturday, winning on a tip-in by Jason Cain with 15.5 seconds to play.
Duke (18-4, 5-3) lost for the first time in its last 10 meetings with Virginia, but not until Greg Paulus’ 3-point attempt at the final buzzer bounced off the back rim.
The Blue Devils had their five-game conference winning streak snapped, and fell out of a tie for fourth place with Virginia at the midpoint of the ACC schedule.
J.R. Reynolds led the Cavaliers with 25 points – 20 in the second half. Singletary added 17 despite making only 6 of 16 shots, and Mamadi Diane had 14 points.
McRoberts led Duke with 19 points, DeMarcus Nelson had 12 and Paulus 10.
Women
(2) North Carolina 82, Boston College 60: At Boston, Ivory Latta started slowly before scoring 11 of her 20 points in the last 7 minutes of the first half and the Tar Heels (24-0, 8-0 ACC) pulled away from the Eagles (11-11, 1-7).
(3) Tennessee 72, South Carolina 36: At Knoxville, Tenn., Candace Parker and Shannon Bobbitt each scored 13 points and the Lady Vols (20-2, 7-0 SEC) jumped out to a 16-0 lead en route to beating the Gamecocks (13-10, 3-5).
Georgia Tech 77, (4) Maryland 72: At Atlanta, Stephanie Higgs scored 26 points and the Yellow Jackets (14-8, 5-3 ACC) defeated the Terrapins (21-3, 5-3).
(5) Ohio State 66, Northwestern 42: At Evanston, Ill., Star Allen scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half and the Buckeyes (20-1, 9-0 Big Ten) won their 13th game in a row with a victory over the Wildcats (6-17, 0-10).
(8) Stanford 84, UC Santa Barbara 59: At Santa Barbara, Calif., Stanford ended the first half on a 10-0 run, Candice Wiggins scored 12 of her 21 points during a 22-0 burst to open the second half and the eighth-ranked Cardinal (19-3) beat the Gauchos (11-10).
(14) Georgia 53, (7) LSU 51: At Athens, Ga., freshman Ashley Houts sank the winning baseline shot at the buzzer, lifting the Lady Bulldogs (19-4, 6-2 SEC) to a come-from-behind win over the Tigers (20-3, 6-2).
(15) Vanderbilt 63, Kentucky 62: At Lexington, Ky., Dee Davis made a driving layup with less than 2 seconds left, lifting the Commodores (18-4, 4-4 SEC) to a win over the Wildcats (14-10, 3-6).
(25) James Madison 79, Old Dominion 50: At Harrisonburg, Va., Meredith Alexis had 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Dukes (18-2, 10-0 Colonial Athletic Association) to a win over the Monarchs (12-8, 8-1).