College basketball roundup
Mountaineers hold on to defeat struggling Providence PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Tyrone Salley scored 20 points and Mike Gansey added 19 as West Virginia beat Providence 82-78 on Saturday, snapping a five-game losing streak.
Providence (9-10, 0-6 Big East) remained the only winless team in the Big East despite 23 points from Ryan Gomes and 19 from Dwight Brewington.
Patrick Beilein added 14 points for West Virginia (12-6, 2-5).
The Friars, trailing 66-52 with six minutes left, forced several turnovers on full-court pressure, with Gomes scoring 17 of his 23 points in that stretch. Brewington’s layup with 5.4 seconds cut the lead to 80-78, but Darris Nicholls made two foul shots to seal the win.
Gansey had 17 first-half points, staking West Virginia to 38-26 lead at halftime. He scored seven points in a minute and a half to cap a 17-0, five-minute run that put the West Virginia ahead, 28-14 in the first seven minutes.
Providence point guard Donnie McGrath hit three straight 3-pointers to start the game. But he left the game with a leg injury late in the first half and did not return.
West Virginia scored 41 points off 27 Providence turnovers.
No. 18 Wisconsin 76, Penn State 50
STATE COLLEGE – Kammron Taylor scored 20 points to lead No. 18 Wisconsin to a lopsided victory over Penn State.
With leading scorer Alando Tucker out of the lineup because of a right foot injury, Taylor carried the load, shooting 7-for-14 and finishing one point short of his career high. Mike Wilkinson and Clayton Hanson each scored 11 points.
The Badgers (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten), who had their 38-game home winning streak snapped Tuesday by top-ranked Illinois, shot 31-of-58 from the floor.
Aaron Johnson had his ninth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Penn State (7-13, 1-6). Geary Claxton added 12 points.
The Badgers used a 12-0 run over a four-minute span in the first half to turn a three-point game into a 30-15 advantage. Wisconsin led 41-25 at the break.
Penn State used a 6-0 run early in the second half to close to 45-31, but the Badgers countered by scoring on their next three possessions and led by as many as 27 points with 10 minutes remaining.
No. 1 Illinois 89, Minnesota 66
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Roger Powell Jr. scored 21 points and Deron Williams added 18, leading top-ranked Illinois to a 23-point victory over Minnesota.
The Illini (21-0, 7-0 Big Ten) opened the game with a 10-1 run and stretched their conference winning streak to 17 games, tying a school record set from 1914-16. James Augustine had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Luther Head scored 10.
Minnesota (14-6, 4-3) had trouble with the Illini defense from the start. The Golden Gophers were led by Vincent Grier, who scored 17 points.
No. 3 N. Carolina 110, Virginia 76
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – North Carolina ended five years of frustration at Virginia, blowing out the Cavaliers from the opening tip.
Jawad Williams scored 23 points on 8-for-10 shooting, Sean May had 20 and Raymond Felton 16 for the Tar Heels (17-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won for only the fourth time in the last 11 meetings. North Carolina hadn’t won in Charlottesville since Feb. 20, 1999.
North Carolina led 62-26 at halftime, hit triple digits on the scoreboard with 4 minutes left and went 14-of-23 from 3-point range. They also shot 60 percent for the game and outrebounded the Cavaliers 45-26.
J.R Reynolds led Virginia (10-8, 1-7) with 18 points.
No. 5 Wake Forest 94, Miami 82
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Eric Williams had 23 points and 11 rebounds and reserve Trent Strickland added a season-high 13 points, helping Wake Forest beat Miami despite getting only eight points from Chris Paul.
Justin Gray finished with 20 points and the Demon Deacons (17-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) cruised in the second half to improve to 10-0 at home less than 48 hours after a heartbreaking, overtime loss at Georgia Tech. Jamaal Levy scored 15 points.
A winter storm dropped several inches of snow and ice in Winston-Salem, leaving several hundred empty seats at Lawrence Joel Coliseum. Wake Forest’s defense also was a no-show in the first half, allowing the Hurricanes (13-6, 4-4) to shoot 56 percent – including 91 percent (10-of-11) on 3-pointers – and take a 49-48 lead at the break.
No. 7 Kentucky 68, Arkansas 67
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kelenna Azubuike scored 13 points, Rajon Rondo added 12 and Patrick Sparks added a key basket with 24.2 seconds left, helping Kentucky hold off Arkansas.
Eric Ferguson countered Sparks’ shot with a 3-pointer, pulling Arkansas within a point. The Wildcats’ Chuck Hayes missed a free throw, and Ferguson got the rebound but missed a 3-point try.
Bobby Perry scored nine for the Wildcats (16-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference).
Ronnie Brewer had 18 points for Arkansas (14-6, 2-5).
No. 8 Boston College 64, Georgetown 49
BOSTON – Craig Smith had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Boston College shut out Georgetown for a 15-minute span in the first half to extend its record to 18-0.
Jared Dudley scored 13 for BC (7-0 Big East), which is one victory short of the longest winning streak in school history – 19 straight in 1968-69. The Eagles remain one of two unbeaten teams in the nation with top-ranked Illinois.
Brandon Bowman scored 16 points for Georgetown (13-6, 5-3). The Hoyas, who lost for just the third time in 12 games, haven’t beaten a top 10 team since 1996.
Washington St. 70, No. 11 Arizona 63
TUCSON, Ariz. – Thomas Kelati made a career-high seven 3-pointers, the last one with 50.4 seconds to play, and Washington State stunned Arizona, ending a 38-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
Kelati, who matched his career high of 27 points set against Arizona last season, sealed the victory by making two free throws with 32.1 seconds left.
Washington State (9-9, 4-5 Pac-10) last beat coach Lute Olson’s Wildcats on Jan. 30, 1986, 65-63 in overtime in Pullman. WSU broke a 20-game losing streak in Tucson and defeated a ranked opponent for the first time in 49 tries, giving coach Dick Bennett his biggest upset in two seasons with the Cougars.
Arizona (17-4, 7-2) came out flat for the noon tipoff after an intense 91-82 victory over No. 10 Washington on Thursday night. That victory had put the Wildcats alone in first place in the Pac-10, but Washington can move back into a tie by winning at Arizona State on Sunday.
Iowa St. 74, No. 13 Oklahoma 66
AMES, Iowa – Curtis Stinson scored 23 points and Iowa State relied exclusively on its short-range game to end Oklahoma’s winning streak at 10.
Energized by a near-sellout crowd, Iowa State (9-8, 1-5 Big 12) got the ball inside to center Jared Homan, scored consistently in transition and kept Oklahoma (16-3, 5-1) in check with a 2-3 zone.
Homan added 14 points for Iowa State, which did not make a basket outside 10 feet but outscored the Sooners 48-28 in the paint.
Taj Gray led Oklahoma with 21 points.
No. 21 Cincinnati 87, Houston 68
CINCINNATI – James White scored a career-high 25 points, making every type of shot, and added 10 rebounds to lead Cincinnati over Houston.
Jason Maxiell also had 10 rebounds, 14 points and eight blocks, helping the Bearcats (17-3, 6-1 Conference USA) roll to their 10th straight victory over a team they traditionally dominate.
Houston (12-9, 3-4) is 1-22 against Cincinnati, which leaves next season for the Big East.
No. 23 Iowa 72, Indiana 57
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Pierre Pierce, one of four Iowa starters benched at the beginning of the game, scored 25 points to lead the Hawkeyes past Indiana.
LSU 69, No. 24 Miss. St. 62
BATON ROUGE, La. – Brandon Bass had 26 points, 11 rebounds and a handle on Mississippi State star Lawrence Roberts as LSU beat the Bulldogs.
Bass and Glen Davis teamed up to limit Roberts, the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer and rebounder, to 15 points and 12 rebounds. Roberts entered the game averaging 18.8 points a game.
Mississippi State (16-5, 4-3), which once had the nation’s longest road winning streak at 16 straight, has now lost three straight away from Starkville, Miss.
LSU (11-6, 4-2) took the lead early in the second half and never trailed again. Darrel Mitchell scored 20 points for LSU, and Bass added five blocks.