College basketball roundup: No. 21 North Carolina beats No. 9 Duke 82-78 in rivalry game

Joel Berry II scored 21 points and No. 21 North Carolina rallied from 12 down in the first half to beat No. 9 Duke 82-78 in Thursday’s renewal of the fierce rivalry.

Kenny Williams made six 3-pointers and matched his career high with 20 points for the Tar Heels (18-7, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who roared out of halftime with a 16-2 run that erased what was left of Duke’s early lead.

Cameron Johnson added 18 points and 13 rebounds, helping the Tar Heels overcome the Blue Devils’ significant size advantage to own the glass (28-17) after halftime.

North Carolina led by as many as 10 and saw Duke get to within 74-71 late, but the Tar Heels did just enough to hang on. Theo Pinson punctuated the win with a dunk off the press break with 11.1 seconds left to seal it.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 16 points to lead the Blue Devils (19-5, 7-4), who have lost two straight.

No. 11 Saint Mary’s 83, Loyola Marymount 62: Jock Landale scored 21 points and Jordan Ford added 20 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 11 Saint Mary’s to an 83-62 victory over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night.

The Gaels (24-2, 13-0 West Coast Conference) have won 19 straight games. Their last loss was in November.

Landale added nine rebounds and four steals. Ford made 9 of 11 shots.

Eli Scott had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Loyola Marymount (7-17, 2-11), which has lost seven of its last eight.

Emmett Naar had 12 assists and set the Saint Mary’s record for career assists, previously held by Matthew Dellavedova. The senior guard has 769 assists in his career.

In the first half, Saint Mary’s built as much as a 16-point lead by making high-efficiency shots inside. The Gaels scored 26 points in the paint before halftime.

The Lions kept the game within reach and trailed 40-31 at the break. The Gaels were too much in the second half and played much of it without Landale, who was on the bench with foul trouble.

Loyola Marymount fans haven’t had much to cheer about this season, so they took to heckling Landale about what they thought of his NBA chances. Landale once looked toward the hecklers, which fueled them to continue.

Landale was whistled for his fourth foul with 11:50 left in the game and went to the bench.

No. 12 Gonzaga 71, at Pacific 61: Killian Tillie had 21 points and 10 rebounds and made a key tip-in with 1:39 remaining, and No. 12 Gonzaga beat Pacific 71-61 on Thursday night.

Johnathan Williams added 10 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double this season as the Bulldogs (22-4, 12-1 West Coast Conference) won their sixth straight. Zach Norvell and Rui Hachimura also scored 10 points while Josh Perkins had 12 on 2-of-11 shooting.

The win sets up Gonzaga for a chance at redemption against Saint Mary’s. The Gaels, who beat Loyola Marymount on Thursday night to remain unbeaten in the WCC, handed the Bulldogs their lone conference loss on Jan. 18 in Spokane.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has tried to keep his players’ minds off the rematch. Now the clash between ranked teams will have conference title implications.

The Bulldogs put themselves in position by holding off a pesky but sloppy Pacific team. The Tigers (12-14, 7-6) were within 47-41 with 13{ minutes left but went scoreless over the next four minutes as they had trouble taking care of the ball.

Gonzaga took advantage and went on an 8-1 run, getting six of the points on free throws.

Pacific was within 59-51 following three free throws by Roberto Gallinat before Tillie tipped in Perkins’ miss to help Gonzaga hold on for its 12th consecutive win in the series.

Gallinat had 15 points, Miles Reynolds scored 13 and Jahlil Tripp added 12 for Pacific.

Perkins got off to a slow start offensively but repeatedly kicked the ball out to open shooters after driving the lane.

Tillie benefited the most from Perkins’ unselfishness. Gonzaga’s lone sophomore starter, Tillie had eight of the Bulldogs’ first 14 points and made five of his first six shots as they built a 24-15 lead.

at No. 16 Clemson 72, Pittsburgh 48: Gabe DeVoe matched his career high with 25 points, helping No. 16 Clemson beat Pittsburgh 72-48 on Thursday night.

DeVoe was 7 for 11 from 3-point range. Shelton Mitchell made three 3s on his way to 12 points, and Elijah Thomas had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (20-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Clemson led 32-22 at halftime and then put Pitt away with an impressive stretch on offense. The Tigers scored on nine of their first 10 second-half possessions.

Mitchell hit back-to-back 3s to make it 56-28 with 14:21 left. Clemson shot 12 for 27 from beyond the arc.

Terrell Brown led Pitt with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting. No other Panther made more than two shots.

Pitt (8-17, 0-12) shot 39.1 percent (18 for 46) from the field. It also committed 15 turnovers, leading to 22 points for Clemson.

DeVoe’s seven 3s were tied for the best game for an ACC player this season. The senior has led Clemson in scoring in four of five games since the Tigers lost forward Donte Grantham to a knee injury.

It was Clemson’s second double-digit victory in nine ACC wins this season. Pitt has lost all but two of its ACC games by at least 10 points and is losing its league games by an average of more than 18 points.

UCLA 82, at No. 13 Arizona 74

SOUTHLAND

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UC Santa Barbara 90, at UC Davis 81: Leland King II had 19 points and 15 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season in helping the Gauchos (19-5, 8-2) top the Aggies (16-8, 7-3) in a Big West Conference first-place showdown. Davis’ TJ Shorts had 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

at Cal State Fullerton 75, Cal Poly 59: Khalil Ahmad scored 22 points and Kyle Allman scored 14 to help lift the Titans (13-9, 6-4 Big West). Ahmad and Allman combined for 17 points during a 19-1 run that gave Fullerton a 37-22 halftime lead. Victor Joseph led Cal Poly (8-16, 3-7) with 16 points.

No. 11 St. Mary’s 83, at Loyola Marymount 62: Jock Landale scored 21 points and Jordan Ford had 20 points and nine rebounds, leading the Gaels (24-2, 13-0 West Coast Conference) to their 19th consecutive victory. Eli Scott had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Loyola Marymount (7-17, 2-11).

San Diego 68, at Pepperdine 66: Jose Martinez scored a career-high 16 points, Olin Carter III made consecutive three-point shots in a late 16-2 run and the Toreros (16-9, 7-6 West Coast Conference) rallied for the victory. Pepperdine (4-21, 1-12) held a 56-46 lead with 8:51 remaining.

WOMEN FRIDAY

Arizona State at USC 7 p.m.

Arizona at UCLA 8 p.m.