College Basketball Roundup : Top-Ranked Tar Heels Rout Cardinal, 89-55

Reserve guard Ranzino Smith scored a career-high 15 points and sparked an 18-0 run midway through the first half as top-ranked North Carolina beat Stanford, 89-55, in college basketball Friday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Tar Heels (9-0) led, 12-11, with 12:53 left before halftime but held Stanford without a field goal for 6 1/2 minutes as they opened up a 30-11 lead.

Smith came off the bench to hit three straight baskets--two jumpers and a layup--and fed Steve Hale for a basket to key the run.

The Cardinals (5-2), shooting only 27.1% for the game, drew no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Joining Smith in double figures for North Carolina were Hale and Jeff Lebo with 11 points each and Brad Daugherty with 10. Warren Martin pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds and blocked 9 shots.

The Tar Heels shot 58.2% and had 17 blocked shots.

Stanford was led by forward Greg Butler with 12 points--10 in the second half--and Todd Lichti with 11.

LSU 82, Southeastern Louisiana 61--John Williams had 28 points (13 of 19 shots) and 9 rebounds for the Tigers (10-0) in the first round of the LSU Invitational at Baton Rouge, La. Teddy Butler had 16 points for Southeastern (4-6). Said LSU Coach Dale Brown: “This is the best team I’ve ever been around. They play well together, and they like each other.”

Georgia Tech 83, Texas A&M; 58--Mark Price had 19 points, 7 steals and 8 assists for the Engineers (6-1) in the Gator Bowl tournament at Jacksonville, Fla. The Engineers will face Jacksonville, which got 17 points from Danny Pearson and 16 from Ronnie Murphy in scoring an 80-66 win over previously unbeaten Southern Mississippi. Don Marbury (A&M;) 23; Casey Fisher (SM) 20.

South Florida 56, U. San Diego 55--San Diego (5-4) lost in the final seconds on a fluke basket when the Toreros’ James Knight mishandled a rebound and accidentally scored for South Florida (4-3) in the Longhorn tournament at Austin, Tex. South Florida will face Texas (4-4), which scored a 68-57 win over Alaska Anchorage (7-5). John Brownlee (T) 27 (9 of 14 shots) and 9 rebounds; Patrick Fairs (T) 20; Martin Teal (SF) 16; Mark Bostic (SD) 15.

Richmond 67, Virginia Commonwealth 65--John Newman scored 5 of his game-high 30 points in overtime for the unbeaten Spiders (7-0) against the Rams (1-5) in the Richmond Invitational at Richmond, Va. The Spiders will face Virginia (5-2), which scored a 68-61 win over Old Dominion (3-3). Mel Kennedy (V) 15.