College Basketball Roundup : No. 1 North Carolina Rolls, 104-51

Guards Kenny Smith and Ranzino Smith each scored 16 points as top-ranked North Carolina defeated The Citadel, 104-51, Sunday at Charlotte, N.C. It was a career high for Ranzino Smith.

“I don’t know whether this helps us. I think it did,” Coach Dean Smith said. “We tried to play against our standards as opposed to playing just against The Citadel.

“We’re trying to get ready for (Atlantic Coast) Conference play and I think this helps. We got a chance to play a number of people. That’s a nice way to leave for Christmas.”

Although the loss was The Citadel’s worst since a 105-49 defeat at the hands of UCLA in 1971, Coach Randy Nesbit said he wouldn’t mind playing the Tar Heels again.

“Just because we didn’t play well today doesn’t mean that we couldn’t give them a better game the next time,” Nesbit said. “If we felt like we couldn’t play them better, we would just as soon close up for the season.”

Nesbit said North Carolina took advantage of every mistake the Bulldogs made.

“North Carolina utilizes their talent 94 feet of the court,” he said. “Another team with a different style of play may not have beaten us as badly as North Carolina did, even if it was another team that was ranked No. 1.”

The Tar Heels (10-0) led 12-7 with 13:15 left in the first half before putting together scoring runs of 12-0 and 14-0 to grab a 48-16 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs (4-3) hit just 25% from the floor.

North Carolina, which passed the 100-point mark for the fourth time this season, led by as many as 55 points in the second half, while shooting 61% for the game.

Seton Hall 76, Stanford 75--Freshman guard John Morton sank two free throws with four seconds left in overtime to lift Seton Hall to a 76-75 victory at Stanford.

Stanford had a chance to go ahead by three with 43 seconds left in overtime after Novian Whitsitt hit a long jump shot to give Stanford a 75-74 lead. Whitsitt was fouled only seconds later but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Stanford freshman Todd Lichti made a layup with 37 seconds left in regulation play to tie the score at 67. Lichti was the game’s leading scorer with a season-high 30 points, and he also hit 13 straight free throws.

Stanford is now 5-3.

South Carolina 106, Rhode Island 61--Linwood Moye scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Gamecocks at Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina, which led 43-30 at halftime, boosted its record to 6-4. Rhode Island dropped to 3-5.

Air Force 56, Army 50--Jim Gulsvig’s 16 points led the Falcons past the Black Knights in the second game of the Suntory Basketball Tournament in Tokyo.

Air Force, which dropped the first game of the annual Japanese tournament to the U.S. Naval Academy, 70-53, in Osaka Saturday, now is 6-3. Army, led by junior Kevin Houston’s game-high 25 points, is 4-3.

The game was watched by 12,236 at the national sumo arena in Tokyo. Army plays Navy (5-2) in the final game of the tournament Monday night.

UNLV 82, Iona 63--Anthony Jones scored 21 points Saturday night at Las Vegas to gain the 12th-ranked Rebels (8-1) the championship of their own tournament.

In the consolation game, Cleon Dorsey sank a five-foot jump shot with 1:37 to play to lift San Diego State to a 63-62 victory over Florida.

Boston College 95, Valdosta St. 70--Roger McCready scored 20 points and Dominic Pressley added 19 to spark unbeaten Boston College in the opening game of the Citrus Bowl tournament at Orlando, Fla.

Boston College (7-0) will play Auburn (5-4) in the championship game tonight. The Tigers advanced with a 70-49 win over Central Florida as Chuck Person scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Valdosta State is now 4-2; Central Florida is 1-9.

Hartford 69, Holy Cross 65--Sophomore Marvin Powell scored 17 points, and transfer Doug McCrory, playing against his old team, added 15 points, to lead Hartford to its third straight victory, at Hartford, Conn.