College Basketball Roundup : Duke Holds Off Clemson, 77-69; North Carolina Wins

Nobody said being No. 1 was going to be easy.

With the help of Johnny Dawkins, Duke celebrated its climb to the top ranking by holding off Clemson, 77-69, Wednesday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference basketball game at Clemson, S.C.

“They had us by our heels,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Dawkins, who scored 27 points, stole a pass and went the length of the court for a layup with 15 seconds left to push Duke ahead, 74-69.

Dawkins broke Danny Ainge’s NCAA scoring record for career games in double figures. Dawkins has scored 10 or more points in 119 of his 123 varsity games. Ainge scored in double figures in 118 games at BYU.

Duke is 28-2 overall and 11-2 in the conference. Clemson is 11-12 and 3-10.

North Carolina 85, Virginia 79--Jeff Lebo scored all of his 17 points in the second half, and Brad Daugherty added 16 as the third-ranked Tar Heels snapped a two-game losing streak by overcoming the Cavaliers in an ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Tar Heels (26-3, 10-3) trailed, 37-33, at halftime, but scored eight straight points to take a 57-50 lead with 11:10 left and put the game away by making 12 of 15 free throws down the stretch.

Olden Polynice had 24 points for Virginia (18-6, 7-6), which beat the Tar Heels earlier this season.

St. John’s 86, Syracuse 79--Walter Berry had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Willie Glass added 19 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 8 Redmen turned back the No. 6-ranked Orangemen at New York to gain a share of the Big East lead.

St. John’s (26-4, 13-2) plays host to Seton Hall, while Syracuse (22-4, 13-2) visits Connecticut as the Big East regular season winds up Saturday. If each team wins, St. John’s will take the title on a tiebreaker because of its better record against the conference’s third-place team, Georgetown.

Dwayne (Pearl) Washington scored 35 points for Syracuse.

Michigan 97, Wisconsin 74--Roy Tarpley scored 24 points as the 10th-ranked Wolverines (24-4, 11-4) rolled past the Badgers (11-15, 3-13) in a Big Ten game at Madison, Wis.

Louisville 65, South Carolina 63--Milt Wagner made two free throws with two seconds remaining to lift the 13th-ranked Cardinals to a Metro Conference victory over the Gamecocks at Columbia, S.C.

Wagner was fouled by Michael Foster as the Cardinals (23-7, 9-2) ran down the clock for a final shot. South Carolina (12-14, 2-9) had a desperation shot to tie the game, but Foster missed a 30-footer.

Georgetown 90, Boston College 76--Reggie Williams scored 22 points, and the No. 15 Hoyas (21-6, 10-5) broke a three-game Big East losing streak by beating the Eagles (13-13, 4-11) at Landover, Md.