College Basketball Roundup : Duke Wins Title; Beats Tar Heels

David Henderson and the rest of Duke’s seniors know what it’s like to be down.

That made it extra special Sunday when Henderson scored 27 points and the top-ranked Blue Devils beat No. 3 North Carolina, 82-74, to clinch Duke’s first outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship since 1966.

“We came from the bottom and now have reached the top,” said Henderson, remembering the 11-17 season the Blue Devils endured when he was a freshman.

Henderson scored 11 points during a 14-4 surge late in the game that finished off the Tar Heels (26-4 overall, 10-4 in the ACC). North Carolina dropped to third place, out of the top two spots for the first time in 20 years.

It was the 13th straight win for the Blue Devils (29-2, 12-2) after consecutive losses to North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

“I don’t think anything could be finer than beating Carolina,” senior forward Mark Alarie said.

North Carolina shot 64% from the field to Duke’s 54% and outrebounded the Blue Devils, 38-22.

But the Tar Heels also committed 22 turnovers to Duke’s 9.

Georgia Tech 74, Clemson 63--John Salley and Mark Price, two seniors who had their jerseys retired before their final home game, led the fourth-ranked Yellow Jackets past the Tigers at Atlanta to clinch second place in the ACC.

SallEy scored 20 points and Price added 16 for Georgia Tech (23-5, 11-3), which had a 21-point lead midway through the second half. Clemson (17-13, 3-11) was led by Glen McCants’ 14 points.

Louisville 70, Memphis State 69--Milt Wagner hit two free throws with one second left at Louisville, Ky., to give the No. 13 Cardinals a victory over the No. 7 Tigers for the Metro Conference regular-season title.

The Cardinals (24-7, 10-2) won their last nine games and will have a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

Memphis State (25-4, 9-3) took a 69-68 lead on Vincent Askew’s baskets with 52 seconds left, but Andre Turner missed a free throw with eight seconds left and then fouled Wagner on a 12-foot jumper from the corner.

Indiana 80, Iowa 73--Steve Alford scored 25 points and the No. 16 Hoosiers climbed back into a tie with Michigan for the Big Ten lead by turning back the Hawkeyes at Bloomington, Ind.

The Hawkeyes (18-11, 8-8) rallied from a 19-point deficit to within one in the closing minutes. Iowa missed two shots at the lead, Alford made two baskets and Winston Morgan clinched the victory for Indiana (20-6, 12-4) on a two free throws with 44 seconds left.

Texas Tech 63, Texas 62--DeWayne Chism tipped in a missed shot with two seconds left at Austin, Tex., and the Red Raiders denied the Longhorns’ bid to win sole possession of the Southwest Conference title.

Texas (17-10, 12-4) settled for a three-way tie for the SWC crown with TCU and Texas A&M.; Texas Tech (14-13, 9-7) upset TCU and Texas in its final games.

Michigan State 84, Wisconsin 71--Scott Skiles scored 28 points and the 17th-ranked Spartans coasted past the Badgers at Madison, Wis.

Rick Olson scored 29 points for Wisconsin (11-16, 3-14). Darryl Johnson added 18 for Michigan State (20-6, 11-5).

California 72, Oregon State 66--Kevin Johnson scored 18 points and set a team assist record to lead California to a Pacific 10 victory over Oregon State. The Bears improved to 18-8 overall and 10-6 in conference. The 18 victories are Cal’s most since 1959-60 when the Bears went 28-1.

The Beavers, led by Darrin Houston with 15, dropped to 12-13 and 8-8.