College Basketball Roundup : North Carolina Shuts Down Illinois and Rallies to Win, 90-77

North Carolina, used defense in the second half to rally and defeat previously unbeaten Illinois, 90-77, Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Senior guard Kenny Smith scored 9 of his career-high 22 points in a 16-0 second-half run to spark the No. 4 Tar Heels past the No. 5 Illini.

Illinois (7-1) scored several times off offensive rebounds in the first half, but the North Carolina defense stiffened in the second half.

North Carolina (6-1) trailed, 21-13, in the first half before trimming the Illinois lead to 35-33 at the break. Up 63-61 midway through the second half, North Carolina held the Illini scoreless for five minutes to take a 79-61 advantage with 3:38 to play.

Smith, who hit 8 of 11 shots, was one of four Tar Heels in double figures. Jeff Lebo added 17, Dave Popson 14 and Joe Wolf 12.

Illinois was led by Ken Norman’s 22 points and 15 rebounds. Lowell Hamilton added 17 points, Tony Wysinger had 13 and Doug Altenberger 11.

“In the first half, we were using our ‘impatient offense,’ the same offense we used early at UCLA,” North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said. “I know it’s still early in the season, but we ought to know by now that offense doesn’t work. We need to take better shots.”

North Carolina lost to UCLA, 89-84.

Temple 67, Villanova 65--Tim Perry scored a career-high 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 5 shots as the 20th-ranked Owls (9-1) edged the Wildcats (5-3) in overtime at Villanova, Pa.

Temple’s Nate Blackwell led all scorers with 23 points. Harold Jensen had 19 for Villanova.

Ball State 86, San Diego State 84--Derrick Wesley scored 35 points, 15 on three-point shots, to lead the Cardinals (4-5) in the consolation game of the Volunteer tournament at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tony Ross scored 29 points, including eight three-pointers, to lead the Aztecs (1-5). Josh Lowery added 17 points and Gerald Murray 16.

Georgia Tech 65, Boston College 62--Duane Ferrell hit a pair of clutch baskets in the last two minutes of overtime to lead the 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets in the Suntory Ball tournament at Tokyo.

Bruce Dalrymple had 20 points for Georgia Tech (4-2). Dana Barros had 19 for Boston College (6-3).

Georgetown 71, Texas El Paso 67--Reggie Williams scored 24 points, including two free throws with nine seconds left, as the No. 10 Hoyas (7-0) turned back the Miners at Landover, Md.

The Miners (6-2) were led by Mike Richmond with 18 points.

Georgetown played without injured starting center Johnathan Edwards (back) and power forward Ronnie Highsmith (left foot).

Iowa 89, Iowa State 64--Ed Horton scored a career-high 17 points and had 11 rebounds for the No. 3 Hawkeyes, who broke the game open with an 18-1 first-half run at Iowa City.

Kevin Gamble added 15 points and Jeff Moe 13 as the Hawkeyes (9-0) broke a three-year losing streak to the Cyclones.

Tom Schafer had 19 points and Jeff Grayer 17 for Iowa State (4-3).

DePaul 72, Old Dominion 61--Dallas Comegys scored 20 points, and Rod Strickland added 18 for the No. 19 Blue Demons, who led by as many as 22 points in the second half at Rosemont, Ill.

DePaul (7-0) is off to its best start since third-year Coach Joey Meyer took over from his father, Ray.

Old Dominion guard Steve Trax scored 21 points, including five three-point goals. The Monarchs are 2-4.

Kansas 82, Texas Tech 52--The No. 11 Jayhawks used a 14-5 spurt to open the game and an 18-4 run at the beginning of the second half to break it open as they scored their 38th consecutive home win at Lawrence, Kan.

Freshman Kevin Pritchard scored 19 points, and Danny Manning added 18 for Kansas (5-1). Tech is 2-2.

Indiana 84, Morehead State 62--Steve Alford and Dean Garrett each scored 18 points for the No. 8 Hoosiers (6-1), who took a 42-25 halftime lead over the Eagles (3-4) at Bloomington, Ind.

Rick Calloway, returning to the Indiana lineup for the first time since injuring a knee Nov. 29, had nine points and five assists.

“Calloway makes Indiana an incredibly better basketball team,” said Morehead State Coach Wayne Martin. “The ability of Calloway to do some things with his quickness is what really helps. The fact is, their other personnel isn’t that quick.”

TCU 66, Michigan State 47--Carl Lott had 17 points, and Larry Richard had 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Horned Frogs, who outrebounded the Spartans, 46-19, at Fort Worth.

Kirk Mans, hitting 5 of 7 three-pointers, scored 17 points for Michigan State. The Horned Frogs are 6-3, the Spartans 4-4.

Virginia 78, Arkansas 66--Tom Sheehey and Andrew Kennedy each scored 18 points for the Cavaliers (5-1) at Pine Bluff, Ark.

Arkansas (6-2) shot only 38% and made only 9 of 23 free throws.

Kentucky 81, Boston U. 69--Freshman Rex Chapman scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half, and Ed Davender added 23 points as the No. 18 Wildcats (5-1) rallied to beat the Terriers (5-3) in the Kentucky Invitational at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky, trailing 62-61 with 6:18 left, scored 10 straight points to take control of the game.

Paul Hendricks led Boston with 20 points.

Florida 82, Ohio State 72--Vernon Maxwell scored a career-high 33 points, and 7-1 freshman Dwayne Schintzius had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for the Gators in the Gator Bowl tournament at Jacksonville, Fla.

The victory was the eighth straight for the 8-1 Gators, who haven’t lost since a season-opening setback at Florida State. Ohio State fell to 8-2 despite a 34-point performance by Dennis Hopson.

Arkansas State 61, Memphis State 60--Steve Wiedower hit an eight-foot bank shot with one second left to lift the Indians to an upset win at Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis State, leading 55-51 in the second half, went four minutes without scoring.

John Tate had 19 points and Wiedower 18 for Arkansas State (6-3). Vincent Askew had 17 points for Memphis State (6-4).

Nevada Las Vegas 79, Louisiana Tech 75--Armon Gilliam scored 7 of his 34 points in the last 3 1/2 minutes as the top-ranked Rebels (9-0) held off the Bulldogs (4-4) to win the Rebel Roundup at Las Vegas.

Freddie Banks added 17 points for the Rebels. UNLV led, 43-35, at halftime and by 12 points early in the second half before the Bulldogs twice closed to within two points, the last time at 65-63 with 7:31 left.

The Bulldogs were led by Robert Godbolt with 25 points and Lewis Cook with 23.