College Basketball Roundup : Vanderbilt Knocks Top-Ranked North Carolina Back on Its Heels, 78-76

Dean Smith has been telling everyone that he doesn’t have the best team in the nation and now he has some proof.

Vanderbilt’s Will Perdue had 23 points and 10 rebounds Saturday night and the Commodores upset top-ranked North Carolina, 78-76, at Nashville, Tenn.

“As I try to tell people, we’re not the No. 1 team in the country, not even the No. 10 team,” Smith said. “But I do think we’re a good basketball team.

“I’m happy with our performance. We played even better than I thought we would. Perdue was just too much for us inside. They just threw the ball up there, thinking he would get it, and he did get it.”

Perdue, playing in foul trouble much of the second half when he scored 14 points, held North Carolina center Scott Williams to 15 points and 7 rebounds. Williams fouled out with 1:56 left.

North Carolina (4-1) had a 64-59 lead with 6:12 remaining when Perdue scored inside on a three-point play and freshman Charles Mayes hit a three-point shot to give Vanderbilt (3-0) the lead for good with 4:15 left.

Mayes scored all of his 15 points on three-pointers and Barry Goheen added 13 points and 7 rebounds. For North Carolina, Jeff Lebo scored 21 points and J.R. Reid added 16.

Vanderbilt coach C.M. Newton said he would celebrate for a few hours before starting preparations for Tuesday’s game at No. 5 Indiana. Vanderbilt also meets No. 2 Kentucky New Year’s Eve.

“I don’t know who the No. 1 team in the nation is, but North Carolina is one of the top teams in the nation,” Newton said. “To beat a team like North Carolina is very meaningful.”

Syracuse 87, TCU 58--Sherman Douglas keyed a 21-4 run at the close of the first half, and the third-ranked Orangemen overran TCU at Syracuse, N.Y., to win the Carrier Classic for the ninth time in 11 years.

Douglas finished with 23 points and Rony Seikaly added 12 for Syracuse (4-2), which had a 60-26 lead early in the second half.

Jeff Boutelle had 14 points for TCU (3-1).

Wyoming 84, Texas Tech 65--Fennis Dembo scored 30 points, six on free throws stemming from technical fouls against the Red Raiders, and the 10th-ranked Cowboys won easily at Laramie, Wyo.

Texas Tech Coach Gerald Myers picked up his second and third technical fouls and was ejected with 5:04 left after stomping to mid-court to protest a call.

Sean Gay scored 21 points for the Red Raiders (1-2) and Reggie Fox had 14 for the Cowboys (3-0).

Michigan 97, Central Michigan 67--Terry Mills, academically ineligible as a freshman, had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 15 Wolverines past the Chippewas at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Chippewas (3-3) played the Wolverines even, 18-18, over the first 10:47. But Michigan (4-1) went on a 23-5 run over the final 9:13 of the first half, with a Mills tip-in of a missed free throw at the buzzer giving him 16 points and the Wolverines a 41-23 lead.

Dan Majerle scored 21 points for the Chippewas and Tommie Johnson added 19.

Kansas 63, St. John’s 54--Danny Manning scored 21 points and the 16th-ranked Jayhawks stretched their homecourt winning streak to 50 games by beating the Redmen at Lawrence, Kan.

The Redmen (3-1) trailed by 16 points midway through the second half but cut the lead to 54-48 with 4:15 left on a shot by Shelton Jones, who scored 15 points, before the rally fell short.

Kevin Pritchard added 17 points for Kansas (4-2).

Purdue 88, Oregon 59--Everette Stephens scored the first six points of the game and the 11th-ranked Boilermakers eased past the Ducks at West Lafayette, Ind.

Kip Jones scored 17 points for Purdue (3-1), which held Oregon scoreless for nearly the first four minutes and led by 27 points in the first half.

Frank Johnson scored 20 points for Oregon (2-1).

Duke 79, Northwestern 57--Kevin Strickland scored 22 points and John Smith added 16 as the No. 13 Blue Devils defeated the Wildcats at Evanston, Ill.

Northwestern (2-1) trimmed a 22-point deficit to 11 with 6:30 left before Duke (3-0) pulled away again.

Shon Morris had 13 points for Northwestern.

Memphis State 60, Arkansas State 59--Russell Young’s layup with 3:12 remaining put the 20th-ranked Tigers ahead to stay at Jonesboro, Ark.

The Tigers (3-0) trailed, 57-54, with 5:42 to play, but allowed the Indians (2-2) only one more basket.

John Tate scored 20 points for Arkansas State and Sylvester Gray had 20 for Memphis State.

Georgia Tech 78, Georgia 77--Anthony Sherrod hit a rebound basket at the buzzer to lift the Yellow Jackets to victory at Atlanta.

Georgia (2-2) took its only lead in the game on Milt Blakley’s basket with seven seconds left.

Willie Anderson scored 30 points for Georgia, while Dennis Scott had 23 for Tech (3-1).

Penn 66, La Salle 61--Phil Pitts scored 21 points and Walt Frazier Jr. hit three free throws in the last four seconds as the Quakers beat the Explorers at Philadelphia.

Frazier, son of the former New York Knicks star, had 12 points and 8 assists for Penn (1-2). Lionel Simmons scored 27 points for La Salle (3-1).

Oklahoma 123, Loyola Chicago 73--Stacey King had 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Harvey Grant had 23 points and 23 rebounds as the 18th-ranked Sooners trounced the Ramblers at Norman, Okla.

Grant’s rebounding total broke broke Wayman Tisdale’s school single-game record of 22.

Ricky Grace added 17 points for the Sooners (3-0). Gerald Hayward had 19 for the Ramblers (2-1).

Georgetown 81, Virginia Military 45--Perry McDonald scored 9 of his 14 points in the first half as the 17th-ranked Hoyas coasted to a 41-17 lead and overpowered the Keydets at Landover, Md.

The Hoyas (3-0) scored the first 12 points and added another 12-point surge for a 39-10 lead.

Raymon Williams scored 13 points for VMI (1-2), which made only 4 of 24 shots in the first half.

Southern Methodist 90, Alabama State 66--Carlton McKinney scored 24 points and the Mustangs rallied from 16 points down to beat the Hornets at Dallas.

The Mustangs (4-0), coming off an upset of seventh-ranked Florida on Thursday night, watched Alabama State (2-1) score the first 14 points and fell behind, 18-2, before coming back.

Todd Alexander came off the bench and hit four three-point shots and finished with 22 points for the Mustangs. Terry Thomas added 18 rebounds and 10 points.

Washington 77, New Mexico 64--Mike Hayward scored 18 of his 28 points in the second half to lead the Huskies past the Lobos at Seattle.

The Huskies (2-2) scored the final six points of the first half, four by Hayward, to take a 30-28 halftime lead. Hayward scored six straight points to open the second half, and the Lobos never caught up.

Hunter Greene scored 19 points for New Mexico, extending his streak to 42 straight games in double figures.