COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Tucker Is Too Much for Duke to Handle

The only numbers that mattered to Anthony Tucker were those that Wake Forest came up with--an 86-77 upset victory over fifth-ranked Duke Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Tucker scored 31 points and had 11 rebounds as the Demon Deacons took a big step toward earning its first NCAA tournament bid since 1984.

“I just wanted to go out and I didn’t think about the individual part of the game--the rebounds and the points,” Tucker said. “I just wanted to beat Duke and do it any way I could.”

Wake Forest (15-8 overall, 6-5 in the ACC) won only one of the previous 14 games between the schools. That victory was in 1989 when Duke was top-ranked.

The Demon Deacons ended their bad luck against the Blue Devils with a 56% shooting performance.

“Last year at this time, we didn’t have an ACC victory,” said Tucker, who transferred to Wake Forest from Georgetown two years ago. “It’s really gratifying to beat an ACC team like Duke or Georgia Tech.” The Deacons beat Georgia Tech, 86-74, last Saturday.

Duke (22-5, 8-3) fell into a first-place tie with North Carolina with three regular-season games left before the conference tournament.

Duke chipped away at a 58-49 deficit at the 12-minute mark behind Christian Laettner, who scored 29 points. He scored seven points during a 15-8 run that pulled Duke to within 66-64 with 6:30 left.

But Tucker’s interception of Greg Koubek’s pass led to Derrick McQueen’s layup at 6:08. Robert Siler made a 17-foot jumper at 5:18 to give the Demon Deacons a 70-64 lead.

No. 3 Arkansas 97, Texas Christian 61--Lee Mayberry and Arlyn Bowers keyed a 14-2 run in the second half of this Southwest Conference victory at Fayetteville, Ark.

The Razorbacks (25-2, 12-0) led from the time that Bowers’ three-point shot made it 3-2 in the opening two minutes, although the Horned Frogs (15-8, 6-6) stayed close.

Mayberry started the run with a jump shot that made it 55-39. Bowers made a layup and followed with a fast-break basket. Todd Day made a free throw and Mayberry followed with a a three-point basket. Two free throws by Bowers and a basket by Isaiah Morris made it 67-41 at 12:49.

No. 7 Syracuse 106, Boston College 85--The Eagles, last in the Big East Conference, simply couldn’t keep up with the much quicker, stronger Orangemen at Newton, Mass.

Conference leader Syracuse (22-3, 9-3) led by between 18 and 29 points throughout the second half. The Orangemen were led by Billy Owens, who scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds, and Dave Johnson, who had 24 points.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Orangemen. The Eagles (11-14, 1-11) lost their 11th consecutive Big East game.

No. 8 North Carolina 87, Maryland 75--The Tar Heels dominated the inside and wore down the Terrapins in the second half to win the ACC game at College Park, Md.

Pete Chilcutt scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, including six in a 15-8 run that gave North Carolina (19-4, 8-3) a 62-53 lead with 12:52 left. The Tar Heels built the margin to 14 points moments later and coasted from there.

Kevin McLinton scored 20 points for the Terrapins (13-11, 3-8).

No. 9 Southern Mississippi 62, South Carolina 58--The Golden Eagles, who shot only 35%, won the Metro Conference game at Hattiesburg, Miss., at the free- throw line by making 26 of 37 shots.

The Gamecocks (18-8, 5-6) attempted only eight free throws, making six. During the last three minutes of the game, Southern Mississippi (19-4, 10-1) made seven of eight free throws.

No. 11 Kansas 69, Kansas State 67--Terry Brown made a free throw with 11 seconds left to clinch the Jayhawks’ 10th victory in a row in a battle of the Big Eight’s first and last-place teams at Lawrence, Kan.

Brown’s free throw gave Kansas (19-4, 9-2) a five-point lead. Jean Derouillere made a three-point basket at the buzzer for the Wildcats (12-11, 2-8).

No. 22 Pittsburgh 94, No. 13 St. John’s 83--Darelle Porter scored all 20 of his points in the second half to help the Panthers upset the Redmen in the Big East game at Pittsburgh.

Pitt (18-8, 7-5) withstood Malik Sealy’s 27 points to end a three-game losing streak against the Redmen (17-6, 8-6).

St. John’s front-court starters--Sealy, Robert Werdann and Billy Singleton--each had four fouls with 14 minutes left, and Sealy and Werdann eventually fouled out.

No. 14 Utah 81, Brigham Young 74--Byron Wilson made six three-point shots and scored 25 points to help the Utes clinch the Western Athletic Conference title at Salt Lake City.

It’s the first outright WAC championship for Utah (24-2, 13-1) since 1977. The Utes shared the title with BYU and Wyoming in 1986.

Freshman center Shawn Bradley had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (16-11, 10-4).

No. 16 Kentucky 89, Mississippi 77--John Pelphrey missed his first nine shots and was benched most of the second half because of his poor defense, but the junior forward made two free throws and two three-point baskets during a 13-1 run late in the game that sparked the Wildcats to the Southeastern Conference victory at Lexington, Ky.

It was the 19th consecutive victory for the Wildcats (19-5, 11-3) at Rupp Arena. It was the sixth loss in a row for Mississippi (7-16, 1-13).

No. 17 Nebraska 105, Oklahoma 93--The Cornhuskers scored a school-record 66 points in the second half at Lincoln, Neb., as they completed a season sweep of the Sooners. Nebraska’s (21-4, 7-3) second-half outburst surpassed the 64 points against Nevada Reno in 1970.

The loss was the seventh in eight games for Oklahoma (15-10, 4-6).

Seton Hall 63, No. 18 Georgetown 50--The Pirates used some solid inside defense and effective rebounding to beat the Hoyas in the Big East game at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Pirates (16-7, 7-6) led, 46-32, with 15:04 left, then went 9:54 with only two baskets. Georgetown (15-8, 7-5) was unable to take advantage because of poor outside shooting. The Hoyas made their last basket with 7:31 left.

No. 19 Virginia 57, Clemson 47--At Charlottesville, Va., the Cavaliers (19-7, 6-5) beat the Tigers (10-13, 1-9) for the fifth time in their last seven meetings. It was the seventh loss in eight games for Clemson.

No. 21 Oklahoma State 71, Missouri 56--The Cowboys held the Tigers to two baskets during an 11-minute stretch of the second half as they pulled away to win the Big Eight game at Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys are 18-5, 7-3. Missouri (13-9, 5-5) shot 30% in the second half and 38% for the game.

No. 23 Mississippi State 70, Georgia 64--The Bulldogs led the SEC game by nine points three times in the second half, the last at 48-39 with 14:35 left, but Greg Carter and Tony Watts led a second-half comeback by the Tigers at Athens, Ga.

Mississippi State (17-6, 10-4) took the lead for good at 64-62 with 2:28 left on a layup by Watts. It was the third loss in a row for Georgia (12-11, 5-9).

No. 25 Princeton 59, Yale 54--The Tigers (18-2, 9-0) made 10 of their 13 shots in the second half, including eight on shots under the basket, while holding the Bulldogs (11-11, 5-5) to 36% shooting in the Ivy League game at New Haven, Conn.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

EAST

Fordham extended the nation’s second-longest winning streak to 14 games by defeating Bucknell, 69-63, in a Patriot League game at New York. Nevada Las Vegas has the longest streak, 33 games over two seasons. The Rams (21-5, 11-0) clinched the victory in the final minute two free throws by Fred Herzog and a basket by Jean Prioleau. . . Temple held Notre Dame to its lowest point total in seven years as the Owls (18-6) beat the Irish, 70-46, at Hershey, Pa. Notre Dame (10-15) did not score in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half and didn’t score in the game’s final three minutes.

North Carolina State defeated Connecticut, 60-59, in a nonconference game at Storrs, Conn., when the Huskies missed two shots in the final three seconds. After Chris Corchiani made two free throws with 20 seconds left to give the Wolfpack a 60-59 lead, he fouled Chris Smith with 4.6 seconds left. The Huskies weren’t in the bonus yet, so they got the ball out of bounds. Smith missed a 15-foot shot with three seconds left and Scott Burrell’s tip-in attempt bounced off the back of the rim.

David Booth scored 32 points to help DePaul extend its winning streak to eight games with a 73-58 victory over Niagara at Niagara Falls. Booth moved into ninth place on DePaul’s all-time list with 1,384 points, 14 behind Terry Cummings. . . Keith Hughes, Earl Duncan and Brent Dabbs scored all but four of Rutgers’ 35 second-half points to lead the Scarlet Knights to their 10th win in 11 games, a 74-66 victory over George Washington that put them into first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Freshmen Rap Curry scored 26 points and Bernard Blunt added 25 as St. Joseph’s defeated city rival La Salle, 82-73, at Philadelphia. La Salle played without leading scorer Doug Overton, who was sidelined with a sprained left ankle. . . Villanova held Erich Murdock, who was averaging 29 points, to 10 on three-of-17 shooting that enabled the Wildcats to defeat Providence, 64-55, in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

SOUTH

Anthony Moses missed a chance to clinch the victory in regulation, but he scored four points in overtime to give Virginia Tech an 85-81 Metro Conference victory over Cincinnati. Moses made the first of two free throws with six seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 72-72. He missed the second shot and the game went into overtime. . . Florida rallied in the last 10 minutes to beat Tennessee, 73-68, in an SEC game at Knoxville, Tenn. Brian Hogan made two three-point shots and Stacey Poole made two baskets to give the Gators a 52-51 lead with 7:25 left and Tennessee never caught up.

MIDWEST

Michigan State made nine free throws in the final three minutes to clinch a 62-58 Big Ten victory over Illinois at East Lansing, Mich. Steve Smith made three of the free throws, scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds. . . Freshman Matt Painter made two free throws with 53 seconds left to help Purdue hold off a late run by Minnesota and beat the Golden Gophers, 89-82, in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind. Jimmy Oliver scored 30 points and Chuckie White had 26 for Purdue, which ended a five-game losing streak.

Brian Good made a three-point basket at the buzzer as Wisconsin held off an Iowa rally to beat the Hawkeyes, 56-55, in a Big Ten game at Iowa City. . .Michigan extended Northwestern’s losing streak to 14 by beating the Wildcats, 64-58, at Evanston, Ill. It’s Northwestern’s longest losing streak since the 1955-56 season. It was also their 17th consecutive Big Ten loss.

ROCKIES

Junior center David Van Dyke made the first three-point basket of his career as time ran out to give Texas El Paso a 72-69 WAC victory over Wyoming at El Paso.