COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Blue Devils Blast Past Maryland’s Zone, 83-66

Maryland thought it could slow down Duke’s Blue Devils with a sagging zone defense, but it turned out to be nothing more than a distraction to the No. 1 team in the nation at College Park, Md., Wednesday night.

Duke zipped out to a 16-4 lead and the margin remained in double figures the rest of the way in an easy 83-66 victory, the Blue Devils’ ninth in a row over the Terrapins.

Maryland stretched its defense out to keep Christian Laettner away from the basket, and indeed, Laettner was not a factor in the early going. But Thomas Hill was, as his shots from the outside pierced the zone.

“I think at the start of the game we gambled a little bit and they made some outside shots,” Maryland Coach Gary Williams said. “We didn’t cover particularly well, but they still had to put the shots down, and they did. Especially Thomas Hill.”

Hill had 14 points on six-of-seven shooting in the first half.

It was the third victory in seven days for the Blue Devils (9-0, 3-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play). Duke led by 13 at halftime, then opened the second half with a 10-0 run that made it 51-28.

Maryland (7-5, 0-2) never got closer than 14 points after that and lost its fourth in a row. It was the Terrapins’ first loss at Cole Field House in seven games this season.

Laettner had 13 points for the Blue Devils and Bobby Hurley made three three-pointers to give him 129 for his career, a school record. Duke has not lost at Maryland since 1985.

No. 4 Kansas 81, Wichita State 51--Adonis Jordan scored 20 points and Richard Scott had 17 at Lawrence, Kan., as the Jayhawks (11-0) handed the Shockers (2-7) their seventh loss in a row.

Kansas used its fast break to take a 48-30 lead at halftime and put the game away with a 10-0 run to open the second half.

Kansas made 32 of 63 field-goal attempts. Wichita State made only 19 of 53 shots. John Smith led Wichita State with 15 points and Michael Wiggins added 10.

Memphis State 89, No. 12 Missouri 78--Anfernee Hardaway scored 26 points and had six assists at Memphis as Memphis State ended Missouri’s streak of 17 regular-season victories.

Missouri (11-1) trailed, 69-66, after Jevon Crudup made two free throws with 7:50 left. But Memphis State (7-3) answered with nine points in a row to take a 78-66 lead with 2:33 left.

Memphis State made 11 of 12 free throws in the final two minutes to preserve the victory.

No. 15 Georgia Tech 80, North Carolina State 63--Malcolm Mackey powered the Yellow Jackets’ inside game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds at Raleigh, N.C.

Playing its first ACC road game and second road game this year, Georgia Tech (12-2, 2-0) pounded away at the middle of the shorter Wolfpack (6-5, 0-1) for its early offense. The Yellow Jacket defense forced 11 turnovers in the first half and turned a close game into a runaway.

No. 16 Alabama 65, No. 13 Arkansas 63--James Robinson scored 20 points and Latrell Sprewell sealed the victory with two defensive plays in the final seven seconds of a Southeastern Conference game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The Crimson Tide (13-1, 2-0) won their eighth in a row in an important early season matchup between two of the favorites in the league’s Western Division.

Arkansas (12-3, 1-1) lost in its first conference game since joining the league this season.

Virginia 58, No. 19 Wake Forest 53--Bryant Stith scored seven of the Cavaliers’ last nine points as Virginia recovered after blowing a 12-point halftime lead in an ACC game Charlottesville, Va.

Stith finished with 24 points to help the Cavaliers (6-5, 2-1) snap Wake Forest’s four-game winning streak.

The Demon Deacons (8-2, 1-1) lost to Virginia for the third time in their last four meetings.

No. 22 North Carolina Charlotte 62, Virginia Tech 53--Henry Williams scored 22 points as the 49ers rallied for the second time in three days in a Metro Conference game at Charlotte.

The 49ers (10-1, 1-0), who won in overtime Monday night against North Carolina-Wilmington, took control in the game’s final eight minutes to beat Virginia Tech.

After Jimmy Carruth’s layup gave Virginia Tech (5-6, 0-1) a 45-44 lead with 8:44 left, the 49ers responded with an 8-1 run.

Rodney Odom’s baseline hook gave the 49ers a 52-46 advantage with 4:01 remaining.

Williams took over from there, as he scored two three-pointers in a key stretch to preserve the victory.

Pittsburgh 83, No. 20 Syracuse 74--Sean Miller scored all 11 of his points in the final 4:08 at Pittsburgh and the Panthers stopped the Orangemen.

Syracuse (10-1) led by as many as seven points in the second half, but Pitt (10-4) took the lead for good at 69-67 on Darren Morningstar’s layup with 3:29 remaining. Morningstar finished with 21 points.

West Virginia 76, No. 25 Massachusetts 75--Pervires Greene scored 15 points in the Atlantic 10 upset at Amherst, Mass.

Chris Leonard sealed the win for West Virginia (7-5, 1-1) when he made two free throws with 21 seconds left to give Mountaineers a 76-70 margin.

Massachusetts (11-3, 0-2), resorting to a full-court press, rallied, but Tony Barbee’s three-pointer with two seconds remaining left his team a point short.

The loss was a big disappointment for Massachusetts, which gained a national ranking after beating then-No. 14 Oklahoma on Saturday.

OTHER GAMES

Sean Jackson scored nine of his 18 points in a 17-4 run to open the game and Princeton limited Iona to just 31% shooting from the field in defeating the Gaels, 68-51, at Princeton. . . . Shaquille O’Neal scored 26 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked seven shots as Louisiana State dominated Auburn, 87-70, in LSU’s Southeastern Conference opener at Auburn . . . Bryan Edwards scored nine of his 25 points in overtime at Harrisburg, Pa., as James Madison defeated Penn State, 82-69 . . . Sophomore forward Tom Michael scored 20 points to lead Illinois to a 74-72 overtime victory over Purdue in a Big Ten conference opener at Purdue. . . . Carlton McGee scored a layup in the final second to lift Wisconsin to a 69-67 victory over Northwestern in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Wisconsin . . Uba Satterfield scored five of his 19 points in the final minute to lead Portland to a 60-54 victory over Dartmouth at Hanover, N.H. . . . Nick Van Exel scored 16 points and Cincinnati held Tennessee scoreless for more than eight minutes of the second half to post a 62-51 victory at Tennessee. The Bearcats (10-2) used an aggressive half-court trap to force the Volunteers out of their offense and won despite turning the ball over 19 times themselves.