COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Georgia Tech Has North Carolina’s Number . . . Again

For the sixth consecutive week, the nation’s top-ranked team was beaten when North Carolina blew a 15-point lead and lost to Georgia Tech, 96-89, Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

In the previous five weeks, Duke, UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina and Arkansas had lost as the top-ranked team. And, for the fourth consecutive time, Georgia Tech won when playing a No. 1 team--three times against North Carolina, and once against Duke.

“I guess it’s just the Carolina on our chest or the No. 1 label,” North Carolina’s Derrick Phelps said.

Fred Vinson scored a season-high 26 points, including an Atlantic Coast Conference season-best eight three-point baskets, for Georgia Tech, 13-9, 4-7 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets made a team-record 15 of 29 three-point shots.

“We told each other we didn’t have anything to lose,” said James Forrest, who had 25 points and 17 rebounds for Georgia Tech. “We are trying to get a bid for the tournament.”

Georgia Tech, winning for only the fourth time in 12 games, ended North Carolina’s 25-game winning streak at the Smith Center.

“I’m happy right now, but of course, we’re far from the NCAA tournament,” Coach Bobby Cremins said. “We’ve got a lot more games to go. I’m just proud we’ve still in the fight.”

This was the third time in a row that North Carolina (20-4, 8-3) was beaten by Georgia Tech when it was ranked No. 1. The Tar Heels lost to the Yellow Jackets by 20 points a month ago in Atlanta and also in the ACC tournament title game last March.

No. 3 Arkansas 99, No. 20 Florida 87--Corey Beck made five free throws and Corliss Williamson two in the final 95 seconds at Fayetteville, Ark., to help the Razorbacks in a matchup of the Southeastern Conference leaders.

The game was tied six times during the first half, but Florida (19-4, 9-2) never got even in the final 31 minutes. The Razorbacks (18-2, 8-2) were ahead by 13 with 5:47 to play before Dan Cross made a jump shot and a three-point basket to make it 90-84 with 1:38 left.

No. 14 Syracuse 93, No. 4 Kentucky 85--Adrian Autry’s three-point play with one minute left propelled the Orangemen at Syracuse.

The 6-foot-5 Autry used his size advantage against the Wildcats’ smaller guards to finish with 30 points, one shy of his career best. With the score tied at 83-83, he beat Kentucky’s press for a layup, was fouled and made the free throw to give Syracuse (16-4) the lead for good.

It was the second consecutive loss for Kentucky (18-5), which was beaten at home by Arkansas, 90-82, Wednesday night.

No. 5 Kansas 65, Kansas State 56--The Wildcats took a 41-40 lead on Belvis Noland’s basket with about 13 minutes left in the Big Eight game at Manhattan, Kan., but Steve Woodberry’s three-point shot a moment later keyed a 16-2 run by the Jayhawks (21-3, 7-2).

It was Kansas’ 22nd victory in the last 28 meetings with Kansas State, which beat the Jayhawks, 68-64, in Lawrence last month. Kansas State (14-7, 3-8) has lost to its archrival at home every year since 1983.

No. 6 Connecticut 80, Seton Hall 68--The Huskies, trailing by seven points at halftime, outscored the Pirates, 51-30, during the final 20 minutes of the Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

Donyell Marshall made two three-point plays early in the second half as the Big East-leading Huskies (21-2, 11-1) won their second in a row this season over the Pirates (11-10, 4-9), who have lost six of their last eight.

No. 7 Louisville 77, Tulane 73--The Cardinals, who escaped a late rally to beat the Green Wave on Jan. 20 in New Orleans, did it again at Louisville to clinch a tie for the Metro Conference regular-season title.

After Dwayne Morton made two free throws with 1:32 to go to give Louisville (20-2, 9-1) a 75-67 lead, Tulane’s LeVeldro Simmons drove inside for a layup. Two consecutive Louisville turnovers resulted in Carlin Hartman’s layup and a tip-in that pulled Tulane (12-9, 3-5) to within 75-73 with 22.3 seconds to go.

No. 10 Purdue 74, Michigan State 70--The Spartans led by 15 points late in the first half but couldn’t hold off the Boilermakers in the second half of the Big Ten game at East Lansing, Mich.

Cuonzo Martin led Purdue (20-3, 8-3) into a 54-54 tie with 12:01 to play. Three minutes later, it was tied at 57-57. That’s when Glenn Robinson went on a 7-2 run to put the Boilermakers ahead for good.

Robinson and Shawn Respert, the Big Ten’s leading scorers, matched each other down the stretch, but Respert twisted his ankle on a layup that pulled the Spartans (14-10, 5-7) to within 72-70 with 49 seconds left.

Robinson scored 11 of his 23 points in the final 9:10. Respert scored 24 points.

No. 12 Indiana 93, Iowa 91--Todd Lindeman’s basket and a free throw by Sherron Wilkerson in the closing seconds gave the Hoosiers the Big Ten victory at Bloomington, Ind.

Indiana (15-5, 8-3) trailed, 91-90, with two minutes to play. Lindeman gave the Hoosiers the lead with 33 seconds left. The Hawkeyes (9-10, 3-7) missed two shots, then, with seven seconds left, Wilkerson made one of two free throws.

No. 15 Missouri 72, Oklahoma State 70--Freshman Kelly Thames picked up a loose ball and scored over 7-foot Bryant Reeves with 2.1 seconds to go as the Tigers avoided a second-half collapse at Columbia, Mo., and remained unbeaten in the Big Eight.

Missouri is 18-2 overall and has a 9-0 conference record for the first time since 1922, when it was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Tigers extended their home winning streak to 17 over the Cowboys (16-7, 5-3).

Memphis State 58, No. 19 Alabama Birmingham 53--David Vaughn made two free throws with 12 seconds left to help the Tigers win the Great Midwest Conference game at Memphis.

Memphis State (9-11, 4-6) led, 56-53, with 16 seconds left when Vaughn rebounded a missed free throw by Corey Jackson of Alabama Birmingham (18-4, 6-3) and was fouled as he threw the outlet pass. Vaughn made both free throws to preserve the victory.

No. 23 Minnesota 109, No. 21 Wisconsin 78--The Golden Gophers handed the Badgers their first loss in 13 games this season at Madison, and in so doing, completed a sweep of the season series against their Big Ten rival by a total of 68 points.

Minnesota (17-7, 7-4) dealt the Badgers their worst loss in the 94-year history of the rivalry with a 90-53 victory at Minneapolis on Jan. 12.

Wisconsin (15-5, 6-5) played without star freshman center Rashard Griffith, who had back spasms in practice Friday. The Badgers were led by Michael Finley, who scored 25 points.

Northwestern 79, No. 24 Illinois 68--Coach Ricky Byrdsong wasn’t there, but the Wildcats didn’t seem to miss him. Kevin Rankin and Patrick Baldwin each scored 21 points at Evanston, Ill., to help snap a nine-game losing streak.

Byrdsong took a leave of absence on Monday, two days after his bizarre behavior during a game at Minnesota when he wandered into the stands slapping hands with fans and the Gopher mascot.

The Wildcats (10-9), with assistant Paul Swanson coaching, took a 12-point halftime lead and then withstood a second-half surge to break the Big Ten losing streak that had followed a 9-0 nonconference start.

Illinois (13-6, 6-4) was led by Deon Thomas with 28 points.

George Washington 93, No. 25 Xavier 92--Vaughn Jones drove the length of the court and scored on a layup with 0.8 seconds left in the second overtime at Cincinnati.

Xavier (16-4) took a 92-91 lead on Jeff Massey’s four-point play with seven seconds left. Afraid to foul, the Musketeers then let Jones bring the ball upcourt and drive to the basket.

The Colonials (11-9) blew a 14-point lead in regulation and a four-point lead in the second overtime before coming back to end Xavier’s 23-game home-court winning streak.

OTHER GAMES

Auburn broke a 10-game Southeastern Conference losing streak with a 111-83 victory over Louisiana State at Auburn. Aaron Swinson scored 30 points to lead the Tigers. . . . Jeff Webster scored 41 points and Calvin Curry had 31, helping Oklahoma beat Colorado, 98-85, in a Big Eight game at Norman, Okla. It was Colorado’s 21st consecutive regular-season road loss. . . . Exree Hipp made two free throws with five seconds left as Maryland held off Florida State, 69-66, in an ACC game at Tallahassee, Fla. Charlie Ward’s desperation three-point shot at the buzzer rimmed out.