COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : No. 2 North Carolina Looking to Move Up

Jeff McInnis scored a career-high 23 points and second-ranked North Carolina survived second-half foul trouble Saturday night to defeat 10th-ranked Cincinnati, 86-76, and win the Tournament of Champions at Charlotte, N.C.

McInnis, a sophomore guard who had 11 assists in a victory over South Carolina on Friday night, scored 16 points in the second half. His previous high was 18 in the opener against Texas.

The victory, coupled with losses earlier Saturday by top-ranked Massachusetts and No. 3 Kentucky, should push the Tar Heels (4-0) to No. 1 this week.

North Carolina would be the third No. 1 team in the first three weeks of the season. Defending champion Arkansas was the preseason No. 1.

Cincinnati (3-1) got 22 points from LaZelle Durden.

No. 4 Arkansas 94, Missouri 71--Scotty Thurman scored 27 points and made two of his five three-point baskets in a 32-second span in the second half to lift the Razorbacks (3-1) over the Tigers (2-1) at Columbia, Mo.

Thurman has 79 points in three games against Missouri, all victories, and played a large role in ending the Tigers’ 17-game home winning streak. Clint McDaniel added 20 points for Arkansas.

No. 6 Duke 70, Illinois 65--Freshman guard Trajan Langdon scored all 12 of his points in the second half at Chicago to help the Blue Devils (3-1) continue their mastery of Big Ten competition.

Duke has won 13 consecutive games against the Big Ten dating to December of 1989.

Kiwane Garris’ three-point basket with 1:23 to play gave Illinois (3-1) its only lead of the second half at 65-64.

No. 8 Florida 81, No. 21 Wake Forest 70--Dan Cross scored 27 points to help the Gators (3-0) hold off the Demon Deacons (2-1) at Greensboro, N.C.

No. 11 Maryland 102, Bucknell 64--Johnny Rhodes scored a career-high 27 points and Exree Hipp got seven of his 16 during an 18-0 first-half run that carried the Terrapins (4-1) over the Bison (0-4) at College Park, Md.

Keith Booth had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Terrapins, who have won 31 consecutive nonconference home games.

No. 13 Wisconsin 70, Texas Tech 65--Michael Finley found his shooting touch, teaming with Rashard Griffith to help the Badgers (3-0) stifle a comeback by the Red Raiders (1-1) at Madison, Wis.

Finley missed his first eight shots but finished with 23 points. Griffith had 25.

Iowa 91, No. 14 Ohio 75--Jess Settles scored 26 points to help the Hawkeyes (4-0) roll over the Bobcats (5-2) in the championship game of the Hawkeye Invitational at Iowa City, Iowa.

Iowa has failed to win the tournament only once in 13 years.

Ohio, which has lost two of three games since winning the Preseason NIT, was led by Gary Trent, who had 31 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 17 Michigan 83, Tennessee Chattanooga 71--Jimmy King scored 23 points to lead the Wolverines (3-2) over the Moccasins (1-2) at Chattanooga, Tenn.

Michigan led by as many as 14 points twice before Tennessee Chattanooga pulled to within 72-69 with a little more than two minutes to play.

But the Moccasins lost their opportunity to pull even with a series of turnovers.

No. 18 Michigan State 85, Louisville 71--Eric Snow had 19 points and 10 assists, and Shawn Respert scored 24 points to lead the Spartans (2-0) over the Cardinals (1-3) at East Lansing, Mich.

The victory was No. 400 for Coach Judd Heathcote.

No. 19 Georgetown 74, DePaul 68--Freshman guard Allen Iverson scored 16 of his 31 points in the last seven minutes to help the Hoyas (2-1) overpower the Blue Demons (1-1) at Landover, Md.

Tom Kleinschmidt led DePaul with 32 points.

No. 20 Georgia Tech 100, East Carolina 74--Travis Best scored 32 points and James Forrest 28 as the Yellow Jackets (4-0) romped past the Pirates (2-1) at Atlanta.

Best and Forrest each made 12 of 18 shots.

No. 22 Syracuse 89, Davidson 66--Tournament most valuable player John Wallace scored 17 points to lead the Orangemen (3-1) over the Wildcats (2-2) in the championship game of the Carrier Classic at Syracuse.

No. 23 Virginia 94, Towson State 66--Junior Burrough had 18 points and seven rebounds to help the Cavaliers (3-1) rout the Tigers (1-2) at Charlottesville, Va.

OTHER GAMES

Kurt Thomas scored a career-high 45 points and Texas Christian (2-0), taking well to the new style of run-and-gun Coach Billy Tubbs, set a school record for points for the second consecutive game in a 120-105 victory over Illinois Chicago (0-2) at Ft. Worth. . . . Doug Harris scored 23 points to lead San Diego (2-1) to a 90-76 victory over Notre Dame (2-1) at San Diego.