Tar Heels Rally Again for Victory

Dante Calabria’s tap-in with 6.5 seconds to play helped No. 8 North Carolina cap its second consecutive comeback from a double-digit deficit in a 73-72 victory over Duke on Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina (16-4 overall and 7-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from an 17-point deficit, nearly mirroring the 18-point comeback it staged against Wake Forest last week.

Duke fell to 12-8 and 3-5.

No. 3 Kansas 84, Oklahoma State 66--Billy Thomas hit three three-pointers during Kansas’ take-charge run in the first half at Lawrence, Kan., and the Jayhawks (17-1, 5-0) rolled past Oklahoma State (10-7, 0-5) in Big Eight action, capping their first unbeaten January (10-0) in 25 years.

No. 4 Connecticut 77, Rutgers 59--Ray Allen and Doron Sheffer scored 25 points apiece as the Huskies (20-1, 10-0) pulled away from the stubborn Knights (5-12, 2-7) for a Big East victory at Piscataway, N.J., running their school-record winning streak to 19.

No. 5 Cincinnati 78, North Carolina Charlotte 64--Danny Fortson had 23 points and 13 rebounds in leading the Bearcats (15-1, 5-1) to a Conference USA victory over the 49ers (10-8, 4-3).

No. 9 Georgetown 91, West Virginia 67--Allen Iverson led four Georgetown players in double figures with 18 points as the Hoyas (18-3, 8-2) routed the Mountaineers (8-10, 3-7) in a Big East game at Landover, Md.

Michigan State 61, No. 10 Penn State 58--Quinton Brooks scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half at East Lansing, Mich., and the Spartans (12-8, 6-2) grabbed a three-way share of first place in the Big Ten along with the the Nittany Lions (15-2, 6-2) and Purdue.

No. 12 Wake Forest 66, North Carolina State 62--Ricky Peral’s key three-point shot with 3:55 left helped the Demon Deacons (14-3, 6-2) to an ACC victory over the Wolfpack (12-8, 2-6) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

No. 13 Virginia Tech 74, North Carolina-Greensboro 48--Ace Custic had 15 points and the Hokies (15-2) scored 17 of the first 21 points and cruised past the Spartans (13-5) for their 15th consecutive home victory.

No. 15 Texas Tech 78, Oral Roberts 74--Koy Smith had 27 points as the Red Raiders (17-1) downed the Golden Eagles (8-8) at Tulsa, Okla.

No. 17 Purdue 80, No. 20 Michigan 59--Chad Austin scored 23 points to help carry the Boilermakers (16-4, 6-2) past the Wolverines (15-6, 4-4) in Big Ten play at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Vanderbilt 76, No. 22 Auburn 62--Drew Maddux led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points, and the Commodores (14-7, 4-4) held high-scoring Lance Weems to five points in an SEC victory over the Tigers (15-5, 3-4) at Nashville.

Ohio 82, No. 23 Eastern Michigan 73--Geno Ford scored 28 points, as the Bobcats (10-10, 5-4) ended winning streak of eight games for the Eagles (15-2, 8-1) at Athens, Ohio.