A Bad Turn of Luck for North Carolina

After several close losses, North Carolina State finally got some good luck. After two big comebacks, North Carolina’s luck finally ran out.

North Carolina State built a 19-point lead early in the second half, then held off No. 8 North Carolina for a 78-75 Atlantic Coast Conference victory Saturday at Raleigh, N.C. The Tar Heels had rallied from deficits of 18 and 17 points to beat Wake Forest and Duke in their previous two games.

Center Todd Fuller capped the Wolfpack’s 16-for-18 free-throw shooting by making two with 9.9 seconds to play for what would be the game’s final points.

Guard Shammond Williams, who had made both of his previous three-point shots, missed a shot from the deep left corner with two defenders on him as time ran out, setting off a raucous celebration that spilled onto the court and the ice-covered streets outside Reynolds Coliseum.

“I had a good look at the basket. By the time I got it up, I had [two] defenders in my face,” Williams said. “I should have hit the basket but . . . I don’t think we should have even had to take a last-second shot.”

Fuller finished with 24 points for North Carolina State (13-8, 3-6), which had lost five ACC games by five or fewer points but was beaten 96-72 at North Carolina on Jan. 4.

North Carolina (16-5, 7-2) was led by freshman forward Antawn Jamison, who had 18 points but had to sit out several minutes of the first half after he collided head-on with teammate Serge Zwikker.

No. 2 Kentucky 77, Florida 63--The Wildcats (18-1, 8-0) were lethargic in the Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky., but still managed their 17th victory in a row.

Kentucky shot 46%, missing 14 of 18 three-point shots, yet maintained leads between 13 and 22 points in the final 14 minutes. The Wildcats converted 21 turnovers into 24 points.

Center Dametri Hill had a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds for Florida (9-10, 4-5).

No. 4 Connecticut 77, St. John’s 63--Guard Ray Allen made six of nine three-point shots and scored 29 points as the Huskies (21-1, 11-0) extended their winning streak to 20 games in a Big East Conference game at Madison Square Garden.

St. John’s (8-10, 2-8) lost for the fifth time in its last six games--with the only victory coming against Georgetown last Saturday at the Garden. The Red Storm, which got 16 points from guard Felipe Lopez, has lost seven in a row to Connecticut.

No. 6 Villanova 88, Pittsburgh 55--Guard Kerry Kittles scored 31 points to become the Wildcats’ No. 3 all-time scorer (2,050) in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

Villanova, 18-3, 9-2 in the Big East, made nine of its first 14 shots and all of its first 14 free throws of the second half to pull away to its 14th home-court victory in a row. Pittsburgh (9-9, 4-6) lost for the sixth time in its last seven games.

Forward Eric Eberz left the game with 4:16 remaining in the first half and did not return after his legs were knocked from under him while he was going up for a rebound. Eberz had averaged 24 points in his last three games against Pittsburgh, which was called for 14 fouls in a rugged first half.

No. 7 Utah 74, New Mexico 58--Forward Keith Van Horn had 30 points and nine rebounds as the Utes (18-3, 10-1) increased their win streak to 10 in a Western Athletic Conference game at Salt Lake City.

New Mexico’s standout freshman, Kenny Thomas, was held to eight points--half his average in the WAC. The Lobos (17-4, 7-4) have lost six in a row to Utah.

No. 9 Georgetown 70, Notre Dame 53--Guard Allen Iverson scored 27 points, including an awkward three-point basket to end the first half that put the Hoyas (19-3, 9-2) in command of the Big East game at Landover, Md.

Iverson took a running 40-foot shot that slammed against the backboard, bounced around the rim and fell through the net, giving Georgetown a 15-point lead as the first-half buzzer sounded.

Notre Dame (7-11, 2-9) shot 37% and made one of 14 three-point shots.

Freshman center Phil Hickey, whose fear of flying has caused him to miss two road games, made the trip from South Bend, Ind., to Landover by car. He had seven points.

No. 10 Penn State 95, No. 16 Iowa 87--The Nittany Lions (16-2, 7-2), the nation’s best three-point shooting team, made 13 of 17 but needed the inside scoring of forward Matt Gaudio for an overtime victory at Iowa City, Iowa.

Gaudio scored 12 of Penn State’s final 15 points, including eight in overtime. Guard Pete Lisicky and forward Glenn Sekunda each had 20 points and combined for nine-of-11 three-point shooting for the Big Ten co-leading Nittany Lions.

Iowa (15-6, 4-5) had rallied from a nine-point deficit with eight minutes left to tie the game in regulation, 82-82, on guard Andre Woolridge’s layup with 2.8 seconds to play. The Hawkeyes missed shots on their final three possessions in overtime.

Iowa, which lost for the first time in 11 home games, had four double-figure scorers, led by forward Jess Settles (23 points).

Louisville 74, No. 11 Memphis 56--The Tigers (16-4, 7-2) shot 27%, missing 23 of 28 three-point shots, in a Conference USA game at Louisville, Ky.

Forward Brian Kiser scored eight of his 18 points in a 12-0 run that helped give Louisville (16-6, 7-1) a double-digit lead late in the first half that it never relinquished. The Cardinals have won six consecutive games.

Memphis center Lorenzen Wright had 13 points, six below his average.

No. 13 Virginia Tech 72, Rhode Island 66--Guard Damon Watlington had a game-high 23 points and made two key plays in overtime for the Hokies (16-2, 8-1) in the Atlantic 10 Conference game at South Kingstown, R.I.

Watlington made his fifth three-point shot of the game to give Virginia Tech the lead for good in overtime, then blocked a shot by Rhode Island’s leading scorer, Tyson Wheeler, with 20 seconds left that the Hokies converted into a breakaway basket.

Virginia Tech forward Ace Custis, the Atlantic 10’s leading rebounder, had 16 rebounds and 20 points. Michael Andersen, a 7-foot center from Denmark, had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Rhode Island (12-7, 4-4).

No. 15 Texas Tech 79, Rice 57--Forward Jason Sasser had 27 points as the Red Raiders (18-1, 7-0) tied a school record with their 11th victory in a row in the Southwest Conference game at Houston.

Guard Tommy McGhee had 22 points for Rice (11-8, 3-4), whose coach, Willis Wilson, was ejected after a second technical foul with nine minutes left in the game.

No. 17 Purdue 56, Michigan State 51--The Boilermakers (17-4, 7-2) held the Spartans (12-9, 6-3) without a field goal in a nine-minute second-half stretch to retain a share of the Big Ten lead at West Lafayette, Ind.

Michigan State had six turnovers and nine missed shots in the stretch in which Purdue turned a four-point deficit into an eight-point lead with less than four minutes left.

Guard Chad Austin led Purdue with 17 points. Michigan State got only five points from forward Quinton Brooks, one of the Big Ten’s top scorers.

No. 20 Michigan 77, Ohio State 58--The Wolverines (15-7, 5-4) ended a Big Ten losing streak at three games with help from the error-prone Buckeyes (9-9, 2-7) at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State, which is averaging 20.8 turnovers in Big Ten play, had 15 by halftime and finished with 26.

No. 21 Boston College 84, West Virginia 63--Forward Danya Abrams led the Eagles’ inside dominance against the Mountaineers’ taller front line with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va. The home-court loss was West Virginia’s worst in 41 years.

Boston College (13-5, 6-4) had a 59-38 rebounding edge, with the 6-7, 265-pound Abrams outplaying West Virginia’s 6-11 twin towers Gordon Malone and Sandro Varejao, who had a combined 20 points and nine rebounds. The Mountaineers (8-11, 3-8 and 1-6 against nationally ranked teams) shot 33%.

No. 23 Eastern Michigan 62, Akron 53--The Eagles’ first appearance in the Top 25 figures to be short-lived as they struggled to a home-court victory over the Mid-American Conference doormat Zips, who start five freshmen.

Eastern Michigan (16-2, 9-1) lost to a second-tier MAC team, Ohio, on Wednesday and couldn’t put away Akron (3-15, 0-10 and a school-record 14 consecutive losses) until it made an 11-0 run in the final minutes.

Duke 83, No. 24 Clemson 53--The Blue Devils (13-8, 4-5), who had blown a 15-point second-half lead in a loss to the Tigers earlier this season, were in control throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

Clemson (13-5, 4-5) missed 12 of its first 14 shots to fall behind by 20 points 13 1/2 minutes into the game and finished with 29% shooting. The Tigers are 0-4 in ACC road games.

Maryland 88, No. 25 Georgia Tech 74--The Terrapins (11-7, 4-4) held the Yellow Jackets (13-10, 6-3) to one basket in a 10-minute stretch of the second half of the ACC game at College Park, Md.

Forward Exree Hipp, whose extended shooting slump has been one of the reasons for Maryland’s disappointing record, matched his season-high with 15 points. The Terrapins forced 19 turnovers and committed only six.

Guard Stephon Marbury had 26 points for Georgia Tech, which made nine of 24 second-half shots.

OTHER GAMES

Colgate’s Adonal Foyle, one of the nation’s top centers, suffered a concussion when his head hit the backboard after he was intentionally fouled on a breakaway dunk in the Red Raiders’ 101-84 Colonial Conference victory over Siena. Foyle was held overnight in a Hamilton, N.Y., hospital for observation. The 6-10 sophomore is nationally ranked in blocked shots (second at 5.8) and rebounds (fourth at 12.4) and is averaging 20.2 points. He had 27 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots before leaving Saturday’s game with four minutes left. . . . Forward Darnell Robinson, in his second game back since sitting out 13 because of a broken left foot, made nine of 12 shots and had 20 points as Arkansas (14-6, 6-2) was an 81-69 winner over South Carolina (12-6, 5-4) in a Southeastern Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark. . . . Georgia (12-7, 3-6) ended an SEC slide at three games as forward Carlos Strong had 23 points and nine rebounds in a 68-49 victory over Tennessee (10-9, 3-6) at Athens, Ga.

Leading scorer Jaron Boone sat out Nebraska’s 75-65 home-court Big Eight Conference loss to Iowa State (16-4, 5-1) next to Cornhusker Coach Danny Nee the entire game. Boone, averaging 15.9 points, had a locker-room confrontation with Nee at halftime of Wednesday’s loss to Kansas State and did not play the second half. Nee said he will reinstate Boone for Wednesday’s game at Missouri. Nebraska is 15-7 and 3-4. . . . Forward Ryan Minor had 30 points and 10 rebounds and Oklahoma (12-8, 3-4) committed only two turnovers in recording its most-lopsided victory over Missouri (13-8, 3-4), a 104-68 Big Eight decision at Norman, Okla. The game was the 1,000th as a college head coach for Missouri’s Norm Stewart, making him the 10th coach in NCAA history to reach that figure. He has a record of 673-327 in 35 years at Missouri and Northern Iowa. . . . Guard Kiwane Garris missed a layup as time ran out, allowing Wisconsin (13-8, 5-4) to record a 57-56 Big Ten Conference victory over Illinois (14-7, 3-6)--its first at Champaign, Ill., since 1981. Guard Hennessy Aurianta, a freshman from Quebec, accounted for the game’s last four points, which were his only points. Wisconsin Coach Dick Bennett missed the game to attend the funeral of his brother.

Guard Duane Rogers (16 points) was one of four double-figure scorers for Utah State (12-10, 6-4) in a 72-62 Big West victory over Nevada (13-7, 6-4) at Logan, Utah. . . . Santa Clara (14-6, 5-3) scored the game’s first 13 points but San Diego (9-10, 3-5) rallied behind reserve Andre Speech (19 points) for a 74-63 home-court West Coast Conference victory. Santa Clara guard Steve Nash had 15 points but made only five of 20 shots. . . . M.J. Nodilo made two three-point shots in the final 1:10 of regulation and two more in overtime as San Francisco (12-8, 5-3) recorded a 73-67 home-court WCC victory over St. Mary’s (10-10, 3-5). . . . Forward Kendric Brooks scored 22 points to lead Fresno State (14-7, 8-3) to a 74-70 home-court Western Athletic Conference victory over Wyoming (11-10, 5-6). . . . Forward Kareem Anderson made 13 of 16 shots and had a career-high 34 points as San Diego State (12-7, 6-4) outlasted Hawaii (5-13, 2-8) for a 103-94 home-court WAC victory.