Tar Heels in Seventh Heaven After Victory

After losing its season opener to Arizona, No. 12 North Carolina won its seventh consecutive game, 83-69, over Massachusetts on Friday night in the Jimmy V Classic at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Antawn Jamison scored 21 points and Serge Zwikker had 17 for the Tar Heels (7-1), who took a 10-1 lead. It took Massachusetts (3-6) 6 minutes 23 seconds to make a shot.

North Carolina had a 20-point lead twice in the first half, the second time at 42-22 with 1:38 left. The Minutemen closed the half with a 7-2 run to pull to within 44-29.

Charlton Clarke, who led Massachusetts with 20 points, brought the Minutemen to within 66-56 with 6:18 to play, but Zwikker scored on a short jumper and grabbed two defensive rebounds to keep the lead in double figures.

The Tar Heels made one shot over the final 3 1/2 minutes, but they made 10 of 14 free throws down the stretch to keep the Minutemen at bay.

In the first game of the doubleheader, California defeated Penn State, 76-63.

Ed Gray led Cal (6-2) in scoring for the seventh time this season with 25 points. He also had eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Penn State (5-2) shot 34%, the third game in a row it has been under 40%.

No. 8 Clemson 89, Wofford 49--Greg Buckner scored 11 points, including seven in a decisive first-half run, to lead the Tigers (9-1) at Clemson, S.C.

Since losing to No. 16 Minnesota in the final of the San Juan Shootout on Nov. 30, the Tigers (9-1) have rolled past five opponents, including Virginia and South Carolina, by an average of 24 points.

Against Wofford (3-5), in its second year at Division I, Buckner keyed Clemson’s 30-6 run, which turned a close game into a runaway.

Five Tigers finished in double figures, led by Terrell McIntyre with 14 points and freshman Vincent Whitt with 13.

Wofford, shooting 33% this season, scored only one basket during nearly nine minutes of the half.

OTHER GAMES

Reserve Brady Trenkle scored 17 points, including 12 on three-point shots, as San Diego State (6-2) rolled to a 98-81 victory over Southern California College (8-3) at San Diego. . . . Jeremy Veal scored 18 of his 28 points in the second half to lead Arizona State (6-2) to an 83-69 victory over Jackson State (2-7) at Tempe, Ariz. . . . Derrick Hart missed one three-pointer near the end of overtime but made one at the buzzer to give Texas A&M; (6-1) a 74-73 victory over Missouri-Kansas City (3-5) at Kansas City. . . . Senior guard Kenya Wilkins made a 10-foot jump shot with 18 seconds left and added an insurance free throw to lift unbeaten Oregon (7-0) to a 61-58 victory over Boise State (2-5) at Boise. . . . Hakeem Ward scored 20 points as San Francisco (4-4), limited to only eight players because of injuries, held on for a 76-62 victory over Southern (3-3) at San Francisco. . . .

Carlos Williams scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Alabama Birmingham (7-3) defeated Stephen F. Austin (2-5), 70-55, in the first round of the UAB Classic at Birmingham. . . . William Keys made four three-pointers and finished with 17 points, leading Northeastern Illinois (6-2) to a 78-63 victory over Oregon State (3-4) at Chicago. . . . Adonal Foyle moved past David Robinson into 12th place on the NCAA’s all-time shot block list in Colgate’s 71-62 loss to Harvard (5-3) at Hamilton, N.Y. Foyle, who had a career-high 38 points and 18 rebounds, blocked seven shots to raise his total to 353.

College Basketball Notes

The attorney for former New Mexico State assistant Gar Forman said the NCAA has cleared Forman of any wrongdoing in an academic fraud case which resulted in the Aggies’ program being placed on three years probation. The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee announced it was voiding a finding that Forman, now an assistant coach at Iowa State, had violated the principles of institutional control while an assistant at New Mexico State. . . . Saying Brigham Young had been “my life, my love, my passion,” a bitter Roger Reid finally spoke out about his abrupt firing as the school’s basketball coach. “This has been devastating, and really, really unfair,” Reid told the Salt Lake Tribune, three days after officials of the Mormon Church-owned school abruptly announced his termination. On Tuesday, citing sagging attendance, BYU athletic director Rondo Fehlberg said Reid’s 19-year coaching relationship with the Cougars--seven as head coach, 12 as an assistant--was at an end. . . . Faced with its worst start and talk of a player revolt, Jacksonville (0-6) replaced George Scholz as coach. Scholz will be replaced by assistant Butch Harvey, who joined the Dolphins two years ago after 12 years as coach at Florida Community College of Jacksonville.