No. 1 Tar Heels Upended by Wolfpack

North Carolina State got its share of memorable performances Saturday in an 86-72 upset of top-ranked North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina State, a 21-point underdog, got a career-high 31 points from C.C. Harrison, 16 points and seven steals from fellow senior Ishua Benjamin and Wolfpack players had ice in their veins down the stretch, making 25 consecutive free throws.

“N.C. State played a perfect game, what else can you say,” North Carolina forward Antawn Jamison said. “Usually, an N.C. State team will get rattled and things will turn around, but they did a terrific job.”

Said Tar Heel point guard Ed Cota: “I expected to just come out and beat this team. I guess this gets us back to reality. You can’t take any team for granted.”

The Wolfpack (15-11, 5-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated the Tar Heels while they were No. 1 for the second time in four seasons; North Carolina State won, 80-70, on Jan. 4, 1995, in Reynolds Coliseum at Raleigh, N.C.

The Wolfpack was deadly from the foul line, making 27 of 28 shots in the second half as North Carolina (26-2, 12-2), the nation’s No. 1 shooting team, couldn’t buy a basket and was beaten on the boards in losing only its second ACC game in the last 25.

No. 4 Kansas 71, Iowa State 54--Paul Pierce pulled Kansas out of a first-half deep freeze and sparked a victory over Iowa State, clinching the Jayhawks’ second consecutive Big 12 championship, at Lawrence, Kan.

Pierce, held to two points in Kansas’ mistake-filled first half, finished with 19 the Jayhawks salted away their 59th consecutive home court victory with a 17-4 run midway through the second half.

Freshman Marcus Fizernsational scored 13 points for Iowa State (12-15, 5-9) in a first half that ended with Kansas, a 22-point favorite, clinging to a one-point lead.

Kansas (29-3, 13-1) is 28-2 in conference games since the Big 12 was formed.

Penn State 74, No. 5 Purdue 63--Pete Lisicky scored 15 of his 19 points on perfect shooting from behind the three-point line at State College, Pa., as Penn State defeated a top-five team for the first time since Jan. 14, 1948, when it beat No. 5 West Virginia, 50-46.

The Nittany Lions withstood an early second-half challenge by the Boilermakers (22-6, 10-4 Big Ten), who came back from an 11-point deficit to tie the score with 13:20 left.

Chad Austin scored 23 points for the Boilermakers, who lost back-to-back games for the second time this season. Iowa had ended their seven-game winning streak Wednesday.

Penn State (14-12, 7-7) won its 11th game at home as Jarrett Stephens scored 17 points and Calvin Booth had five blocks to set a school career record with 103.

No. 6 Utah 55, Air Force 41--Andre Miller scored 20 points and Utah held Air Force scoreless for the final 4:20 at Salt Lake City.

After Jarmica Reese scored five consecutive points for Air Force (9-14 overall, 2-10 Western Athletic Conference) to cut Utah’s lead to 37-32, Miller took over.

Miller had five points to put the Utes (22-2, 9-2) ahead 46-36 with 4:30 remaining. He scored 16 points in the second half.

Michael Doleac had eight points, six rebounds and four blocks for the Utes.

Reese led the Falcons with 12 points. Dylan Pope had seven for Air Force, which shot 32% from the field.

No. 7 Connecticut 83, Villanova 76--Richard Hamilton scored 29 points and Connecticut withstood Villanova’s late rally at Philadelphia.

Connecticut (24-4, 13-3 Big East) led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but had its lead cut to 79-76 with 47 seconds left. The Huskies held on for their eighth victory in nine games.

Villanova (10-15, 7-9) lost its third in row.

Kevin Freeman added 21 points and Khalid El-Amin had 15 for Connecticut.

Villanova’s John Celestand matched the career-high 24 points he scored in Monday’s loss to Syracuse. Malik Allen had 20 points, including 10 in a row at one point.

No. 9 Princeton 74, Dartmouth 53--Steve Goodrich had 17 points and Brian Earl scored all of his 12 points in the second half as Princeton pulled away at Princeton, N.J.

Princeton (23-1, 11-0 Ivy League) extended its winning streak to 16 games by beating Dartmouth (6-18, 3-9) for the seventh consecutive time.

The Tigers moved within two games of winning their third consecutive league title. They can clinch Friday if they defeat Columbia and Pennsylvania loses to Cornell.

Shaun Gee had 21 points for Dartmouth, which led the entire first half.

No. 13 South Carolina 79, Florida 74--BJ McKie scored 31 points and was involved in a heated second-half exchange as South Carolina defeated Florida at Gainesville, Fla.

With the Gamecocks pulling away, McKie elbowed Florida’s Ben Wright after a Gators’ basket with 13:43 left. McKie was called for a foul, and both teams appeared ready to fight.

Melvin Watson and LeRon Williams each scored 10 points for South Carolina (20-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference). Eddie Shannon had 22 points to lead Florida (13-11, 6-8).

No. 14 Michigan State 56, Wisconsin 47--Mateen Cleaves, benched for the first half as punishment for his arrest earlier in the week, scored 14 points and Michigan State rallied for a victory over Wisconsin to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten Conference championship at Madison, Wis.

Cleaves, a sophomore guard, and freshman forward Andre Hutson were benched for the first half by Coach Tom Izzo as part of their punishment for being arrested early Wednesday in East Lansing, Mich., on alcohol-related charges.

In their absence, the Spartans (20-5, 13-2) struggled in the first half against the ninth-place Badgers (11-16, 3-11). Sean Mason led the Badgers with 14 points.

No. 15 Mississippi 82, Mississippi State 78--Ansu Sesay had another big game against Mississippi State, scoring 25 points at Starkville, Miss., as Mississippi won its fifth in a row.

Four consecutive free throws by Sesay, the latter two with 5:41 left, put Ole Miss (19-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) ahead for good, 68-66. Keith Carter, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, then added a three-pointer and an 18-footer in the next minute to extend the margin to seven points.

Mississippi State (14-13, 3-11) got within 75-74 on a 12-footer by Horatio Webster with 2:35 left, but the Bulldogs managed only a free throw until Bart Hyche’s three-pointer with 7.8 seconds left.

No. 16 Arkansas 107, Auburn 83--Tarik Wallace made five of six three-point shots in the first half and his shooting was instrumental in a 13-0 run that helped Arkansas to a victory over Auburn at Fayetteville, Ark.

Wallace finished with a career-high 26 points, including a team-best eight for 10 from long range. The Razorbacks (22-5, 11-3 SEC) made 13 of their first 19 three-pointers.

No. 17 Cincinnati 75, DePaul 38--Kenyon Martin had career highs with 24 points, 23 rebounds and 10 blocks and was an intimidating force during a 27-point run that swept the Bearcats to victory at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati (21-5, 12-2 Conference USA) scored the last five points of the first half and the first 22 of the second to get its 15th consecutive victory over DePaul (7-20, 3-11).

Martin, a 6-foot-8 center, had 10 of Cincinnati’s 14 blocks, matching the school record shared by Rick Roberson and Jim Ard.

No. 18 Massachusetts 82, St. Joseph’s 79--Charlton Clarke made a three-point shot with three seconds left in regulation and then Lari Ketner capped a career day with five points in overtime at Amherst, Mass.

Ketner, a 6-10, 268-pound junior center, finished with 34 points, 23 after halftime, for the Minutemen (20-7, 12-2, Atlantic 10).

Rashid Bey led St. Joseph’s (9-15, 2-12) with 29 points, 10 assists and three steals.

No. 19 Texas Christian 95, No. 11 New Mexico 64--Lee Nailon scored 31 points and Mike Jones added 29 as Texas Christian rolled at Fort Worth.

The victory was the 13th in a row for the Horned Frogs (24-4, 12-0 WAC), while the Lobos (21-4, 11-1) saw their eight-game winning streak end.

Guard Royce Olney, the Lobos’ top three-point shooter, suffered a torn ligament in his right knee.

Rutgers 62, No. 21 Syracuse 58--Rob Hodgson scored 19 points and Rutgers posted its first victory at home over a ranked team since 1991 by defeating Syracuse at Piscataway, N.J.

The Scarlet Knights (12-13, 6-11 Big East) built a 21-point lead in the first half and then held on as Syracuse (20-6, 10-5) cut the margin to one point three times in the final minutes.

No. 25 Maryland 81, Georgia Tech 69--Laron Profit scored 19 points and Maryland clinched a third-place finish in the ACC with a victory over Georgia Tech at College Park, Md.

Obinna Ekezie scored 17 points as Maryland (16-9, 9-6) assured itself a winning league record. Sarunas Jasikevicius had 15 points for the Terrapins.

Freshman Dion Glover matched his career high with 29 points for Georgia Tech (17-10, 6-8).

OTHER GAMES

Charles Jones, the nation’s leading scorer, had 28 points as Long Island (19-9, 14-2) shot a season-best 63% from the field in a 112-92 victory over Monmouth (4-22, 3-13), at West Long Branch, N.J. . . . Robert O’Kelley scored 26 points and Wake Forest (14-11, 6-8 ACC) kept its postseason hopes alive with a 69-68 victory over Florida State (16-12, 5-10) at Winston-Salem, N.C. . . . Forward Omar Sneed scored 34 points to lead Memphis (14-10, 10-4 Conference USA) to a 93-75 victory over Louisville (10-18, 4-10) at Memphis, Tenn.