After Odom Gets Tough, Wake Forest Does Same

Maybe Wake Forest’s mild-mannered Coach Dave Odom should have resorted to tough-guy tactics a little sooner.

The Demon Deacons, responding to what Odom and his players all said was his most pointed tongue-lashing in years, ended a losing streak at five games with an 85-72 victory over No. 4-ranked Maryland on Sunday at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The victory came three days after Wake Forest blew a second-half lead and lost at North Carolina State. Odom gathered his players for a team meeting upon their return to campus, and let them know how displeased he was with their effort.

“I kicked them harder after the N.C. State game than they’ve been kicked all year long,” Odom said. “And they responded.”

The Demon Deacons, 12-9 and 3-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, scored the game’s first 10 points and led by as many as 22 points in the second half.

“Coach Odom really got to us,” sophomore guard Robert O’Kelley said of the outburst late Thursday night. “That was the hardest I’ve ever seen him get on us. But we realized as a team that we needed to make some decisions. Coach Odom had taken us about as far as he could.”

O’Kelley had a career-high 32 points--one better than his previous best.

Maryland (19-3, 7-2) shot a season-low 36% in having its win streak end at six.

No. 10 North Carolina 75, Georgia Tech 66--Kris Lang had 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels (18-5, 6-3 in the ACC) won without their starting guards at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Point guard Ed Cota missed the game after suffering a strained calf muscle in the second half of North Carolina’s 89-77 loss at Duke on Wednesday and joined Jason Capel on the bench. Capel is sidelined indefinitely with mononucleosis.

Max Owens and Ronald Curry--the freshman replacements for Capel and Cota--had 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Jason Collier had 19 points for Georgia Tech (13-8, 4-5).

No. 20 Indiana 98, Penn St 95--A.J. Guyton scored 33 points, including a decisive three-point basket with five seconds left in the second overtime, to lead the Hoosiers (17-7, 4-5 in the Big Ten) at State College, Pa.

Guyton scored 11 points in the two overtimes, also making a three-point shot to send the game into the second extra period. Luke Recker had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana, including a put-back for the final points of regulation with one second left.

Dan Earl had a career-high 28 points for Penn State (10-9, 2-7) and Calvin Booth had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

WOMEN

Chamique Holdsclaw scored 24 points and No. 1 Tennessee (19-1, 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference) shot 61% in an 87-73 victory over No. 23 Alabama (12-7, 2-5) at Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Ukari Figgs had a season-high 27 points as No. 2 Purdue (19-1, 11-0 in the Big Ten) was an 80-66 winner over Michigan State (11-10, 5-6) at East Lansing, Mich. . . . No. 4 Georgia (18-3) lost its second SEC game in a row, 78-72 to Mississippi State at Starkville, Miss. . . . Freshman Keirsten Walters made all five of her three-point shots and scored a career-high 17 points for No. 5 Connecticut (18-3, 11-1 in the Big East) in a 79-43 victory over Pittsburgh (8-11, 3-8) at Storrs, Conn. . . . Tere Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 11 Virginia Tech (19-1, 9-1 in the Atlantic 10) to a 68-60 victory at Dayton (9-10, 4-5). . . . Mery Andrade scored 21 points for No. 12 Old Dominion (16-3, 10-0 in the Colonial Athletic Assn.) in an 81-45 victory over George Mason (9-11, 6-4) at Norfolk, Va. . . . Juana Brown scored 29 points as No. 14 North Carolina (21-3, 8-3 in the ACC) was an 88-66 winner over Wake Forest (6-14, 2-8) at Chapel Hill, N.C. . . . No. 15 Clemson (17-4, 7-4 in the ACC) scored only 12 points in a 23-minute span covering the first and second halves in a 75-55 loss to No. 19 Virginia (15-5, 8-2) at Charlottesville, Va. . . . No. 17 Auburn (16-4) was a 63-61 loser in overtime to Louisiana State in an SEC game at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Madinah Slaise had 24 points and 10 rebounds for Cincinnati (15-6, 8-3 in Conference USA) in a 70-51 victory over No. 18 Tulane (17-4, 8-3) at New Orleans. . . . No. 19 Ohio State (14-6, 7-3 in the Big Ten) shot 59% in a 76-58 victory over Indiana (13-11, 2-8) at Columbus, Ohio. . . . No. 21 Penn State (16-5, 8-3 in the Big Ten) had five players score in double figures in an 88-64 victory over Iowa (8-12, 3-7) at Iowa City. . . . No. 22 Boston College (17-3) was a 64-60 winner over St. John’s in a Big East game at New York. . . . No. 24 Kansas (16-6) posted a 66-45 victory over Kansas State in a Big 12 game at Manhattan, Kan.