Hot-Shooting Dupay Leads No. 5 Florida

Teddy Dupay’s shooting touch and Billy Donovan’s temper both caught fire Thursday night.

Behind Dupay’s career-high 28 points, No. 5 Florida defeated Tulane, 103-85, in the Sugar Bowl Classic. The Gators (9-1) won their sixth consecutive game and never were in jeopardy of losing.

Still, Donovan ripped his team for what he said was a lackluster effort.

“In my opinion, we are the most overrated fifth-ranked team in the nation,” said Donovan, whose Gators made it into the Top 5 this week for the first time in program history.

“I don’t even think we should be in the Top 20. I’m not saying that just based on today’s performance. It’s based on the entire year.”

Surely Tulane (5-5) would beg to differ, and Dupay was a big reason for it.

He made seven three-point baskets to match his career high from long range. He shot eight for 14 overall and made more than 50% of his shots for the first time in six games.

He was on fire and knew it--pumping his fists after one of the early three-pointers, which led Donovan to yell from the bench, “Dupay, stop celebrating and get in the press.”

That was the first sign of frustration from the coach, who also slammed a clipboard after calling a timeout when Florida’s 23-point lead dropped to 12 midway through the second half.

“A win is a win,” Dupay said. “We’re satisfied, but we always want to play better.”

Florida’s press forced 25 turnovers, but that didn’t satisfy Donovan, either. He was convinced Florida would have lost had it not hit a season-high 13 three-pointers and shot 57% from the field in the first half.

“If we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well from the three-point line, they would have absolutely destroyed us,” Donovan said. “They outplayed us, they outhustled us, they outworked us.”

Brent Wright scored 20 points for Florida and Udonis Haslem added 15, as the Gators effectively mixed their inside and outside games. Not even the hot shooting Linton Johnson, who went 10 for 13 to lead Tulane with 22 points, could save his team.

No. 8 Virginia 99, Bucknell 49--Travis Watson had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers at Charlottesville, Va.

Virginia (9-0) also got 13 points from Adam Hall and 12 from Chris Williams as the Cavaliers continued their best start in eight years.

The Bison (5-5) shot 33.3% from the field and committed 27 turnovers, which the Cavaliers converted into 40 points. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Bison 52-36.

Virginia led 45-18 at halftime and went on a 10-1 run capped by a free throw by Hall to take a 75-35 lead midway through the second half.

No. 10 Connecticut 67, Stony Brook 58--Tony Robertson had 14 points as the Huskies (11-1) held off the hot-shooting Seawolves (5-6) at Hartford, Conn.

Connecticut needed a 12-0 run over the final four minutes to pull away.

No. 12 Arizona 72, Butler 60--Loren Woods had 25 points, including six in the Wildcats’ closing 10-0 run, as Arizona (7-3) won its 31st consecutive game in the Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic at Tuscon, Ariz.

Michael Wright had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jason Gardner scored 13 points for the Wildcats.

No. 15 Syracuse 61, Columbia 47--Preston Shumpert scored 20 points for the Orangemen, including seven consecutive in a second-half spurt that broke open the game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Damone Brown had 12 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse (10-1).

No. 19 Cincinnati 65, North Carolina Wilmington 55--Jamaal Davis and Leonard Stokes each had 16 points to lead the Bearcats (9-2), who trailed by four at halftime, at Cincinnati.

No. 23 Iowa 69, Detroit Mercy 68--Luke Recker hit a three-pointer with 1:47 left and Glen Worley added two free throws a minute later and the Hawkeyes (10-1) escaped with the victory in the opening round of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

OTHER GAMES

UC Irvine 56, Washington 55--Sean Jackson hit a three-pointer with 1:02 remaining to put the Anteaters (7-2) ahead, and UC Irvine held on for a victory at Seattle.

Washington (6-5) failed to convert on either of two chances to win in the final seconds. Bryan Brown made only one of three throw attempts with 2.4 seconds remaining, then Will Perkins rebounded Brown’s final miss, but his desperation shot was off the mark.

Louisiana State 78, Oregon State 68--Collis Temple III tied his career high with 22 points and Torris Bright added 15 off the bench as Tigers (8-1) defeated the Beavers (6-6) in the Sugar Bowl Classic at New Orleans.

Deaundra Tanner led the Oregon State with 25 points on eight-for-15 shooting. But Oregon State, which has lost six of its last eight, couldn’t get any closer than 46-44 early in the second half.

Indiana 103, Northeastern 65--The Hoosiers (8-5) scored the game’s first seven points and continued to pull away as freshman Andre Owens, making only his second start of the season, had 20 points and was one of five players in double figures in the Hoosier Classic at Indianapolis.

Nevada Las Vegas 81, Monmouth 70--Trevor Diggs scored a career-high 34 points and the Rebels (6-5) overcame a sluggish first half at Las Vegas to defeat Monmouth (6-3).

Fresno State 84, South Carolina State 59--Melvin Ely had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (10-2) to a victory over South Carolina State (4-8) at Fresno.

WOMEN

No. 4 Georgia 107, Georgia State 75--Kelly Miller scored 24 points and Deanna Nolan added 22 at Atlanta as the Bulldogs (10-2) stretched their winning streak to eight games.

No. 7 Rutgers 75, Ohio 49--Tammy Sutton-Brown had a season-high 22 points as the Scarlet Knights (8-1) won in the first round of the State Farm Classic at Gainesville, Fla.

No. 8 Purdue 70, Wisconsin 58--Kelly Komara scored 12 points and Katie Douglas added 11 as the Boilermakers (11-3) defeated the Badgers (5-4) in their Big Ten Opener at Madison, Wis.

No. 10 Texas Tech 63, Rice 56--Plenette Pierson scored 17 points as the Red Raiders (9-1) defeated the Owls (8-3) at Houston.

No. 11 Penn State 91, Minnesota 73--Maren Walseth scored 21 points and Lisa Shepherd added 20 as the Nittany Lions (9-3) defeated the Gophers (7-4) in their Big Ten opener at State College, Pa.

No. 12 North Carolina State 70, George Washington 48--Carisse Moody scored 15 points and the Wolfpack (9-1) forced 27 turnovers in handing the Colonials (6-5) a loss at Washington.

No. 13 Louisiana State 94, Delaware State 32--Roneeka Jodges scored 15 points and Marie Ferdinand added 14 for the Tigers (8-3) at Baton Rouge, La.

No. 15 Texas 70, Texas Christian 49--Stacy Stephens had 20 points and 14 rebounds for her second career double-double as the Longhorns (12-2) defeated the Horned Frogs at Fort Worth, Texas.

No. 19 Florida 100, Tennessee State 54--Naomi Mobley had 18 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Gators (10-1) to a victory in the first round of the State Farm Classic at Gainesville, Fla.

No. 20 Clemson 73, Wofford 63--Chrissy Floyd scored 20 points and Erin Batth had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Tigers (9-2) won at Clemson, S.C.

No. 23 Utah 79, Southern Methodist 40--Lori Red-Castagnetto had 14 points as the Utes (11-0) knocked off the Mustangs (5-5) at Salt Lake City.