Martin Stands, Delivers for No. 1 Cincinnati

Center Kenyon Martin had a few words for his Cincinnati teammates at halftime Wednesday night.

“I told the team, ‘I’m not losing again,’ ” Martin said. “There is no way we’re not going back out there and win.’ ”

Martin made sure he was right, scoring 16 of his career-high 27 points in the second half as top-ranked Cincinnati rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat Tulane, 72-59, in New Orleans. Martin, a 6-foot-8 senior, also had 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and 20th of his career.

Since losing to Xavier of Ohio by two points Dec. 18, Cincinnati, 15-1 overall and 4-0 in Conference USA, has won each of its six games by at least 15 points.

The Bearcats used a full-court press in the second half, converting three turnovers into six points in the first minute. The Green Wave (10-4, 0-3) didn’t make a shot until three minutes had elapsed and finished seven for 26 for the half.

No. 6 Duke 82, Georgia Tech 57--Forward Shane Battier shook off a poor shooting first half to score 19 points and the Blue Devils (12-2, 3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) used a late 16-4 run to pull away from the Yellow Jackets (7-7, 0-2) and extend their win streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., to 43.

Battier missed six of seven shots in the first half, but scored 10 points during the run that turned an eight-point Duke lead into a 70-50 score with 4:38 left.

No. 8 Kansas 87, Kansas State 79--Center Eric Chenowith had 22 points and 17 rebounds as the Jayhawks (13-2, 2-0 in the Big 12) held off the Wildcats (8-5, 1-1) at Lawrence, Kan.

An 18-point Kansas’ lead had been cut to one at 79-78 with 1:41 left when Chenowith completed a three-point play.

Kansas State Coach Tom Asbury fell to 0-18 against Kansas’ Roy Williams, including three losses when he was at Pepperdine.

No. 10 Florida 82, No. 24 Louisiana State 57--Guard Justin Hamilton, one of their lesser-known members of Coach Billy Donovan’s latest stellar recruiting class, came off the bench to make six of nine shots and score 14 points for the Gators (13-2, 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference) at Gainesville, Fla.

Hamilton, a freshman averaging 12 minutes and 3.7 points, got increased playing time when leading scorer Mark Miller got into early foul trouble and No. 2 scorer Kenyan Weaks was slowed by flu. Miller and Weaks finished with a combined five points--23 less than their season average.

Louisiana State (12-3, 1-2) had trouble with Florida’s full-court pressure, committing 23 turnovers, and got only two points from leading scorer Stromile Swift--16 less than his average.

Vanderbilt 76, No. 12 Tennessee 73--Forward Dan Langhi had 31 points as the Commodores (11-2, 2-1) rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit at Nashville, Tenn., to beat a ranked team on the road for the first time in 32 games.

Langhi, the SEC’s leading scorer at 22.8 points a game, made 10 of 17 shots and seven of eight free throws, but it was center Greg LaPointe’s basket with 1:13 left that gave Vanderbilt the lead for good. Forward Vincent Yarlbrough missed a three-point shot at the buzzer for Tennessee (14-2, 2-1).

Wake Forest 66, No. 13 North Carolina 57--Guard Robert O’Kelley missed his first 11 shots but made six of his last seven to finish with 18 points--all in the final 14 minutes--as the Demon Deacons (11-4, 2-1 in the ACC) overcame a 10-point deficit at Winston-Salem, N.C.

North Carolina (11-4, 2-1) came into the game shooting an ACC-leading 51%, but slipped to 38% and had 18 turnovers. The Tar Heels play UCLA at Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday.

No. 15 Texas 78, Texas A&M; 51--The sluggish Longhorns (10-4, 2-0 in the Big 12) overcame 17% shooting the first half at College Station, Tex., to defeat the Aggies (4-9, 0-2) for the 13th consecutive time.

Texas returned home at 5 a.m. CST Tuesday after losing to No. 5 Connecticut at Hartford Monday night. The Longhorns still led 28-23 at halftime despite their poor shooting as Texas A&M; managed to make only five of 29 shots. The Aggies finished at 29%.

No. 19 Tulsa 75, Creighton 67--The Golden Hurricane (15-1) made 11 of 20 three-point shots and 20 of 24 free throws to turn back the Blue Jays (10-5) at Omaha, Neb. Both teams made 22 of 45 shots.

Tulsa has won 12 of the last 13 games against its former Missouri Valley Conference rival. This was the first game between the schools since Tulsa went to the Western Athletic Conference in 1996-97.

Marquette 69, No. 21 DePaul 60--Guard Cordell Henry had 21 points and made two three-point shots in the final minutes at Rosemont, Ill., that lifted the Golden Eagles (11-4, 2-1) to their first victory over a ranked team in three years. Forward Quentin Richardson had 17 points for DePaul (11-4, 2-1).

Purdue 69, No. 22 Illinois 66--Forward Brian Cardinal had 21 points at Champaign, Ill., to lead the Boilermakers (10-5, 1-1 in the Big Ten) to their ninth consecutive victory over the Illini (9-5, 1-2)--its second loss in a row to an unranked team.

Cardinal and forward Mike Robinson, who scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half, both played in high school in Illinois and are 8-0 against their home-state university.

No. 23 Temple 78, Fordham 61--Forward Mark Karcher had 20 points and guard Pepe Sanchez had 12 assists at New York as the Owls (9-3, 3-0 in the Atlantic 10) won their third in a row with both players back in the lineup and defeated the Rams (7-8, 0-3) for the 10th consecutive time. Sanchez was sidelined eight games after suffering an ankle injury in the season opener and Karcher missed a game with a strained shoulder.

Alabama Birmingham 56, No. 25 Louisville 50-- Junior forward Myron Ransom had a career-high 22 points as the Blazers (8-6, 1-1 in Conference USA) won their eighth game at Birmingham, Ala., without a defeat. Louisville (10-4, 2-1) had its winning streak ended at five.

OTHER GAMES

Arkansas (10-6, 2-1 in the SEC) was a 74-54 winner over Georgia (7-8, 0-3) at Athens, Ga., in the first meeting between Razorback Coach Nolan Richardson and the Bulldogs’ Jim Harrick since the 1995 national championship game in Seattle, which was won by Harrick-led UCLA, 89-78. . . . . Tuskegee (Ala.) beat Selma, 87-80, on its home court to give Coach Ben Jobe his 500th college victory. Jobe, who has a 500-288 record in 29 seasons, was also a head coach at Alabama A&M;, Alabama State, the University of Denver, Southern (La.) University and Talladega (Ala.) College. This is his fourth season in Tuskegee.