Virginia Gives Its Hall to the End in Beating Duke

Adam Hall had no time to think when the ball suddenly squirted into his hands in the closing seconds of No. 12-ranked Virginia’s game with No. 3 Duke on Wednesday night at Charlottesville, Va.

“I think it rolled off somebody or the rim or something and just came to me,” Hall said after putting up a shot that went in with 0.9 of a second left and gave Virginia a 91-89 victory and ended Duke’s road winning streak at 24. “I just put it up. I didn’t know how much time was on the clock. I didn’t know if it counted or not.”

After Shane Battier made two free throws for Duke to tie the score with 14 seconds left, Virginia inbounded the ball and got it to Roger Mason, who dribbled for a couple seconds before driving to the basket. He lost the ball as he tried to get through Duke defenders, but Hall was in the right place at the right time in scoring the decisive basket and also knocking away a length-of-the-court pass by Duke that followed.

Hall then jumped on the scorer’s table, where he was mobbed by fans who quickly filled the floor. Virginia Coach Pete Gillen also got into the act, grabbing the public address microphone and thanking the fans--some that had camped for four days to get tickets--for their support.

“It was a real inferno in there,” Gillen said of the ninth consecutive sellout at the 8,394-seat University Hall. “They gave us a 10- to 12-point edge tonight.”

Virginia, 17-6 and 6-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, ended a losing streak to Duke (22-3, 10-2) at 12.

The Cavaliers shot 54%--getting 21 points from Chris Williams, 20 from Mason and 17 from Hall. The Blue Devils also shot well, making 14 of 30 three-point shots and 18 of 35 inside the arc.

Oklahoma State 72, No. 13 Oklahoma 44--Victor Williams scored a career-high 26 points at Stillwater, Okla., as the Cowboys (15-6, 6-4 in the Big 12) handed the Sooners (19-5, 8-4) their biggest loss in the series since 1964.

No. 14 Notre Dame 81, Rutgers 59--Matt Carroll had 20 points and Troy Murphy had 18 at Piscataway, N.J., as the Irish (17-5, 9-2 in the Big East) won their eighth in a row--their longest streak since 1986-87. Todd Billet and Jeff Greer--the leading scorers this season for Rutgers (10-12, 2-9)--were held to a combined 12 points and four-for-23 shooting.

No. 22 Kentucky 103, No. 15 Tennessee 95--Tayshaun Prince scored a career-high 30 points at Knoxville, Tenn., as the Wildcats (16-7, 9-2 in the Southeastern Conference) ended the Volunteers’ home win streak at 18. Vincent Yarbrough had a career-high 28 points for Tennessee (18-7, 5-6).

No. 16 Mississippi 51, Mississippi State 48--The Rebels (20-4, 8-3 in the SEC) overcame two-for-16 three-point shooting at Oxford, Miss. Mississippi State (12-10, 3-8) has lost 12 consecutive SEC road games.

Florida State 74, No. 17 Maryland 71--The Terrapins (15-9, 6-6 in the ACC) missed two three-point shots as time ran out at College Park, Md., in losing to the Seminoles (7-17, 2-9) for first time in 10 games.

No. 21 Alabama 60, South Carolina 55--The Crimson Tide (19-5, 8-4 in the SEC) had five players score between 10 and 12 points at Tuscaloosa, Ala., to tie a school record for consecutive home victories at 14. South Carolina is 13-9 and 5-6.

No. 23 Wake Forest 81, Georgia Tech 65--Josh Howard and Robert O’Kelley had 18 points each and combined to make seven of 10 three-point shots for Demon Deacons (17-7, 6-6) at Winston-Salem, N.C. Wake Forest won back to back for the first time since starting the season 12-0, while Georgia Tech (14-9, 6-6) lost to a ranked team for the first time in three games.

Michigan 95, No. 25 Iowa 85--The Wolverines (10-13, 4-8 in the Big Ten) led by as many as 22 points in the first half at Ann Arbor, Mich., while the Hawkeyes (17-7, 6-5) could get no closer than five in the second. Gavin Groninger had 19 points to lead six double-figure scorers for Michigan.

OTHER GAMES

Judging from their uniforms, Ohio University has a bunch of no-name players. Incensed by a home loss to Bowling Green last week, Coach Larry Hunter had white patches sewn over the names of the players on the back of their jerseys. Ohio (14-8, 9-4 in the Mid-American Conference) has won twice since then, including a 70-61 victory over Akron (10-12, 7-6) Wednesday at Athens, Ohio. “The equipment people think I’m half-crazy,” Hunter said. “The players, I didn’t let them know. Some of the fans, I heard them make the comment that, ‘Coach, I had to look at my program to see who’s who.’ ” Hunter, however, is only concerned with getting results with the tactic. “We have a chance to be a serious contender for the [Mid-American Conference] championship,” Hunter said. “But in order to do that you have to play for the name on the front of the jersey instead of the back of the jersey.”

Rhode Island Coach Jerry DeGregorio was hospitalized for exhaustion then released, one day after he said he would not return next season. Assistant George Blaney coached Rhode Island (5-20, 1-11 in the Atlantic 10) in a 77-47 loss to George Washington (11-13, 5-6) at Providence, R.I. . . . Providence (18-6, 9-3 in the Big East) completed a regular-season sweep of St. John’s (13-10, 7-5) for the first time since 1986-87 with a 64-53 victory at New York. . . . Will Dudley grabbed an airball shot by a teammate and scored as time ran out to give Ohio State (17-8, 8-5 in the Big Ten) a 65-64 victory over Purdue (13-10, 5-7) at West Lafayette, Ind. . . . Clarence Gilbert, the Big 12’s fourth-leading scorer at 17 points a game, returned from an one-game suspension and scored eight at Columbia, Mo., as Missouri (16-8, 7-4) increased its home record to 12-0 with an 80-69 victory over Colorado (15-10, 5-7).

WOMEN

Ruth Riley had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 1 Notre Dame (23-0, 12-0 in the Big East) to a 75-61 victory at Syracuse (10-12, 4-8). . . . No. 3 Connecticut (21-2, 11-1 in the Big East) tied a school record with 14 three-point baskets (in 28 attempts) in a 70-45 victory over No. 11 Rutgers (17-6, 9-3) at Storrs, Conn. . . . No. 19 Colorado (18-5, 9-3 in the Big 12) made 22 of 23 free throws to beat No. 6 Iowa State, 73-66, at Boulder, Colo., and avenge a 34-point loss to the Cyclones (20-3, 10-2) on Jan. 27. . . . Stacey Dales had 20 points and 10 assists for No. 10 Oklahoma (20-4, 11-1 in the Big 12) in a 79-60 victory over Kansas State (11-12, 1-11) at Norman, Okla. . . . No. 14 Texas Tech (19-4, 10-2 in the Big 12) took advantage of 31 turnovers by Kansas (9-14, 3-9) in a 49-45 victory--its first-ever at Lawrence, Kan.. 49-45. . . . Baylor (17-6, 6-6 in the Big 12) was an 80-75 winner over No. 18 Texas (18-8, 6-6)--its first victory at Austin, Texas in 27 years.