Virginia Routs No. 2 North Carolina

North Carolina is the latest team to find out how difficult it is to play Virginia at Charlottesville, Va. The No. 9 Cavaliers routed the No. 2 Tar Heels, 86-66, in their Atlantic Coast Conference game Sunday.

“They were quicker today, they jumped higher today and they shot the ball better today,” North Carolina Coach Matt Doherty said of the Cavaliers, who improved to 13-1 at University Hall.

“When we play, we can play with anybody in the country,” Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. “We just want to try to be as close to what we did today as many times as we can. That’s what the great teams do.”

The victory was Virginia’s fourth against a team ranked in the top 10 at the time, and came 11 days after a 91-89 last-second victory against then-No. 2 Duke.

Virginia, 19-6 overall and 8-6 in the ACC, surprised the Tar Heels (22-4, 12-2) in the first half with a 22-6 run that turned a 31-29 deficit into a 51-37 lead before a sellout crowd of 8,392.

Virginia held on despite a scoring drought that lasted 5:47, allowing North Carolina to get within 76-66 with 4:55 left, but the Tar Heels didn’t score again.

Joseph Forte scored 28 points, but made only four of his last 19 shots after starting out seven for eight.

Brendan Haywood added 20 points, making nine of 12 shots.

No. 11 Kansas 78, Nebraska 74--Kirk Hinrich made three free throws in the final minute to help the Jayhawks win the Big 12 Conference game at Lincoln, Neb.

With Kansas (21-5, 10-4) leading, 75-71, Hinrich missed the second of two free throws, but the Jayhawks got the rebound. Hinrich then drew another foul and made both shots.

Cookie Belcher led Nebraska (13-14, 6-8) with 29 points, including seven of 11 three-point baskets.

Arkansas 82, No. 13 Kentucky 78--The Razorbacks held the Wildcats scoreless for nearly three minutes down the stretch to win the Southeastern Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Kentucky (18-8, 11-3) led by eight points early in the second half but shot poorly the rest of the way and had its eight-game winning streak end.

Arkansas (17-9, 8-6) shot 47% in the second half against the most effective defense in the conference.

No. 23 St. Joseph’s 90, Duquesne 70--The Hawks, who won their ninth in a row and 17th in 18 games, got a scare in the first half as the Dukes--playing their final home game--took a 23-14 lead at Pittsburgh.

But once St. Joseph’s found a rhythm with their running game, Duquesne (9-19, 3-12 in the Atlantic 10) never caught up. The Hawks (23-4, 13-1) started the second half with five consecutive points to complete a 13-0 run that made the score 44-37.

Marvin O’Connor scored 28 points for the Hawks, who clinched a tie for the conference title.

OTHER GAMES

Fresno St 91, Nevada 68--Melvin Ely scored 22 points to lead the Bulldogs to a Western Athletic Conference rout at Fresno.

Fresno State (22-5, 11-3) clinched at least a regular-season tie for the title with the win, its 13th in a row at home. Demetrius Porter added 16 for Fresno while Tito Maddox scored 15 and Shannon Swillis contributed 14.

Garry Hill-Thomas led Nevada (9-16, 2-12) with a career-high 19 points. Andre Hazel added 13 points for the Wolf Pack.

Hofstra 78, Drexel 70--The Pride (23-4, 16-2), which extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 15 games, finished as the regular-season America East Conference champion. Drexel (15-11, 12-6) lost its third consecutive game.

West Virginia 82, Seton Hall 71--The Mountaineers (17-8, 8-6 in the Big East) continued their drive for an NCAA tournament berth by using a late 16-3 run at East Rutherford, N.J., to win their fourth in a row.

West Virginia handed Seton Hall (13-12, 4-10) its ninth loss in 11 games. The Pirates have a one-game lead over Rutgers in the battle to avoid finishing last in the West Division and missing the conference tournament.

North Carolina State 71, Florida State 46--The Wolfpack (13-13, 5-9 in the ACC) had no trouble at Raleigh, N.C., in sending the Seminoles to their first 20-loss season in 49 years.

Florida State (7-20, 2-12) was 5-20 in 1951-52.