North Carolina Falls to Maryland

Having grown weary of chasing No. 9 North Carolina up and down the court, Maryland knew it had to do something different in the second half.

So the Terrapins cranked up the defense Wednesday night and worked to keep a step ahead of the Tar Heels. The result: A gratifying 90-84 upset victory for a young but determined squad at College Park, Md.

Jamar Smith scored 22 points, John Gilchrist had 20 and Nik Caner-Medley added 17 for Maryland, 10-3 overall and 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

After giving up a season-high 49 points in the first half, Maryland put the clamps on a powerful offense that surpassed 100 points in each of its first two conference games.

“The first half we matched them basket for basket,” Smith said. “The coaches told us to keep playing our defense and that’s what we did in the second half.”

In a dramatic reversal, the Tar Heels ended up chasing Smith. The center went to the foul line for 12 shots in the second half and scored 14 points.

“After watching them on tape I knew [Tar Heel center Sean May] couldn’t keep up with my quickness,” Smith said. “I tried to go around him every time I got the ball.”

North Carolina, which led by 10 points in the first half, went 11 for 34 from the field with eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes. The Tar Heels did not score a fastbreak basket in the second half.

“The shots just weren’t dropping,” Tar Heel guard Rashad McCants said.

May scored 18 points and Raymond Felton added 16 for the Tar Heels (10-3, 1-2), who have lost five consecutive regular-season games to Maryland.

“The bottom line is that Maryland made big-time plays down the stretch,” North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said. “They were very focused on getting the ball to Jamar Smith and we didn’t do a good job covering him.”

No. 1 Connecticut 94, Georgetown 70 -- Emeka Okafor had 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks to lead the Huskies (14-1, 2-0 Big East) over the Hoyas (10-3, 1-3) at Storrs, Conn.

Taliek Brown had 20 points, seven assists and a career-high three blocks for the Huskies, who extended their winning streak to 11 games. This is their longest regular-season streak since starting 19-0 in 1998-99, the program’s national championship season.

The Huskies have won seven in a row over the Hoyas, who dropped their third in a row.

No. 10 Cincinnati 85, No. 21 Marquette 73 -- Tony Bobbitt scored 18 points and Nick Williams added a season-high 16 to lead the Bearcats (12-0, 3-0 Conference USA) to a victory at Milwaukee.

Cincinnati, playing a ranked team for the first time this season, scored 24 points off Marquette’s season-high 23 turnovers. The Golden Eagles (11-3, 2-1) had a four-game winning streak end.

Oklahoma State 77, No. 11 Oklahoma 56 -- John Lucas scored 22 points and Tony Allen added 20 to lead the Cowboys (11-2, 1-1 Big 12) past the rival Sooners (10-2, 0-1) at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma’s chances of getting back into the game were dashed when the Sooners missed their first six shots of the second half.

No. 14 Kansas 73, Kansas State 67 -- Wayne Simien scored 19 points and Keith Langford added 17 as the Jayhawks (10-2, 2-0 Big 12) held off the Wildcats (8-4, 0-1) at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas has won 27 in a row over Kansas State. The Wildcats have not beaten the Jayhawks since Jan. 30, 1988. The Wildcats also lost their 12th consecutive road game, a streak dating to January 2003.

Purdue 53, No. 19 Wisconsin 51 -- Kenneth Lowe scored 13 points to lead the Boilermakers (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten) to a victory over the Badgers (11-3, 2-1) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Wisconsin had a chance to tie the score with 20 seconds left when Mike Wilkinson went to the free-throw line with Purdue leading, 50-48. Wilkinson missed his second free throw and Austin Parkinson followed with two for Purdue.

Tennessee 76, No. 23 Vanderbilt 66 -- Brandon Crump and Scooter McFadgon each scored 20 points to help the Volunteers (10-2, 2-1 Southeastern) defeat the Commodores (12-2, 1-2) at Knoxville, Tenn. Vanderbilt has lost two in a row.

Northern Iowa 82, No. 24 Creighton 73 -- Freshman Brooks McKowen made six of Northern Iowa’s 12 three-point baskets in scoring a season-high 24 points and the Panthers (8-5, 3-2 Missouri Valley) knocked the Bluejays (12-1, 4-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Creighton became the third unbeaten team to lose in two nights. Wake Forest and Mississippi State lost for the first time Tuesday night. The remaining unbeaten Division I teams are Stanford, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Saint Joseph’s.

Northwestern 70, No. 25 Illinois 60 -- Davor Duvancic scored a career-high 22 points to help the Wildcats (7-7, 2-1 Big Ten) topple the Fighting Illini (10-4, 1-2) at Evanston, Ill.

It was only the second Northwestern victory over Illinois in the last 17 meetings between the teams, and the first victory for the Wildcats since 1994.

OTHER GAMES

Chris Hill had 17 points, including the 1,000th of his three-year career, as Michigan State (6-7, 1-1 Big Ten) cruised to a 76-58 victory over Penn State (8-6, 2-1) at East Lansing, Mich.... Michel Morandais scored 18 points as Colorado (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) held Nebraska (10-3, 0-2) scoreless for five minutes late in the second half in a 68-60 victory at Lincoln, Neb.

Carlos Powell’s steal and layup with 13 seconds left lifted South Carolina (15-2, 2-1 Southeastern) to a 53-51 overtime victory over Auburn (10-4, 1-2) at Auburn, Ala.... Kennedy Winston scored 25 points and Earnest Shelton added 19 as Alabama (9-4, 1-1 Southeastern) scored a sloppy 81-65 victory over Arkansas (8-6, 0-3) at Tuscaloosa, Ala.