Wake Forest Looks No. 1

Wake Forest celebrated the school’s first appearance at No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll with a 99-72 victory over Yale on Monday at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Chris Paul, Eric Williams and Kyle Visser each scored 15 points to lead the Demon Deacons (3-0). Casey Hughes’ 20 points led Yale (1-2). Paul said the ranking was an honor but that playing as the No. 1 team felt like “business as usual.”

“We’re only three games into the season,” he added, “so it really doesn’t mean much.”

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No. 3 Georgia Tech 60, Illinois Chicago 59 -- Luke Schenscher made two free throws with 25.9 seconds left and B.J. Elder made three three-point shots in the last nine minutes to lift the Yellow Jackets (2-0) at Chicago.

The Flames (0-1) had a chance to win, but freshman Kevin Bond missed a free throw with six seconds left and Justin Bowen’s last-second jump shot went wide.

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No. 9 Duke 74, Davidson 61 -- Daniel Ewing scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to lift the Blue Devils (2-0), who nearly wasted a 20-point lead over the Wildcats (1-1) at Charlotte, N.C. Davidson, which had trailed, 44-24, closed to a four-point deficit, at 55-51, with 5:39 left before Ewing’s spurt began.

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No. 11 North Carolina 86, Brigham Young 50 -- Junior point guard Raymond Felton returned from a one-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned summer league and the Tar Heels (1-1) opened with a 25-3 lead in the victory at the eight-team Maui Invitational at Lahaina, Hawaii. North Carolina will play Tennessee in today’s semifinals.

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Iowa 76, No. 12 Louisville 71 -- Jeff Horner scored 11 of his 18 points in a 4 1/2 -minute span of the second half, part of a nine-minute stretch when the Hawkeyes held the Cardinals (1-1) without a field goal in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. Iowa (2-0) will play Texas in today’s semifinals. Louisville had led, 48-42, before missing 10 shots during the nine-minute stretch that put Iowa ahead, 67-56.

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No. 15 Texas 84, Chaminade 62 -- P.J. Tucker had 15 points for the Longhorns (2-0) in the victory at the Maui Invitational. Chris Reaves, a transfer from Citrus College, had 33 points for the NCAA Division II Silverswords (1-1).

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Oregon 79, New Mexico 75 -- Aaron Brooks scored 22 points and freshman Malik Hairston made three free throws in the last 22 seconds as the Ducks won at Eugene, Ore.

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Tennessee 69, Stanford 57 -- The victory advanced the Volunteers to today’s semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

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WOMEN

Penn State Coach Rene Portland, 51, is taking a leave of absence for medical reasons that the school would not disclose. The announcement came eight days after she fainted on an airplane after an opening loss at Texas and was hospitalized for two nights. Penn State (0-3) began the season ranked No. 21.