Texas Is Overpowered by Kansas

Kansas’ best game of the season turned out to be Rick Barnes’ worst Big 12 loss ever.

With a smothering defense and 27 points from Wayne Simien, No. 6 Kansas routed No. 16 Texas, 90-65, Saturday night at Lawrence, Kan., handing Barnes his most lopsided loss in a conference game in seven years as the Longhorns’ head coach.

“Those are the best two halves we’ve put together all year, by far,” said Aaron Miles, Kansas senior point guard.

“Offensively, we shared the ball and executed,” said Miles, the Big 12’s career assists leader. “Defensively, we played great team defense. We made them take tough shots. That’s the key.”

The 16th-ranked Longhorns (15-5, 4-3), down to eight scholarship players because of injuries and academic problems, fell to 0-5 in Allen Fieldhouse since the Big 12 was formed in 1996. They committed a season-high 20 turnovers.

“They were good,” Barnes said. “We really didn’t give ourselves a chance. In the first half they had 14 points off our turnovers.”

Keith Langford had 17 points and Miles had 10 points and eight assists for the Jayhawks (16-1, 6-0), who took over the Big 12 lead with the surprisingly one-sided victory over a team that beat them twice last season.

Keyed by Jeff Hawkins’ three-point basket at the buzzer, the Jayhawks closed the first half on a 14-4 run, taking a 43-28 lead.

Determined to keep the momentum, they came out firing in the second half and quickly built the lead to 21 points.

“That’s what we were thinking,” Miles said. “There have been games this year where we’d be up by 15 points and then we’d let a team back in. We can’t be like that.

“Good teams like Texas can get back in the game, so you have to put your foot on their throat and not let them back.”

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No. 3 North Carolina 110, Virginia 76 -- The Tar Heels (17-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) ended five years of frustration at Charlottesville, Va., by routing the Cavaliers (10-8, 1-7).

North Carolina won for only the fourth time in the teams’ last 11 meetings. The Tar Heels, who hadn’t won in Charlottesville since Feb. 20, 1999, led 16-8 when they went on a 26-3 run with 14:20 to play in the first half.

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No. 5 Wake Forest 94, Miami 82 -- The Demon Deacons (17-3, 5-2 ACC) took control in the second half with a 16-4 run to improve to 10-0 at Winston-Salem, N.C. The Hurricanes (13-6, 4-4) shot 56% -- including 91% (10 of 11) on three-point attempts -- and led, 49-48, at the half.

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No. 7 Kentucky 68, Arkansas 67 -- Patrick Sparks scored with 24.2 seconds left to help the Wildcats (16-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) hold off the Razorbacks (14-6, 2-5) at Fayetteville, Ark.

Eric Ferguson countered Sparks’ shot with a three-pointer, pulling Arkansas to within a point. After the Wildcats’ Chuck Hayes missed a free throw, Ferguson got the rebound but missed a three-point shot.

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No. 12 Louisville 112, Tulane 69 -- The Cardinals (18-3, 6-2 Conference USA) never trailed at New Orleans in winning their seventh game in a row and 12th in their last 13. They have won by an average of 32.9 points during the streak.

The Green Wave (8-11, 2-6) never got closer than 21 in the second half, and Louisville led by as many as 44.

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Iowa State 74, No. 13 Oklahoma 66 -- The Cyclones (9-8, 1-5 Big 12) relied exclusively on their short-range game at Ames, Iowa, as they ended the Sooners’ 10-game winning streak.

The Cyclones got the ball inside, scored consistently in transition and kept Oklahoma (16-3, 5-1) in check with a 2-3 zone. They did not make a basket longer than 10 feet.

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No. 14 Alabama vs. Georgia -- The SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala., was postponed until tonight because of freezing rain. The Bulldogs were unable to leave Atlanta because of the icy conditions. The rain and sleet spread sheets of ice across parts of the Southeast, canceling hundreds of flights.

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No. 15 Michigan State 92, Oakland, Mich. 75 -- The Spartans (14-3) led the Golden Grizzlies (5-13) by only 40-35 in the last minute of the first half at East Lansing, but finished the period with a three-pointer from Kelvin Torbert and went on a 15-2 run to start the second half.

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No. 17 Gonzaga 91, Portland 79 -- J.P. Batista had 25 points and 12 rebounds to help the Bulldogs hold off the Pilots at Spokane, Wash.

Gonzaga (15-4, 5-2 West Coast Conference) made 34 of 39 free throws to withstand a second-half Portland rally in a game that was not decided until the final minutes.

Adam Morrison added 18 points and Ronny Turiaf 16 points and nine rebounds for Gonzaga. Pooh Jeter scored 22 points to lead the Pilots, who took only 12 free throws, making 10.

Portland (13-9, 2-5), the last WCC team to beat Gonzaga at Spokane, trailed by as many as 14 in the first half before taking the lead several times in the second half.

The Bulldogs are 32-0 at home when ranked. They have won 20 home games in a row.

After Derek Raivio made two free throws, Portland turned over the ball and Morrison made a three-pointer for an 87-79 lead with 1:50 left. The Pilots never threatened after that.

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No. 18 Wisconsin 76, Penn State 50 -- With leading scorer Alando Tucker out of the lineup because of a right foot injury, Kammron Taylor carried the load at State College, Pa., scoring 20 points to help the Badgers (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten) beat the Nittany Lions (7-13, 1-6).

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No. 21 Cincinnati 87, Houston 68 -- At Cincinnati, the Bearcats (17-3, 6-1 Conference USA) rolled to their 10th consecutive victory over the Cougars (12-9, 3-4).

The game provided the first head-to-head matchup of two of Division I’s most successful coaches. Cincinnati’s Bob Huggins has 559 career wins, while Tom Penders -- in his first season rebuilding Houston’s program -- has 539.

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No. 23 Iowa 72, Indiana 57 -- Pierre Pierce, one of four starters benched at the beginning of the game at Iowa City, scored 25 points to lead the Hawkeyes (15-5, 3-4 Big Ten) over the Hoosiers (9-9, 4-3).

After a lackluster performance in an overtime loss at Northwestern on Wednesday, Iowa Coach Steve Alford started four reserves instead of Pierce, Jeff Horner, Erek Hansen and Greg Brunner.

The decision paid off. The Hawkeyes were aggressive on defense, protected the ball and shot 65% from the free throw line -- areas the team failed miserably in during the loss to the Wildcats.

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Louisiana State 69, No. 24 Mississippi State 62 -- Brandon Bass had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers (11-6, 4-2) and helped hold Bulldog star Lawrence Roberts, the SEC’s leading scorer and rebounder, to 15 points and 12 rebounds at Baton Rouge, La. Roberts entered the game averaging 18.8 points a game.

Mississippi State (16-5, 4-3), which once had the nation’s longest road winning streak at 16, has lost three straight away from Starkville, Miss.

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OTHER GAMES

Pat Carroll scored a career-high 29 points, including four free throws in the last 29.8 seconds, to lead St. Joseph’s to a 67-59 victory over Xavier (9-8, 3-4) at Philadelphia. The Hawks (9-8, 6-1), who lead the Atlantic 10 East Division, have won six of eight after starting the season 3-6.... Virginia Commonwealth overcame a slow start to beat Old Dominion, 75-71, at Richmond, Va. The Rams (10-8, 6-3 Colonial Athletic Assn.) led, 71-60, with 1:33 left, but missed six of eight free-throw attempts to allow the Monarchs (18-3, 8-1) to close to within three. The Rams have beaten Old Dominion ten straight times. The loss ended a seven-game winning streak.

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Air Force (13-7, 4-1 Mountain West Conference) defeated San Diego State, 62-50, at Colorado Springs. The win, which moved the Falcons into second place in the conference, was their 23rd in a row at home, the nation’s second-longest home winning streak. The Aztecs are 9-9 and 3-2.... Santa Clara (12-10, 5-2, West Coast Conference) beat San Diego, 85-73, at Santa Clara. Brice Vounang scored 26 points to lead the Toreros (10-10, 2-5), who lost their third in a row.