No. 10 Colonials Improve to 17-1

Maureece Rice scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half and No. 10 George Washington rallied to defeat Xavier, 89-85, on Thursday night at Cincinnati and remain unbeaten in the Atlantic 10.

“We have such depth that when the other team gets tired around the eight minute or seven-minute mark, we make our move,” Colonial Coach Karl Hobbs said. “We’ve done some tremendous things around that time this year.”

The Colonials, 17-1 overall, 7-0 in conference, who hadn’t won on the Musketeers’ home court in 10 seasons, have won nine games in a row since being blown out at North Carolina State on Dec. 30.

Xavier (13-5, 4-3) built a 10-point halftime lead by shooting 50% from the field and playing tough defense.

“We should have closed out the game,” said Stanley Burrell, who had 12 points for Xavier.

George Washington went on a 15-1 run early in the second half to take a 70-62 lead.

North Carolina 77, Maryland 62 -- Reyshawn Terry scored 20 points, David Noel had 19 points and 12 rebounds and the Tar Heels used a relentless defense to shut down the Terrapins at College Park, Md. Tyler Hansbrough had 15 points and eight rebounds for North Carolina (13-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which limited Maryland (14-6, 4-3) to 22 points in the second half.

Nevada 65, Louisiana Tech 53 -- Nick Fazekas scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds as the Wolfpack (16-5, 6-3 Western Athletic Conference) held on and defeated the Bulldogs at Ruston, La.