Duke holds off North Carolina

Duke’s depth took care of short-handed North Carolina, keeping the second-ranked Blue Devils alone atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Greg Paulus scored 18 points and was one of six Duke players in double figures in the Blue Devils’ 89-78 win over the third-ranked Tar Heels on Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C., ending a three-game losing streak in the heated rivalry.

Jon Scheyer added 17 points for Duke (20-1, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which ran its spread-the-floor offense to perfection most of the night and repeatedly knocked down three-point shots to control the game almost the entire way. Duke led by as many as 11 points in the first half and never trailed after the break, beating the Tar Heels for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 18 rebounds in what became virtually a one-man effort for the Tar Heels (21-2, 6-2), who looked a step off all night without injured point guard Ty Lawson.

Lawson sprained his left ankle in a weekend victory at Florida State.

Baylor 80, Texas Tech 74 -- In Pat Knight’s debut as head coach of the Red Raiders, Curtis Jerrells had 16 points at Waco, Texas, to help the Bears (17-4, 5-2 Big 12) stop a two-game losing streak.

Mike Singletary had 20 points for Texas Tech (12-9, 3-4), which is 1-7 on the road. After building an early nine-point lead, Texas Tech made only one of 11 shots over the final 11 minutes before halftime.

Texas Tech had consecutive turnovers and a foul less than two minutes into the second half, prompting Knight to call time out. After the coach sat back down, staring at the ground and rubbing his temples with both hands, the Red Raiders had two more turnovers in a span of 30 seconds.

Knight took over the team this week after his father, Bob, resigned Monday.

“They did a heck of a job for me,” Pat Knight said. “For my first game to get that kind of effort, that’s all I can ask.”