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College basketball: Virginia Tech upsets No. 5 Duke

Virginia Tech guard Justin Robinson tries to score on a layup against Duke forward Amile Jefferson during the second half Saturday
(Don Petersen / Associated Press)
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Virginia Tech entered Atlantic Coast Conference play with a sparkling record and several quality wins to its credit, but the Hokies hadn’t faced a ranked foe all season.

That test came Saturday — and they passed rather easily.

Justin Bibbs scored 18 points to lead host Virginia Tech to an 89-75 upset of No. 5 Duke in the ACC opener for both teams.

Bibbs broke out of a seasonlong slump for the Hokies (12-1, 1-0), who won their eighth straight game. Virginia Tech hasn’t lost since squandering a 17-point, second-half lead in a 68-65 loss to Texas A&M on Nov. 25.

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“Our confidence is sky high right now,” Bibbs said. “I feel like we can play against anybody, with anybody.”

Virginia Tech snapped a nine-game losing streak to Duke (12-2, 0-1), which played without preseason All-America Grayson Allen, who was suspended indefinitely by Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski after tripping an Elon player on Dec. 21 — the third such incident in Allen’s career.

Luke Kennard led the Blue Devils with 34 points.

No. 1 Villanova 80, at No. 10 Creighton 70: Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 27 points to help the Wildcats extend their school-record winning streak to 20 games.

The game marked only the second time in Big East history that two unbeaten teams met in a conference game, and it lived up to the hype until the Wildcats (14-0, 2-0) pulled away in the final minutes.

Kris Jenkins added 21 points and Josh Hart had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the defending national champions. Marcus Foster led the Bluejays (13-1, 1-1) with 22 points. Justin Patton had 18 points and eight rebounds.

No. 6 Louisville 77, at No. 16 Indiana 62: Donovan Mitchell scored a career-high 25 points and Deng Adel had 17 for the Cardinals (12-2) , who closed out their non-conference schedule with three wins over Top 20 teams.

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OG Anunoby finished with 14 points and James Blackmon Jr. added 10 as the Hoosiers (10-4) lost for the second time in four days.

No. 7 Gonzaga 81, at Pacific 61: Jordan Mathews scored 16 points and the Bulldogs went on a big run in the second half to beat Tigers.

Gonzaga (14-0, 2-0 West Coast Conference) trailed by eight with 17:13 remaining before going on a 25-4 run in a 10-minute span. Mathews and Josh Perkins had two 3-pointers apiece during the spurt to help the Bulldogs continue their best start in school history. Jacob Lampkin had a career-high 18 points for Pacific. The Tigers (6-9, 0-2) were seeking their first win against a Top 25 team since the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

at Geogia Tech 75, No. 9 North Carolina 63: Josh Okogie scored 26 points and Ben Lammers had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Georgia Tech pulled off a major upset in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Justin Jackson finished with 16 points and Nate Britt scored 13 for the Tar Heels, who committed a season-high 20 turnovers. North Carolina (12-3, 0-1) never led after Okogie hit two free throws with 11:59 remaining.

Josh Heath scored 15 points and Quinton Stephens had 11 for Georgia Tech (9-4, 1-0), the ACC’s youngest and least experienced teams.

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No. 20 Florida State 60, at No. 12 Virginia 58: Dwayne Bacon scored 26 of his 29 points after halftime and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with four seconds left for the Seminoles. Bacon scored the last seven points during a 9-0 run for Florida State (14-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) that turned a 51-49 deficit into a 56-51 lead. Bacon then answered quickly after Kyle Guy’s three-pointer had given Virginia a 58-57 lead with 8.8 seconds to play.

Guy scored 14 points and three others had 10 for Virginia (11-2, 1-1), which lost for just the second time in its last 37 ACC home games.

No. 17 Xavier 81, at Georgetown 76: Edmond Sumner scored a career-high 28 points on his birthday and J. P. Macura added 23 for the Musketeers (12-2, 2-0 Big East), who trailed by six points early in the second half, but slowly chipped away at the deficit. Macura’s three-pointer put Xavier up for good at 62-59 with 8:23 remaining and his two free throws capped a 13-5 run to give the Musketeers their largest lead, 72-64 with 3:58 remaining.

L.J. Peak scored 21 points for the Hoyas (8-6, 0-2). Rodney Pryor had 20 including 10 straight for Georgetown after Macura’s free throws. Trailing 77-74, Pryor missed a potential game-tying three-pointer with 24 seconds remaining.

at No. 20 St. Mary’s 72, San Diego 60: Jock Landale scored 14 points and Tanner Krebs added 12 to help the Gaels win.

Krebs, a redshirt freshman from the Australian island of Tasmania, made all four of his 3-point shots for St. Mary’s (12-1, 2-0 WCC), which won its sixth straight game. Freshman Jordan Ford equaled his career-best with 12 points. Brett Bailey scored 19 points to lead the Toreros (7-7, 0-2).

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No. 24 Notre Dame 78, Pittsburgh 77 (OT): Steve Vasturia knocked down a three-pointer from the wing with 2.5 seconds left in overtime for the Irish. The Panthers took a 77-75 lead on a runner by Jamel Artis with 41 seconds to play.

Bonzie Colson led the Fighting Irish (12-2, 1-0) with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Vasturia shook off foul trouble to finish with 15 while Matt Farrell added 15 for Notre Dame in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Artis and Michael Young finished with 25 points each for Pitt (11-3, 0-1).

SOUTHLAND

Men

Brigham Young 81, at Loyola Marymount 76: T.J. Haws made a three-point basket with 28 seconds left and the Cougars (11-5, 2-0 in West Coast Conference) rallied from a 14-point deficit after the first half. Trevor Manuel led the Lions (7-6, 0-2) with 16 points. Haws tied his career high of 20 points.

at Portland 73, Pepperdine 60: Alec Wintering had 23 points and the Pilots (9-5, 2-0 WCC) pulled away after the Waves (4-10, 0-2) cut the deficit to 54-50 with eight minutes to play. Lamond Murray Jr. had 14 points for the Waves, who lost their ninth game in a row.

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at UC Riverside 76, Grand Canyon 56: Gentrey Thomas scored 15 points, Brandon Rosser had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the Highlanders (2-9) ended a skid at seven games. Keonta Vernon had 14 points for the Antelopes (9-6).

Sunday’s schedule

Women

Utah at USC, Noon

Colorado at UCLA, 2 p.m.

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