acc conference sports

North Carolina 7, Boston College 1

2006-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Andrew Miller became North Carolina's career leader in strikeouts after he fanned 11 as the Tar Heels beat Boston College 7-1 on Thursday.
Miller allowed two hits over eight innings for the Tar Heels (43-11, 20-8 Atlantic Coast Conference). He now has 290 strikeouts in his career, surpassing Michael Hoog's 289 from 1987-90.
Tim Federowicz had four hits, including his ninth home run of the season, to lead North Carolina's offense.
Boston College starter Dan Houston kept the Tar Heels in check for five innings, allowing no runs on three hits and four walks. Reliever Ted Ratliff (5-1) came on in the sixth and was charged with three runs without recording an out to take the loss for the Eagles (28-23-1, 9-19 ACC).

NCAA Game Summary - North Carolina State At Wake Forest

2006-04-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

Eric Williams had 22 points and 16 rebounds as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons upset the North Carolina State Wolfpack, 76-63, at Joel Coliseum.
Justin Gray added 16 points, five boards and six assists and Chris Ellis netted 11 points for the Demon Deacons (15-15, 3-13 ACC), who snapped a two- game losing streak and have won two of their last four contests.
Engin Atsur paced the Wolfpack (21-8, 10-6) with 23 points and, despite breaking his nose in the first half, Gavin Grant came back and contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the loss, N.C. State's third in a row to end the regular season.
The Demon Deacons jumped out to an early 14-6 lead on Williams' dunk with 12:25 to go, but the Wolfpack responded with a 13-5 run, highlighted by Grant's three-point play, to tie the game at 19.
Wake Forest came right back and reeled off a 13-2 spurt, including six points from Williams, to move in front 32-21. The Deacons led 42-30 at the half as N.C. State shot 30 percent from the floor in the first half and shot 0-for-12 behind the arc.
A pair of Grant free throws cut the deficit to 42-35, but Wake Forest countered with a 12-5 streak, capped by Williams' jumper, to extend the lead to 54-40 with under 13 minutes to play

Virginia Tech 17th In Trackwire Power Rankings

2006-04-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

The Virginia Tech men's track and field team is No. 17 in the first Trackwire 25 power rankings of the outdoor season.
Coming off a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Hokies have competed in two meets since then.
Senior Spyridon Jullien (70.62m) has the top hammer throw mark in the country this season, while freshmen Mohsen Anani (67.68m) and Matej Muza (64.45m) have the third- and 10th-best marks, respectively. Senior Brian Mondschein (5.35m) currently has the second-best vault in the NCAA.
The Trackwire 25 is a projection of how the teams could finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships with meet scores.
The Hokies return to action this weekend as the distance crew will compete at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C., on Apr. 7-8, while the sprinters and throws group will travel to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Relays at the same time. The vaulters will travel to Clemson, S.C., for the Clemson Invitational on Apr. 8.

Virginia Cavaliers Season Ends at Pitt

2006-04-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

The Virginia Cavaliers ended the 2006 season with a 68-58 loss at Pittsburgh in the quarterfinal round of the 2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament at Fitzgerald Field House on Friday evening.
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The Cavaliers finished the season at 20-12 overall, marking their 20th 20-win season under head coach Debbie Ryan.
In the first half, Pitt jumped on the scoreboard first, but UVa went ahead 3-2 on a three-point play by junior Siedah Williams (Cleveland, Ohio). Unfortunately, that would be the `Hoos only lead of the game. Pittsburgh went ahead by as many as 12 points, 15-3. The Panthers held a nine-point edge at halftime, 28-19.
"Rebounding in general was the difference today," Ryan said. "I didn't feel we were in sync tonight at all. It was a struggle from tip to finish."
In the second half, Pitt pushed its lead back up to 14 points, 38-24 with 13:44 left to play. Virginia clawed its way back to come within three points, 57-54 with 2:11 on the clock. The Panthers converted 10 free throws down the stretch for the win.
"We were a little leg-tired," Ryan said after her squad played Wednesday night in Charlottesville and boarded a plane in Richmond on Thursday morning for Pittsburgh. "That's not an excuse. We should have overcome that."
Williams led UVa with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double. Sophomore point guard Sharnee Zoll (Marlboro, N.J.) followed with 11 points and six assists.

Now that Sendek is gone, where does N.C. State turn?

2006-04-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Herb Sendek leaves the basketball program at North Carolina State in very good shape. No one knows that better than Les Robinson, the coach Sendek replaced 10 years ago.
At the time, the Wolfpack were coming off five consecutive losing seasons, the worst stretch in school history.
"By the time Herb got there, we were barely above water," said Robinson, now the athletic director at The Citadel. "We went from the basement to the ground level, then he's taken it to the next level. But I guess he ran out of gas, too."
Sendek's tenure officially ended Monday when he accepted the job at Arizona State. He departs after leading N.C. State to the NCAA tournament the past five seasons, including a run to the regional semifinals a year ago.
Sendek takes over a program that has reached the NCAA tournament three times in 28 years. He got a five-year contract to replace Rob Evans.
"I really was not surprised," Robinson said in a telephone interview from Indianapolis, site of the Final Four. "I thought he had done an admirable job there."
By most accounts, that was true. Sendek had a losing record only once, reached the postseason nine times and recruited players who rarely strayed into trouble off the court. He was 191-132 with the Wolfpack.

Terps trample North Carolina Tar Heels

2006-04-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Toliver, a precocious freshman from Harrisonburg (Va.) High School, outplayed the Tar Heels' heralded Kodak All-American in just about every respect last night while helping the Terrapins capture an 81-70 victory in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division I women's basketball playoffs. Maryland will play for the first NCAA title in program history tomorrow at 8:30 p.m.
"I think we just proved to the country that we" -- and not North Carolina "should be the No.1 team," Toliver said. "I think we proved to everyone -- other than the 12 percent that thought we could win this game -- that we're a great team."
Maryland (33-4) might today be heading home to College Park as an almost-great team had it not been for Toliver. She did everything Latta was expected to do -- score, assist and defend like a vet- eran --in the third meeting of the season between these ACC rivals. Toliver scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. She also handed out a pair of assists and helped pester Latta into 1-of-10 shooting from behind the arc. In the process she steadied the Terps during a key second-half stretch during which North Carolina at last began to play like the pretournament favorite it was.

Wolverines Bounce Hurricanes

2006-04-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Daniel Horton opened the scoring with a triple to put the Wolverines on top 3-0. Just a minute later, however, Guillermo Diaz knotted it 3-3 with a three-ball to draw the Miami Hurricanes even. And then the Wolverines took over.Sherrod Harrell broke a 5-5 tie with a lay-up to put the Wolverines on top for good. Daniel Horton followed Harrells lay-up with his second three-point shot of the game to extend U-M lead to seven to...and the home team was off and running. After a Miami timeout, Dion Harris extended the Wolverines lead to nine points with a two-point jumper before Courtney Sims concluded the11-0 run with a basket to put Michigan on top 16-5. Thoughts of the Maize and Blue's 74-53 victory back in November had to be running through the minds of the visitors,but they did not fold. Instead, they fought every step of the way."We felt that if we could somehow get the lead on this team and maybe put them in position that maybe they'd want to call it a season [it would be easier], but they never did," Amaker said. "They battled every step of the way. We had to finish the game strong. I was really impressed and pleased for our seniors. We talked about having another opportunity to finish their careers here at Crisler the right way with possibly a win. We didn't have the opportunity to do that against IU via the regular season, but we were fortunate to get this one tonight and they did a tremendous job to provide that for themselves and for the program."
Miami answered with a run to cut the lead down to four points. Guillermo Diaz, Raymond Hicks and Robert Hite hit consecutive baskets to draw Miami within four.Chris Hunter and Dion Harris combined to push the Wolverines back to nine points just over halfway through the first stanza, but once again Miami mustered a response. A pair of triples along with a pair of lay-ups pulled Frank Haith's club within two points with just minutes left in the half.

2006 NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR INTERVIEWS: Maryland Terrapins

2006-04-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm going to ask Coach to make an opening comment and we'll only have the players in here for 15 minutes. Brenda will then stay with me for the duration, which will be about another 30 minutes after that. So let's let Brenda make an opening statement. BRENDA FRESE: I'll tell you, obviously I'm extremely excited to be playing in the first national championship game for our program here at the University of Maryland. And I'll tell you, these kids, these players, have taken us for a heck of a ride. We're just looking forward to continuing on with it. I think these players have shown time in and time out that they belong here. And from the moment that they stepped on campus they have shown that they had a big picture, one goal that they wanted to accomplish and they're one step away from achieving that goal. I want to thank all of our Maryland fans. The amount of support that we had here in the arena, that have come here, our fans back home, the incredible support, the phone calls, the e-mail, the buzz that's going on around Maryland athletics is something pretty special. Obviously tomorrow night we're going to have to come out, we're going to have to have a tremendous game plan against a very talented Duke team with a tremendous amount of depth and experience. And we're going to have to come out and obviously be able to defend and rebound against them.

Are Gators a tradition in the making?

2006-04-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Dissecting a UCLA defense that has held 11 of its last 12 opponents to 60 points or less is only part of the huge challenge Florida's basketball team faces at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis in tonight's NCAA Championship.
The Gators must also contend with college basketball's most storied tradition. UCLA has won 11 national championships, including a run of 10 in 12 seasons from 1964-75 under legendary coach John Wooden.
By contrast, Florida is playing in only its third Final Four and second championship game. Under Billy Donovan, the 2000 Gators, a No. 5 seed, beat Atlantic Coast Conference powers Duke and North Carolina in the tournament before losing the final 89-76 against Michigan State.
If Florida falls short against the Bruins, many Gators boosters will offer a toast before turning their attention to spring football in a Gainesville minute.
But there is little doubt Donovan's ability to recruit top players, motivate and devise outstanding game plans gives Florida an excellent chance to return to the Final Four. Heck, maybe next year - the Gators start four sophomores and a junior.
"Any time you go to the Final Four two times in seven seasons, you've done something special," ESPN analyst and Lakewood Ranch resident Dick Vitale said last week from Indianapolis.

Running with the Duke Devils

2006-04-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

It just wouldn’t be appropriate if the Terrapin women’s basketball team were to win a national championship without beating Duke in the NCAA tournament.
Tonight the No. 2-seeded Terps will have to get past the dreaded No. 1-seeded Blue Devils to win that elusive prize every team sets its eyes on at the beginning of the season. But it’s not the Duke of old — the one that beat the Terps 14 straight times — that the Terps will be facing. Instead it’s one the Terps have taken down, as recently as a month ago to the day.
“In the past, obviously, I just think Duke was better,” junior guard Shay Doron said as teammates Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne whipped their heads in Doron’s direction in disbelief. “And right now I think that it’s pretty even with the teams.”
But Doron was just stating the facts — Duke was better. Until the ACC tournament’s semifinals, they owned the Terps.

WOMEN'S NCAAS: Devils, Terps in all-ACC final

2006-04-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Duke shut down the smoothest scorer in women's college basketball, blowing Louisiana State away Sunday night to set up an all-ACC matchup for the NCAA title.
Mistie Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead Duke to a 64-45 victory over LSU in the NCAA tournament semifinal. Two-time Associated Press player of the year Seimone Augustus was scoreless in the first half but still finished with 14 points to lead the Lady Tigers.
"It was a team effort defensively," said Duke coach Gail Goestenkors, who was a standout at Waterford Kettering and Saginaw Valley State. "And it really takes a team to defend Seimone Augustus."
The Blue Devils (31-3) advanced to the championship game to play Maryland, which beat North Carolina, 81-70, in the earlier game. Duke went 2-1 against the Terrapins during the season, losing in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

ESPN's Lunardi: Tigers Must Reach ACC Finals

2006-04-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Tigers are 18-11 overall 7-9 in the ACC and enter the first round game on Thursday at noon against Miami on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 1964. So, should they beat Miami and then the Blue Devils on Friday, are they likely to get into the NCAA Tournament. “In a word, no,” said Lunardi, who has only missed one team over the last three years in his postseason predictions. “They’re not on anyone’s radar right now. There are 15 teams right now fighting for seven spots and I don’t even have them in my top 20. “That would theoretically get them to 9-9 in the league and then you’d be comparing them to all the other bubble teams in the league, Florida State and Maryland, as well as all the bubble teams in all the major conferences. They need those two games just to get into the discussion.”

Boston College Eagles Preparing For Montana

2006-04-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Boston College Eagles don’t need much of a sense of history to know that they can’t take 12th-seeded Montana lightly in Saturday’s second-round match-up in Salt Lake City, Utah. They have to look no further in the rear-view mirror than yesterday. On at least two occasions in overtime, 13th-seeded Pacific looked like a sure bet to end B.C.’s season prematurely. So this year’s Eagles already know all about how tough a double-digit seed can be.College kids need reinforcement, however, so B.C. coach Al Skinner might want to pull out the tape of last year’s second-round game with Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Panthers caught the Eagles off guard and rolled to an 83-75 upset win. Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s seed? A twelve. Same as tomorrow’s opponent, Montana. Since 1985, only twice has a 12th-seeded team failed to beat a 5th-seed in the first round. Montana came into this year’s NCAA Tournament as one of the twelve seeds not necessarily expected to pull off such an upset. So, in keeping with the tradition of March madness, that’s exactly what the Grizzlies did. They went wire-to-wire in eliminating a highly-touted Nevada team, 87-79.

North Carolina vs. Virginia

2006-03-13T12:53:00.000-08:00

The final box score practically screamed "North Carolina victory." The 10th-ranked Tar Heels shot 51 percent, held Virginia to 28 percent and won the rebounding battle 43-36.

Somehow, in a gritty game that had all the rhythm of a wrestling match, it simply wasn't that easy.

"We understand every game is not going to be pretty, we're not going to always win pretty," forward Reyshawn Terry said. "We just have to step up and be willing to take on the challenge when it comes."

No one did it better than him.

Terry had 24 points, freshman Tyler Hansbrough added 17 and North Carolina overcame a sluggish start to beat Virginia 79-67 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.

"I loved our toughness," coach Roy Williams said. "They've learned to listen to what I say and not be concerned if the vein in my neck or head is busting or anything like that. I liked our competitiveness, and I think it will help us."

David Noel finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels (22-6) won their eighth straight and 11th in the past 12 games. This was nothing like their 45-point rout of the Cavaliers last week, when North Carolina used the emotion of Senior Night to post the largest margin of victory in the 95-year history of the rivalry.

North Carolina State vs. Wake Forest

2006-03-13T12:50:00.000-08:00

Just a few weeks ago, Wake Forest looked like a team hoping for a merciful end to a miserable season. Now the Demon Deacons are savoring every moment in an unexpected ride into the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.

Eric Williams scored 20 points to lead Wake Forest past No. 25 North Carolina State 82-71 Friday's quarterfinals, giving the Demon Deacons their second upset of the Wolfpack in a week and earning their first trip to the semifinals in three years.

Senior Chris Ellis added a career-best 15 points for 12th-seeded Wake Forest (17-15), which faces third-ranked Duke on Saturday. The Demon Deacons are the first last-seeded team to win two games in the tournament since Virginia in 1977.

The Demon Deacons reached the quarterfinals with a 78-66 win against No. 5 seed Florida State, beating a team trying to shore up its NCAA prospects. Now, with another win against the suddenly reeling Wolfpack (21-9), they're playing their best basketball and brimming with a nothing-to-lose confidence after a disastrous regular season.

"We're excited," said Kyle Visser, who had 10 rebounds as part of a strong effort by a typically inconsistent supporting cast. "We have hope now. We were holding on to very little hope. That's a big thing for us. We see we can play as well as we can."

Wake Forest was ranked 18th in the preseason and picked to finish third in the ACC. But the Demon Deacons struggled after losing All-American point guard Chris Paul to the NBA, and seemed to have little depth behind all-league performers Williams and Justin Gray.

Williams and Gray each had their usual strong outings Friday against the tournament's fourth seed. Williams went 8-for-13 from the floor with eight rebounds, while Gray finished with 19 points and a career-best 10 assists, directing an offense that shot 53 percent.

Maryland-Florida St

2006-02-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

Al Thornton scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Wednesday night as Florida State defeated Maryland 71-60 to keep its NCAA postseason hopes alive.

Florida State (17-7, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) jumped to an 11-4 lead and stayed in control throughout to hand Maryland a setback that jeopardizes the Terrapins NCAA postseason hopes.

Thornton's 10 points and eight rebounds led Florida State to a 37-27 halftime lead, although the Seminoles were up by as many as 14.

Maryland (16-10, 6-7) pulled within six at 37-31 early in the second half, but Thornton keyed 21-7 Florida State run that put the Seminoles into a 58-38 lead midway through the final half.

The 6-7 Thornton hit 10 of 15 shots from the field and made both of his 3-point tries. Isaiah Swann joined Thornton in double figures with 12 points.

Florida State's win was its seventh in league play this season, its most conference victories in 13 seasons.

Nik Caner-Medley led Maryland with 19 points and Ekene Ibekwe added 15.

Florida State's Alexander Johnson, who had had five double doubles in his last seven games, played just two minutes in the first half because of foul trouble but finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Boston College-Virginia

2006-02-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary know they are the keys to Virginia's success. They also know the more help they get, the more the surprising Cavaliers will be expected to win regularly.

Reynolds scored 28 points, Singletary had 16 and several other players made key plays at both ends Tuesday night, leading Virginia past No. 11 Boston College 72-58.

``Everybody was feeling it tonight,'' said freshman Mamadi Diane, who hit three of Virginia's 12 3-pointers - including two in the second half when the Eagles tried to rally.

Having the confidence to take the shots has been difficult, he said, and something his teammates have implored him to do.

``Just getting those shots, it was basically like me alone in the gym,'' he said.

Laurynas Mikalauskas, playing with a protective mask on his face after breaking his nose and sustaining a concussion against Florida State on Saturday, scored only four points, but got them on a pair of baby hooks to help sustain Virginia's momentum.

He also helped contain the Eagles' bruising front line. Virginia held Jared Dudley to six points, nearly 11 below his average, on 2-for-8 shooting from the field.

And Tunji Soroye avoided the foul trouble that so often plagues him and had six points, seven rebounds and two blocks, immeasurably aiding the defensive effort.

``The team's growing up,'' Reynolds said. ``Maturity. Everybody's just learning and listening and carrying out their assignments. The whole team made plays tonight.''

The Cavaliers took control early, getting 16 points from Reynolds in a 26-6 first-half run thast opened a 31-13 lead. The Eagles took a timeout and responded with nine straight points, but Virginia never let them closer than 10 the rest of the way.

``We were tougher than a tough team,'' first-year Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao said.

Boston College shot 35 percent and had a five-game winning streak snapped.

The Cavaliers (14-10, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) led 38-28 at halftime and never let the lead shrink below 10 in the second half. Every time the Eagles seemed to be starting a run, someone for the Cavaliers made a play to stem the tide.

Diane's second 3-pointer gave Virginia a 53-38 lead, and the last made it 58-43 with 7:36 remaining. Singletary followed that one with one of his own, but said Reynolds was the key, starting with a deep 3-pointer he made during the first half.

``When he hit that, I knew he was going to be hot,'' Singletary said.

Reynolds finished 9-for-15 from the field, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers.

The Eagles (21-6, 8-5) had only lost to No. 1 Duke in their last 11 games, but missed their first eight shots and didn't match Virginia's need to win.

``Right from the very beginning it was clear that Virginia wanted the game,'' Boston College coach Al Skinner said. ``We did not at all meet their energy. I thought the game was physical and we did not respond to that.''

Virginia finished 12-for-21 on 3-pointers and shot 52 percent overall.

Craig Smith led Boston College with 22 points and nine rebounds, and joined Danya Adams as the only Eagles players with 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds.

Tyrese Rice, a freshman who starred at L.C. Bird High School in Richmond, added 10 points for the Eagles, but did all his scoring in the first half.

The loss prevented Skinner from breaking a tie with Jim O'Brien for the career victories lead at the school. Each coached 168 victories.

Wake Forest-Duke

2006-02-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

J.J. Redick's legacy is far from complete, yet he knows better than anyone it always will include his uncanny ability to make 3-pointers.

He made sure of that Tuesday night, when he became the NCAA's career leader.

The Duke senior moved to the top of the list with four more 3s on his way to 33 points, helping the second-ranked Blue Devils run away from Wake Forest 93-70 Tuesday night to remain undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

``I'll never be able to completely shed the label of just being a shooter, and that's fine with me,'' Redick said. ``It doesn't stop me from working on my game and trying to get better.''

Freshman Josh McRoberts had 12 of his 16 points in the first half and Shelden Williams also scored 16 for Duke (24-1, 12-0 ACC), which is in position to reclaim the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll next week following Connecticut's loss to Villanova on Monday night. Of course, the Blue Devils still must beat Miami later this week.

``I've tried not to focus on the records. I've tried to focus on what our team's doing,'' Redick said. ``We're having a heck of a season as a team, and that's been a lot of fun to be a part of.''

The Demon Deacons (13-12, 1-10) lost their seventh conference game in a row. Justin Gray led them with 18 points, while Eric Williams finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Yet the story of this game was Redick. He got two 3-pointers in the first 12 1/2 minutes to pass the mark previously held by Curtis Staples, who had 413 at Virginia from 1994-98. Redick added two more and now has 416.

Staples was in attendance and presented Redick with a game ball in a ceremony following the game.

``It's a special night, to set a national record is very neat and I'm proud,'' Redick said. ``To have Curtis here also was very nice. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, and we chatted a little bit before the game. He was very encouraging and that meant a lot to me.''

Redick's first long-range shot came nearly 7 minutes after the opening tip, when he burned defender Cameron Stanley with a step-back jumper. The next trip, Redick lofted a perfect lob pass to McRoberts for a dunk, and added another assist on the ensuing possession when the duo hooked up again for another jam by McRoberts.

The second one led to a three-point play, and Sean Dockery stepped out beyond the arc a few seconds later to give Duke a 26-11 lead. It was an 11-point game a few minutes later when Redick got the record.

``He knew that he was going to get the record, and so did we,'' Duke point guard Greg Paulus said. ``He's such a great shooter, he was going to get that couple.''

Using a screen by Lee Melchionni to lose Gray, he took a pass from DeMarcus Nelson for an open catch-and-shoot from the wing. The ball swished through, setting off a raucous celebration by the Cameron Crazies.

``It's his confidence level,'' Gray said. ``When he's shooting the ball like that, it's not really technique or none of that stuff. It all has to do with confidence and his confidence is through the roof right now.''

Redick wasn't done. He went to the other end and got a steal, which led to a three-point play and a 34-17 advantage. He had to sit through a media timeout before converting his free throw, and when he returned to the line, the crowd chanted, ``All-time leader!'' as his record was announced.

``I heard them right at the beginning of the timeout, and then I was able to block them out,'' Redick said with a smile.

He didn't acknowledge the applause but did take time to accept congratulations from Dockery and Nelson. The free throw was a mere formality for Redick, and he totaled at least 30 points for the fourth straight game, setting a new school record.

``I've never had anybody who had so many 30-point games,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``We're not always looking for him. We're trying to be balanced. He's just an incredible player.''

Even better, Redick passed Virginia's Bryant Stith for fourth on the ACC career scoring list, and he remained on pace to pass Dickie Hemric at the top of the list. Hemric had 2,587 for Wake Forest, and Redick now trails by 60 points with five games remaining in the regular season.

``I'm worried about the team,'' he said. ``Overall, you're going to be remembered for your team's successes. As long as we're winning games, I'm happy with whatever records I might break.''

The Blue Devils led by 14 at the break before Wake Forest briefly rallied. A tip-in by Kevin Swinton made it 54-43 before Duke responded with a 12-2 run - completed with a layup from Redick - and the Deacons never recovered.

``You know, I've pretty much got through the part of feeling sorry for myself and sorry for the team,'' Eric Williams said. ``The only thing we can do now is keep fighting. We've got to play it game by game. That's all we can do.''

Massachusetts-Florida St

2006-02-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

Alexander Johnson scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Sunday as Florida State pulled away in the second half to take a 73-63 victory over Massachusetts.

The 6-10 Johnson dunked on his own miss with 10:59 left to give the Seminoles a 47-45 lead - and they never looked back on their way to consecutive victories for the first time in a month, leading by as many as 16 at 72-56 with 2:53 left.

Johnson, who has had four double-doubles in the last five games, made 9 of 10 free throws, and the Seminoles connected of 19 of 21 tries at the line to go along with 48.9 percent shooting from the floor.

The Seminoles (15-6) clinched a winning season, but are scrambling for a NCAA postseason berth - still lacking a so-called ``quality'' win with a half-dozen Atlantic Coast Conference games remaining.

Florida State used a 12-0 midway through the game to build a 38-31 lead, but UMass (10-11) countered with a 14-4 run of its own capped by James Life's 3-point shot that gave the Minutemen a 45-42 lead with 13:13 left.

Life, a transfer from Manatee Community College who played his prep ball at Mariner High School in Leigh Acres, led UMass with 14 points. Jeff Viggiano added 11, Brandon Thomas and Dante Mulligan 10 apiece for the Minutemen.

Al Thornton finished with 16 for Florida State and senior point guard Todd Galloway had 11.

North Carolina-Miami

2006-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

The first half belonged to Tyler Hansbrough. His teammates did the rest during a second-half surge.

Hansbrough scored 25 points and Bobby Frasor made two key jump shots late in the game to lead No. 23 North Carolina to an 80-70 win over Miami on Sunday night.

Hansbrough went 11-for-17 from the floor, with many of those coming with Miami's big men in his face. He scored 16 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, but his teammates made the difference in the second half.

Hansbrough was on the bench for much of the biggest run for the Tar Heels (15-6, 6-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). With the game tied at 56 with 10:22 left, Frasor made a 3-pointer to ignite a 13-2 run that also included 3s from Wes Miller and David Noel.

Frasor sank consecutive jump shots to give North Carolina a 78-67 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining, helping hold off a late rally by Miami (14-10, 6-5).

``The only thing that's happened good for us is when we keep attacking,'' Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. ``When it was 56-56, we put the ball in the middle of the court two or three times in a row and got it to the basket.''

The Tar Heels are now fourth in the conference, vaulting ahead of Miami, which won 81-70 at North Carolina last month.

``Any win in the ACC on the road or at home is big for our conference record,'' Frasor said. ``I think we came in with a little bit of a chip on our shoulders since they came in and took one at our place, and we wanted to take one from them.''

Miami had entered the game leading the ACC in scoring defense at 62.5 points per game.

Reyshawn Terry battled foul trouble to score 18 points for North Carolina, which shot 55.4 percent from the field. Frasor added 13.

Guillermo Diaz had 21 points, Robert Hite scored 15 and Anthony Harris 12 for the Hurricanes. Hite electrified the sold-out crowd with an alley-oop dunk on a perfect pass by Diaz, while Diaz dazzled with step-back jumpers and aggressive drives through the lane.

But Miami struggled with North Carolina's diligent man-to-man defense in the second half.

``They turned up the pressure a little bit but we made some bad plays,'' Hite said. ``We didn't do the things we usually do to run our game plan.''

Both teams were looking to recover from difficult losses. The Tar Heels fell short in an 87-83 home loss to No. 2 Duke on Tuesday, while the Hurricanes lost 86-77 in double overtime to North Carolina State.

Hansbrough endured physical defense by Miami's big men to get most of his points in the paint despite frequent double teaming. He grabbed several tough rebounds and blocked a Harris layup. At one point, an official spoke privately with Miami's Anthony King and Hansbrough after a physical scramble for the ball.

``There was a couple of times the refs thought that we were going at it, but it's just a physical game as far as that,'' Hansbrough said.

Miami took its first lead of the game at 40-39 when Anthony King made two free throws with 19:22 to play. But a pair of foul shots by Terry at the other end gave North Carolina the lead.

The Hurricanes came right back, with Diaz hitting a 3-pointer to make it 43-41 Miami.

The Tar Heels kept up the pressure and eventually went in front for good. Hansbrough added another basket in the paint to give North Carolina a 51-47 lead with 16:11 left.

North Carolina led 39-38 at halftime.

Virginia-Maryland

2006-02-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Maryland made Gary Williams sweat before finally presenting the animated coach with a milestone victory.

How appropriate.

Williams became the winningest men's basketball coach in school history Tuesday night, earning victory No. 349 by guiding the Terrapins past Virginia, 76-65.

A flurry of activity on the sideline during games, Williams usually perspires through his suit by the final buzzer. This game was no exception, in part because the Terrapins yielded the first 13 points and trailed 51-42 with just over 10 minutes left before rallying to snap a three-game losing streak and lift Williams past Lefty Driesell on the school's win list.

``We had to dig deep and find a way to win,'' said Williams, who was overcome with emotion after team captain Nik Caner-Medley presented him with the game ball.

``Coaching was easy tonight because the game was so hard,'' Williams said. ``It sounds funny, but when you have to coach a game like that, you do whatever it takes to win.''

He's done plenty of it during a stellar coaching career highlighted by the national championship he won at Maryland in 2002. Williams is 349-185 since taking over the program at his alma mater in 1989. Including stops at American University, Boston College and Ohio State, his career record is 556-313 in 28 seasons.

``It was tough emotions-wise at the end of the game,'' he said. ``You really think how lucky you are.''

On the fourth try, the Terrapins (15-7, 5-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) finally got the win that Williams had been waiting for since Jan. 25.

``We wanted to win for Coach on the home court,'' said center Ekene Ibekwe, who had 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. ``It was a long time coming for him.''

D.J. Strawberry had a career-high 19 points for the Terrapins, who yielded only two baskets in the final 5 minutes.

J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary each scored 18 points, and Jason Cain had 11 points and 13 rebounds for Virginia (11-9, 5-5).

``My congratulations go out to the Maryland basketball program and especially to head coach Gary Williams,'' Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao said. ``There are only a few storied and tradition-laden programs in America. When you can call yourself the best at one of those schools, that's something that is not handed out often. He coaches with energy and passion. ... I admire him.''

It was 60-all before Ibekwe made a layup and Mike Jones hit a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run that enabled the Terrapins to pull away. Maryland has won five straight over Virginia and 12 of 13 at home.

The Cavaliers led 51-42 before successive baskets by Travis Garrison, James Gist and Ibekwe preceded a 3-pointer by Strawberry that brought the Terrapins even with 8 minutes left, the first tie since the opening tip.

After a Virginia misfire, Ibekwe got the rebound and was fouled. He sank both free throws to give the Terrapins their first lead, 53-51.

The Cavaliers went back on top before Strawberry hit a 3-pointer for a 56-55 lead. Jones then missed a breakaway reverse dunk, and Singletary nailed a 3-pointer for Virginia before Strawberry scored to tie it at 58.

Minutes later, the Terrapins pulled away.

Virginia held a 26-14 rebounding advantage at halftime, grabbing 10 on the offensive end, and limited Maryland to 31 percent shooting in taking a 38-30 lead.

During their stunning 13-0 run, the Cavaliers proved efficient from long range and underneath the basket. After Adrian Joseph and Singletary sank 3-pointers, Singletary scored off his own rebound before Cain and Joseph scored on putbacks to complete the opening salvo.

Maryland missed its first six shots and committed a turnover before Jones hit a 3-pointer with just under four minutes elapsed. Minutes later, Garrison made three baskets in a 12-3 spurt that got the Terrapins to 23-18.

But after closing to 28-25, Maryland went the final 2:55 of the half without scoring. The second half, however, was decidedly different.

``I had a feeling we were going to come back,'' Ibekwe said. ``We just put our intensity and emotion out in the second half.''

Afterward, Williams was the one displaying the emotion.

Duke-North Carolina

2006-02-08T10:54:00.000-08:00

J.J. Redick praised the defense he faced and gave himself passing marks for his own performance. Then he saved his highest praise for Duke's effort against its biggest rival.

``Very few teams playing on the road, in a big game like this, with such a big momentum swing, could have made enough plays to pull out a win,'' Redick said. ``I think we're one of those teams that's capable of doing that.''

The shooting star had 22 of his 35 points in the second half, freshman Josh McRoberts added a season-high 17 points and the second-ranked Blue Devils held off No. 23 North Carolina 87-83 Tuesday night.

Playing for the final time in the Dean Smith Center, Redick was 12-for-22 from the field - including five 3-pointers - and set a career high with four steals. Three of those led to breakaway layups.

``It's very satisfying to win the ballgame,'' Redick said. ``I guess I'm leaving here 2-2 at the Dean Dome, which is not bad. To go out with a win as a senior, it feels good.''

His previous best against the Tar Heels was 18 points, but he struggled with his shooting in the previous seven matchups (34 percent). There was no such problem in this one, and Redick saved his best for last.

With Duke (22-1, 10-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) clinging to a one-point lead, Redick calmly swished a 3 over Wes Miller to increase the margin with 1:54 remaining. He later added another with the shot clock winding down to make it a seven-point game.

``You've got to give J.J. credit,'' North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. ``He made two big-time shots.''

It was enough to hold off a furious rally by the Tar Heels (14-6, 5-4) and help the Blue Devils pick up their 16th victory in the past 19 games in this Tobacco Road rivalry. Yet the latest was far from easy.

The Blue Devils opened the second half with 12 straight points to take a 52-35 lead, and North Carolina made it pretty easy with six turnovers in that span. Redick started the run by jumping in the passing lane for a steal that led to a layup, and McRoberts had a big role, too.

He took a beautiful lob pass from Sean Dockery and dunked it over his head, then stepped outside to hit only his second 3-pointer of the season. On the other end, Greg Paulus dived on the floor to complete a steal, and Dockery made it pay off with another 3.

``We knew they were going to make a comeback, I don't even think we let up,'' McRoberts said.

The early second-half struggle prompted Williams to yank all five players off the court and replace them with Quentin Thomas, Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green, Byron Sanders and Mike Copeland. For Copeland, it was only the second time in the past seven games he has played.

It worked, too. Thomas drove down the lane to break the scoring drought, Sanders added another basket from in close and Thomas swished a jumper from the baseline. North Carolina sent the starters back in, and they continued the aggressive play.

David Noel made two free throws and Hansbrough converted four, helping the Tar Heels complete their own 12-0 run to get back in it. They eventually took a five-point lead on a free throw from Thomas before Redick had five quick points to tie it.

``They came back and when we lost the lead, I think we showed the spirit that I've sensed in this team throughout the year,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``We just have a good spirit that we're going to win. We kept our poise and hit some big shots.''

None more so than Redick's, which surprised none of his teammates.

``We've got J.J. Redick. You know he's going to make big shots,'' Dockery said.

North Carolina tried a variety of players on Redick, and somewhat predictably, none had too much success keeping him from scoring. Miller, who gave up 5 inches, probably had as much luck as anyone.

``I knew with him I could use my height and elevate over him,'' Redick said. ``But a couple of times as I was going up, he hit the ball, and I held onto it and still hit the shot. I thought he played good defense. He's pesky, he's gritty and he fights.''

Reyshawn Terry had 17 points for North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough added 14.

Dockery finished with 14 points and Shelden Williams scored 13 for the Blue Devils.

``It showed a lot for us,'' Hansbrough said. ``We were down 17, came back, made a big run and got right back in it. It shows what type of team we can be.''

Georgia Tech-Virginia Tech

2006-02-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

Deron Washington scored 21 points and made a free throw with a half-second remaining Tuesday night, lifting Virginia Tech to its second consecutive victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference, 63-62 against Georgia Tech.

The Hokies (12-9, 2-6 ACC) won despite missing their last eight field goal attempts after their last one with 7:15 left, and making just 4 of 8 free throws in that span.

The Yellow Jackets (9-10, 2-6) trailed 59-48 after Washington's dunk with 7:15 left, but rallied to pull even at 62 on Ra'Sean Dickey's layup with 50 seconds to play.

After Anthony Morrow stole the ball from the Hokies Zabian Dowdell, D'Andre Bell missed a 3-pointer for Georgia Tech with 2 seconds left, and Washington was fouled.

He made the first, just his third make from the line in seven tries, and turned into a hero only one game after being forced to sit out a one-game suspension enforced by athletic director Jim Weaver after he kicked a Duke player in the head.

The loss was the sixth in the row for the Yellow Jackets.

The Hokies, who broke their six-game ACC losing streak with a dramatic victory at Wake Forest on Saturday, again played without scoring and rebounding leader Coleman Collins, who was in Georgia with his family. Collins' father is critically ill.

The Hokies especially missed Collins down low, getting outrebounded 45-27, but once again, they got key contributions from several players to overcome being short-handed.

A.D. Vassallo, who had 29 points and 10 rebounds against the Demon Deacons, added 13 and six rebounds. Dowdell added 15 points, and Wynton Witherspoon scored 11.

Georgia Tech got 21 points from Dickey, who was 9-for-11 from the field, 13 from Bell and 12 points and 14 rebounds from Jeremis Smith. But they also struggled late, scoring just four baskets and 14 points when the Hokies went cold at the end.

The Hokies trailed 37-32 at halftime, but pulled even at 44 on Dowdell's 3-pointer with 13:36 to play. The Yellow Jackets rallied to tie it two more times before the Hokies used an 11-0 run to take their biggest lead on their final field goal.

Then, it was a matter of hanging on.

Wake Forest-Miami

2006-02-01T09:22:00.000-08:00

Robert Hite is on a roll. And so are his Miami Hurricanes.

Two days after scoring a season-high 31 points in an 84-78 overtime win at Florida State, Hite scored a game-high 25 points and equaled a career best with seven 3-pointers to lead Miami (13-8, 5-3) to a 78-69 Atlantic Coast Conference win over Wake Forest (12-9, 1-7).

``He's playing at an unbelievable level,'' Miami coach Frank Haith said. ``He's taken a lot of stuff about not playing big in big games, but he's our most consistent player this season. He's in a tremendous flow right now.''

``I'm just in a zone right now,'' Hite said.

Hite scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half, which saw Miami mount a 23-6 run after falling behind 41-35 in the first 1:17.

Hite connected on three consecutive 3-pointers, with the last one giving the Hurricanes a 49-43 lead with 15:24 remaining.

``Man, they made some tough shots,'' said Justin Gray, who led Wake Forest with 20 points but scored only three in the second half. ``The three-pointers can impact the game. Especially when you give them up in a row.''

Miami's lead swelled to 11 points after a runner by Denis Clemente made it 58-47 at 9:33.

Wake Forest pulled to within seven points twice, including 60-53 after a basket by Eric Williams at 7:00.

But Hite responded by drilling his fifth 3-pointer of the game from the left corner just 17 seconds later, and a runner by Guillermo Diaz put Miami up 65-53 at 6:43.

Wake Forest never got closer than nine points after that.

``We didn't respond back,'' Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. ``We had a run to start the half, they had a run back, and it was up to us to make a run back at them. We didn't have the wherewithal to do that.''

``Obviously, it's a great win for us,'' Haith said. ``I just think we're playing with good poise, good patience.''

Miami shot 52.1 percent from the field for the game, including 60.9 percent in the second half.

Hite hit on 7 of 11 field goals, including 7 of 10 3-pointers.

Guillermo Diaz and Anthony Harris, the other two members of Miami's vaunted three-guard rotation, scored 18 and 16 points, respectively.

``People were making shots tonight,'' Hite said.

``Give them credit, they made some tough shots,'' Prosser said. ``We played three or four different defenses, but at the end of the day, we didn't have an answer for the way they shot the ball.''

The loss marked the fourth straight and seventh in the past eight games for the Demon Deacons, who are in sole possession of last place in the ACC.

``It's not like we're getting blown out by forty or anything like that,'' Gray said. ``We're right there in the game. We've just got to get those guys on the ship and toughen those games out.''

Miami-Florida State

2006-01-30T09:49:00.000-08:00

Robert Hite scored eight of his season-high 31 points in overtime to lead Miami to an 84-78 victory over Florida State on Sunday.

Hite gave Miami the lead for good at 75-72 on a three point play with less than three minutes left in overtime.

Florida State narrowed the gap to 79-78, but a three point goal by Guillermo Diaz, with only a second left on the shot clock, sealed the victory with 18 seconds remaining. Hite then added a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.

Diaz added 24 points and Anthony Harris 13 for Miami (12-8, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference).

The Hurricanes shut out Al Thornton, Florida State's leading scorer, who was slowed by a knee injury suffered in the first half. Jason Rich led Florida State (12-5, 3-4) with 20 points while Alexander Johnson and Todd Galloway had 17 points each.

The teams traded the lead nine times and there were 10 ties. Miami's biggest lead was seven points while Florida State never led by more than five.

The Hurricanes took a 69-67 lead with 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation when reserve forward Raymond Hicks put back a missed shot by Diaz. Florida State forced the overtime when Rich lobbed an inbound pass to Alexander who put in layup with 0.1 second left.

Miami out rebounded Florida State 39-20 and was perfect on the free throw line in nine attempts. Florida State made 15 of 23 free throws. The Seminoles hit 51.9 percent of their shots from the field and the Hurricanes 50.8 percent.

Georgia Tech-Boston College

2006-01-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

During its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Boston College is learning as it goes.

Better study quickly, Eagles.

Craig Smith had 25 points and 13 rebounds as No. 20 Boston College beat Georgia Tech 66-64 on Sunday, the school's fourth consecutive win since opening their inaugural ACC season 0-3. The victory avenged the school's last-minute loss to Georgia Tech earlier this month and put the Eagles above .500 in the conference heading into Wednesday's game against No. 2 Duke.

``We knew them a little bit better,'' coach Al Skinner said of the Yellow Jackets, who beat BC (16-4, 4-3 ACC) on a last-minute 3-pointer on Jan. 8.

``The first game, we weren't really familiar with their personnel,'' Skinner said. ``Craig has played against certain guys his whole career. You get familiar with them and you understand what they can and can't do.

``We're learning 11 new teams. It's a learning experience for us.''

One game after beating North Carolina 81-74 in Chapel Hill - BC's first victory over a traditional ACC power since joining the league - the Eagles struggled to finish off Georgia Tech (9-9, 2-5). A more consistent effort will be needed when the Blue Devils come to Boston.

BC fans can hardly wait, counting down the final seconds of Sunday's game chanting, ``We Want Duke!''

``We're just trying to put our heads above water here,'' Skinner said. ``We put ourselves in a hole and we're just trying to get out of it.''

Ra'Sean Dickey scored 18 points and Clinch finished with 16 for Georgia Tech, which lost its fifth in a row - its longest losing streak in three years. Zam Frederick, who hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to beat BC last time, came on too late this time: He had just four points, and none until the final minute.

``They know when it's crunch time, they've got to get the ball to Craig Smith or they're getting the ball to Jared Dudley,'' Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. ``I appreciate watching them - unless you're on the other end of the bench.''

Smith, the conference's co-player of the week, had just six points in the first half but scored the first nine in the second when BC opened a 12-point lead with 13:57 to play. The Yellow Jackets scored the next 10 points, getting 3-pointers from D'Andre Bell and Lewis Clinch that made it 44-42.

Sean Marshall made two free throws, then Clinch hit another 3 to make it a one-point game.

But Theodis Tarver's pass was knocked away, and Louis Hinnant found Smith at the other end for a dunk. Marshall stole an entry pass and found Tyrese Rice on the outlet; he passed it across the lane to Smith on the fast break for another dunk and a 50-45 lead with 8:36 left.

BC made 14 of 16 free throws down the stretch, including 6-for-6 by Smith.

``I just knew that I've got to be a little more patient and it will come. In the second half, I wanted to assert myself,'' Smith said. ``We want to make a statement. Going 0-3, every game now is important for us.''

Georgia Tech made a mini-run at the end when Clinch hit a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left to make it 64-61. But Rice hit two free throws, and Clinch's 3-pointer at the buzzer didn't matter.

Niagara-Canisius

2006-01-18T11:46:00.000-08:00

Clif Brown came off the bench to score 25 points for Niagara as the Purple Eagles defeated Canisius 93-84 Tuesday night.

Brown, averaging just seven points in his last five games, was 7-of-9 from the floor in the first half and 4-for-5 on 3-point attempts alone. Niagara (6-9, 3-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic) extended its winning streak to three while snapping a four-game road losing streak.

Charron Fisher had 24 points and nine rebounds, going 12-of-18 from the free-throw line. Lorenzo Miles had 19 points and five assists for the Purple Eagles, while James Mathis had 15 points before fouling out.

Kevin Downey led Canisius (4-11, 3-4) with 23 points, while Corey Herring had 20 points and six assists. Darnell Wilson also contributed 16 points.

Niagara shot a blistering 60 percent in the first half, making seven 3-pointers for a 45-39 lead at halftime.

Canisius trimmed the lead to three with 3:18 left and had the momentum until Brown buried a 3-point shot at the three-minute mark. Then Barry Durosier drained his only basket of the game - a 3-pointer with 1:48 left - for a nine-point Niagara lead.

Niagara-Canisius

2006-01-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

Boston College-Holy Cross

2006-01-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

The first half was for the milestone. The second was for the victory.

Craig Smith had just two points at halftime - struggling to reach the 2,000-point milestone - before finishing with 19 points and a career-high 17 rebounds Tuesday night as No. 21 Boston College recovered from his slow start to beat Holy Cross 63-53.

Smith came into the game with 1,998 career points and needed four first-half free throws to reach the milestone. But he added 17 points and 12 rebounds in the second, when the Eagles (13-4) used a 9-0 run to break open a 39-39 game.

``I knew I was going to get double-teamed, so I was just trying to be patient,'' said Smith, the school's first preseason All-America selection. ``In the second half, I was like, 'Hey, I'm not scoring. I might as well get some rebounds. It was kind of frustrating, but in the back of my mind I knew it was going to open up.''

Smith is one of five BC players to top 2,000 points, joining Troy Bell, Dana Barros, Bill Curley and Danya Abrams. Only Curley and Abrams also had 900 rebounds in their careers.

``We haven't finished yet,'' BC coach Al Skinner said. ``But not only has he scored a lot of points, he's accumulated a lot of wins. To me, that's clearly more important than the points scored.''

Jared Dudley scored 12 to keep the Eagles in the game until they could unleash Smith. Kevin Hamilton scored 17 with seven rebounds and six steals for the Crusaders (9-9) while second-leading scorer Keith Simmons had just two points in 23 minutes because of cramps.

``I thought we did a good job on Craig in the first half,'' Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard said. ``When Simmons goes out, that was the turning point in the game. It's pick your poison. We can't guard Dudley in the post, and nobody can guard Craig in the post.''

Torey Thomas had 16 points for Holy Cross, following some great dribbling by making a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to tie the score at 39 with 12:38 left.

But BC scored the next nine points, with Tyrese Rice making a pair of free throws and then making a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a five-point lead. Colin Cunningham made a nice baseline move for Holy Cross but missed a layup, then Sean Williams hit a basket for Boston College.

Rice drew a charge on Thomas, who ran off the court to the locker room; he also had cramps, but returned.

That's when the game turned sloppy. Williams missed a dunk on a putback, but Holy Cross botched an open alley-oop at the other end. In all, the Crusaders went 5:58 without a point.

Smith didn't get his first basket until there was 6:18 left, making a baseline move for a layup. He followed that by converting a three-point play to make it 50-41 with 5:12 left, and he followed that by swatting one of Clifford's shots over the Crusaders bench.

Holy Cross still holds a 57-52 edge in the series that began in 1921, but the Crusaders' heyday of Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn has long since passed. Boston College has won 15 of the last 16 meetings against its cross-state rival.

BC won last year, 63-60 in overtime.

The game was moved from the on-campus Hart Center, which seats 3,600, to the larger DCU Center in downtown Worcester. But the crowd of 5,524 took longer to get into the game than Smith.

Boston College-Holy Cross

2006-01-18T11:10:00.000-08:00

NCarolina-Virginia Tech

2006-01-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

As the old man for No. 20 North Carolina, senior David Noel didn't do a great job of staying on the court against Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.

But even with their leader watching more than normal because of foul trouble, and with 9,847 fans in Cassell Coliseum imploring the Hokies to win, freshman Tyler Hansbrough and the rest of the Tar Heels did just enough to get a victory.

Hansbrough scored four of his 20 points in the final 1:07 and grabbed nine rebounds as the Tar Heels never lost the lead late and held on for a 64-61 victory, their 18th straight over the Hokies.

``It was really important,'' Hansbrough, who was 6-for-8 from the field and 8-of-9 at the line, said of keeping the lead. ``The crowd really got into it and they had a big effect. There were a couple of times there where I couldn't hear the whistle.''

That was less true after his shot gave the Tar Heels a 61-57 lead, and again after they kept the ball alive three times, again nursing a two-point lead, until Hansbrough calmly made two free throws to all but clinch it with 9.3 seconds left.

It was, Noel and coach Roy Williams agreed, a welcome escape.

``We didn't really play our game today,'' Noel said after the youthful Tar Heels turned the ball over 25 times, 14 in the second half. ``That's something that we're going to have to stop doing if we're going to get big wins in the ACC.''

Said Williams: ``You just want to win and get out of town in this league.''

North Carolina (10-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which started three freshmen, also got 10 points from Noel and nine from Reyshawn Terry, seven over the last 7:37.

Virginia Tech (10-6, 0-3) got 17 points from Wynton Witherspoon in his first start of the season and 13 from Zabian Dowdell, but failed to get key rebounds in the final minute, allowing North Carolina to win its fourth straight overall.

``We've got to be hungrier and play with just a little more chip on our shoulder to make a play at the end of the game,'' Hokies coach Seth Greenberg said.

The Hokies got an improbable chance to force overtime, but Deron Washington's desperate heave from the right corner hit the front of the rim.

North Carolina outrebounded the Hokies 39-26 and limited Coleman Collins, the No. 3 scorer in the ACC with a 17.9 average, to seven points and three rebounds.

Terry had a dunk and a 3-pointer around a driving layup by Dowdell, the 3-pointer making it 56-52, then hit two free throws after Witherspoon's basket pulled the Hokies to 57-56 with 4:04 left, whipping the home crowd into a frenzy.

Hansbrough's basket inside made it 61-57 with 1:07 left, and the Tar Heels held on, keeping the ball alive three times after a miss while nursing a 61-59 lead, and then getting it again when Terry missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left.

When Hansbrough was fouled on the same possession, he made both shots.

``They were the deeper team. That took its toll,'' said Dowdell, who played 38 minutes. All five Hokies starters played at least 32 minutes.

The Hokies opened the second half on a 16-7 run to take a 46-41 lead with 13 minutes left, but Hansbrough scored in the lane twice and Wes Miller hit two long 3-pointers in a 10-2 run that gave North Carolina a 51-48 lead with 9:26 to play.

The Tar Heels led 34-30 after a bruising first half that left Noel on the bench for the last 9:04 with three fouls and five other players with two fouls.

The Hokies started fast, taking a 19-9 lead after 4 1/2 minutes, then went cold when point guard Jamon Gordon went to the bench with his second foul. The Tar Heels quickly put together a 16-1 run over the next four minutes to lead 25-20 with 8:42 left.

``We let our guard down. We got comfortable,'' Witherspoon said. ``That's something we've got to work towards correcting.''

The Hokies were 0-for-7 with two turnovers during their drought.

Georgia Tech-Centenary

2006-01-11T08:48:00.000-08:00

Ra'Sean Dickey and Jeremis Smith scored 19 points apiece and Georgia Tech jumped to a big halftime lead, then held on to beat Centenary 85-69 Tuesday night.

The Yellow Jackets (9-4) opened with a 12-0 run and led 52-35 at halftime, but committed eight turnovers in the first nine minutes of the second half. Centenary (2-12) rallied to cut the deficit to 67-61 with 7:34 remaining.

Smith, who also had 10 rebounds, then scored five straight points, including a slam dunk, and Anthony Morrow hit a 3-pointer with 5:50 left as the Yellow Jackets made an 8-0 run. The victory was Tech's first on the road this season.

Chris Watson led the Gentlemen with 18 points, and Xavier Burnette added 16.

NC State-Boston College

2006-01-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Maybe this Atlantic Coast Conference thing wasn't such a good idea for Boston College after all.

Cedric Simmons scored 17 points on 6-for-6 shooting to lead No. 18 North Carolina State to a 78-60 victory over 15th-ranked BC on Tuesday night, dropping the Eagles to 0-3 in their new conference.

``It's definitely embarrassing to come out here for our first ACC game (at home), and to be 0-3,'' said BC forward Jared Dudley, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. ``I expected to do well in this league. We're 0-3, but we're going to get wins in this league.''

Cameron Bennerman scored 14 points and Tony Bethel went 4-for-6 from 3-point range with seven rebounds for N.C. State (13-2, 2-1). Forward Ilian Evtimov was in foul trouble much of the game and didn't score in 19 minutes.

``The best part of our offense tonight, if you want to simplify it, is that we were able to score in a variety of ways,'' coach Herb Sendek said. ``We have a balanced team.''

The Wolfpack lost to North Carolina on Saturday to snap a seven-game winning streak. They play four ranked teams in a span of six games, finishing with No. 1 Duke next Wednesday.

``As soon as the game was over, guys were ready to get on the bus, get to BC,'' Bethel said. ``It shows the character of our team, to win at BC, a nationally ranked team, on the road. That's what great teams do, they're able to bounce back.''

Craig Smith scored 14 points for BC (11-4). But he and Dudley were 11-for-34 from the field and the Eagles shot just 33 percent to lose their second straight game; they fell to 0-3 against ranked teams.

``This is one that's just going to have to be forgotten,'' BC coach Al Skinner said. ``Tonight's game, there's nothing we did well. Previous games, we put ourselves in position to win. There's nothing tonight on the stat sheet I can look at as a positive.

``As much as I hate to say it, this tape goes in the trash. There's nothing in it for us.''

BC started last season - its last in the Big East - 20-0. But during the summer the school completed its drawn-out defection to the ACC.

``I think we have time to recover. It's not like we're 0-10,'' Skinner said, adding, ``Hopefully that's not a prediction.

``We're definitely going to get better. It's unfortunate that we took some losses on the way.''

BC's first two conference losses were both by two points.

But this one wasn't even close.

``We knew it was going to be a tough evening,'' Skinner said. ``We just didn't think it was going to be like this.''

BC missed 16 of its first 19 shots and trailed 32-28 at halftime. N.C. State opened the second half with an 11-0 run as the Eagles missed their first eight shots. Simmons scored five points in the run and Bethel hit a 3-pointer.

Dudley made a free throw and then hit a 3 from the left corner to make it 45-34 and give BC a burst of energy. Sean Marshall hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 49-40 with 12:45 left.

But Bennerman answered with a dunk, then scored again driving to the basket to make it a 17-point game.

N.C. State shot 63 percent (26-for-41) from the field, including 60 percent (10-for-17) from 3-point range.

Duke-Wake Forest

2006-01-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Trent Strickland ran all over the court, darting through screens and trying anything to stop J.J. Redick. Still, the Wake Forest swingman managed little success for his effort.

And when it was over, he tried to explain what it's like to guard Duke's star scorer.

``It's like being in traffic in Atlanta, and it's 110 degrees, that's how it is,'' Strickland said. ``It's tough, but some kind of way, you've got to fight through it.''

No one did quite enough for the Demon Deacons.

With old nemesis Chris Paul watching from a front-row seat, Redick scored 32 points to help the top-ranked Blue Devils hold off Wake Forest 82-64 Sunday night, leaving Duke as one of only three unbeaten teams in Division I.

No. 5 Florida and No. 22 Pittsburgh are the others, and the Blue Devils (14-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) joined them by becoming the first ACC team to win a conference game on the road this season.

Lee Melchionni added 17 points for Duke, which played a large part of the game without star center Shelden Williams. He picked up his third foul with about 5 minutes left in the first half, then got his fourth soon after the break. Williams played only 17 minutes but hardly was missed, thanks mostly to Redick.

``We had some adversity, what with the foul trouble,'' Redick said. ``But we had some guys who stepped up, not just with their shooting but in the way they played without the ball. With Sheldon out, we had to work the ball around.''

Redick finished 12-of-21 from the field - 5-of-13 on 3-pointers - against a variety of defenses used by the 23rd-ranked Demon Deacons (11-3, 0-1). A handful of players tried guarding Redick man-to-man, and when that failed, they went to a seldom-used triangle-and-two.

``I give it to him, he lit me up for 32 points,'' Strickland said. ``There was nothing I could do but try to play good defense. It wasn't good enough for him.''

Redick scored at least 30 points for the fifth time this season and moved into fourth on the career scoring list at Duke, passing Mark Alarie and Danny Ferry while closing in on Mike Gminski for third place.

``When we can shoot like that and play defense the way we did in the second half, we're going to be all right,'' Redick said.

Wake Forest center Eric Williams took advantage of Shelden Williams' absence to score 17 points, and Justin Gray matched that total. It still wasn't enough for the Deacons, who honored Paul at halftime as the school's male athlete of the year.

Before the game, the New Orleans Hornets rookie guard took the court along with former teammates Taron Downey and Jamaal Levy to urge the crowd to be as raucous as possible. Paul then moved to a seat among the fans in the first row across from Duke's bench, looking dapper in a dark suit.

In the end, none of it mattered.

``J.J. was spectacular, of course,'' Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``We needed him to do that, and we feel very fortunate to win. We know they're really good, and whenever you beat a really good team, it's an accomplishment.''

Wake Forest had its best chance at a comeback early in the second half, when four consecutive points from Gray cut the deficit to three. Greg Paulus got loose for a layup on the other end, and later, when Redick missed a 3, Strickland had a breakaway that would have made it 53-50.

But he missed a reverse dunk, and Redick - who else? - swished a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.

``I thought our game plan against him was solid, but we didn't execute it,'' Deacons coach Skip Prosser said. ``He had 19 in the first half. As much as we did to take him away, we didn't play well enough.''

Later, with the shot clock winding down, freshman Josh McRoberts took only his second shot of the season from beyond the arc. It caught nothing but net, and suddenly the Blue Devils were up 11 and cruising.

``I'm confident in shooting them, but I haven't really showed that this year,'' McRoberts said. ``I probably wouldn't have taken it if there wasn't 1 second left on the shot clock. I was just glad to see it go in.''

Duke also got a spark from the return of DeMarcus Nelson, who missed the previous nine games with a broken ankle. He had two points in limited playing time.

``I had not planned to use DeMarcus, but they said if there was an emergency, we could use him,'' Coach K said. ``There were only about 10, so we used him every time we had one. He's not there yet, but just having him out there on the court meant a lot.''

NCAA Basketball 3

2006-01-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

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Duke-Indiana

2005-12-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Mike Krzyzewski needed J.J. Redick to do even more than usual.
With Shelden Williams and Josh McRoberts in foul trouble, Indiana's Marco Killingsworth dominating the middle and the game starting to slip away, Krzyzewski went to his toughest player and watched him dismantle Indiana's defense.
Redick scored 29 points, including six during a critical late stretch, as No. 1 Duke held off the 17th-ranked Hoosiers 75-67 in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night.
``The will to win, I mean that one drive he had for the three-point play that, whoosh! He just willed that sucker in,'' Krzyzewski said. ``I'm glad he's on my bus or I'm on his bus or whatever.''
For Redick, it was just a typical game. He shot 10-for-17, including four 3s, had five assists and four rebounds. Uncharacteristically, the Blue Devils (6-0) needed every one of his plays against Killingsworth - and a hostile Indiana crowd - to stay perfect.
Killingsworth, a fifth-year senior who transferred from Auburn, was virtually unstoppable inside. He scored a career-high 34 points in 34 minutes, was 15-of-20 from the field, had 10 rebounds, two blocks and single-handedly got the Blue Devils' two top interior players - Williams and McRoberts - into foul trouble early in the second half. He even hit a 3-pointer during an 11-0 run that gave Indiana its first lead of the game at 59-58.
The difference was, Redick had more help.
Williams finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Greg Paulus added 13 points and Lee Melchionni had 12 in a reserve role.
The only other Indiana player in double figures was Marshall Strickland with 11 as the Blue Devils tried to keep the Hoosiers (3-1) from shooting 3s. Indiana played without starting forward D.J. White, last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, who is out with a broken left foot.
``Our game plan is to go inside anyway, so if they're going to let Marco score 40 or 50, he'll score 40 or 50,'' Indiana coach Mike Davis said.
The atmosphere was wild.
Indiana students painted their faces and bodies, bounced up and down like the Cameron Crazies and turned Assembly Hall, at the urging of the athletic department, into a sea of white rather than its usual red.
Celebrities ranging from Jerry West to Edgerrin James attended. Colts president Bill Polian was there, too.
And the crowd was primed for an upset. Chants began more than 20 minutes before tip-off and one sign read ``No White, No Knight, No Problem,'' a reference to Indiana's injured forward and the Hoosiers' former coach.
But the Hoosiers, some of whom Davis said couldn't sleep Tuesday night, were too tight. They threw the ball away four times in the first 3:09 and had to rally from a 16-2 deficit.
``For us to come out the way we did tonight, I was disappointed in that,'' Davis said. ``But I was not disappointed in our effort for the final 35 minutes.''
The noise also seemed rattle Duke several times, and Krzyzewski called it the loudest environment he'd experienced, aside from Cameron Indoor Stadium, when Indiana took the lead with 7:43 to go on Killingsworth's one-handed dunk.
``Wow! What a great game,'' he said. ``What an amazing atmosphere. A lot of teams will lose at that point, but I thought our kids were stronger.''
It almost didn't turn out the way Krzyzewski expected.
The frantic pace got Duke into foul trouble and the Blue Devils committed 19 turnovers.
Indiana capitalized in the second half when it charged back from a 44-35 halftime deficit to take the lead.
Then Duke went to Redick. He set up Williams for three straight baskets, then finished the 9-4 run with a 3-pointer that made it 67-63 with 4:43 left.
After Strickland hit two free throws for the Hoosiers, Redick drove in for a nifty layup, faking out one Indiana defender, and hit a free throw to give the Blue Devils control with a 70-65 lead.
The Blue Devils sealed the victory by shooting 5-for-6 from the line in the last 43 seconds.
``J.J. just refuses to lose,'' Krzyzewski said. ``He's one of the amazing players to play at Duke. That kid is really tough.''
Duke was the first nonconference team to come to Assembly Hall with the No. 1 rank and avoided a second straight upset to the Hoosiers. Indiana won the last meeting in the 2002 NCAA regional semifinals when Duke also was ranked No. 1.

DePaul-Wake Forest

2005-12-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Jerry Wainwright finally had a successful return to Wake Forest.

Sammy Mejia scored a season-high 24 points - including a basket to answer a late Wake Forest run in the final seconds - and DePaul beat the 16th-ranked Demon Deacons 84-81 on Tuesday night to snap their 21-game home winning streak.

Draelon Burns added a career-high 22 points in his first start of the season for the Blue Demons (5-3), who gave Wainwright his first win in six tries against the program where he spent nine seasons as an assistant.

Eric Williams scored 24 points for the Demon Deacons (7-2), who looked rusty after an extended layoff en route to the rare home loss. Wake Forest was tied with Utah for the nation's fifth-longest home winning streak and had won 28 straight home nonconference games.

Wainwright was an assistant at Wake Forest from 1985-94 under Bob Staak and Dave Odom before taking over at North Carolina-Wilmington. He spent eight seasons there and three seasons at Richmond, with his teams playing the Demon Deacons in each of the past four seasons.

His Richmond teams had lost games by an average of 16 points here in each of the past two seasons. This time - thanks largely to Mejia and Burns - he was able to leave with a win.

``The biggest thing, when you play teams like this, you've got to stand in the middle of the ring,'' Wainwright said. ``You cannot get on your heels. I told them before the game, 'We're going to get knocked down, you've got to get back up.' And I thought the kids did a good job of that.''

Mejia came in averaging a team-high 14 points, and shot 9-for-15 with three 3-pointers. He also played tough defense against Wake Forest's Justin Gray, an all-Atlantic Coast Conference performer who finished with 12 points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Meanwhile, Burns got the start because second-leading scorer Karron Clarke was sidelined after spraining his right ankle at Monday's practice. The sophomore finished 8-for-14 from the field and hit three 3s after averaging almost eight points off the bench.

``I didn't get the word that I was starting until today, but I kind of figured that's what would happen,'' Burns said. ``I wasn't nervous to step up tonight.''

The tandem took advantage of a Wake Forest team that had not played since a 78-59 win over Elon on Dec. 3, and didn't practice as a team last week due to exams. The rust showed as the Demon Deacons were outrebounded for the first time this season.

They also allowed DePaul to shoot 52 percent - the first time an opponent had shot 50 percent this year - and hit just 19 of 32 free throws.

Gray wasn't the only one of Wake Forest's top players to struggle. Trent Strickland came in averaging 16 points and nine rebounds, but finished with 12 points and four rebounds on 4-for-9 shooting.

And Williams just couldn't turn a very good performance into a dominating one. He was virtually unstoppable inside, scoring 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the first 3 1/2 minutes, but he finished just 6-for-14 at the line.

``They came out from the jump wanting to win,'' Strickland said. ``They crashed the boards hard, they did everything a lot harder than we did. ... They just wanted this game harder than we did tonight.''

DePaul went ahead to stay when Cliff Clinkscales left Harvey Hale standing with an excellent crossover dribble and drove to the basket for a 52-50 lead with about 14 minutes left. That started a seven-point spurt by the Blue Demons, who maintained that lead the rest of the game.

Trailing 78-67 with 2:53 left, the Demon Deacons made a late push to close within 80-78 on Michael Drum's 3-pointer with 46 seconds left. But - as he had done all night - Mejia answered. With his team holding the ball and the shot clock winding down, Mejia drove on Strickland and knocked down a turnaround jumper with 12 seconds left for an 82-78 lead.

Mejia then added two free throws after being fouled on a rebound of a missed 3-pointer by Gray to seal the win.

Michigan St-Boston College

2005-12-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

Michigan St. 77, No. 6 Boston College 70

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was quick to put himself in the running for the understatements of the young college basketball season.

The 14th-ranked Spartans handed No. 6 Boston College its first loss of the season, 77-70 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic.

Michigan State shot 77.3 percent (17-for-22) in the second half and the Spartans, who entered the game shooting 81 percent from the free throw line went 15-for-18 from there, including making all eight in the final 1:07 after the Eagles had pulled within 69-67.

``We executed better in the second half than in the first,'' Izzo said before adding a comment about the foul shots, ``we've been a very good free throw shooting team.''

Insight like that is tough to come by.

Maurice Ager had 17 of his 22 points in the second half and Paul Davis scored 14 of his 18 in the final 20 minutes as the Spartans (6-2) improved to 2-1 this season against teams ranked in the Top Ten.

Michigan State lost to then-No. 8 Gonzaga in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational and beat then-No. 9 Arizona a day later for third place in the eight-team tournament.

``We didn't play great but we played good enough to win,'' Izzo said. ``This was a step. How big a step? It's too early to tell.''

The Spartans were locked in a close one with the Eagles (6-1) until an 18-4 run gave Michigan State a 54-41 lead with 9:45 to play. There were seven lead changes and one tie in the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the second half. Then freshman Marquise Gray's three-point play gave the Spartans the lead for good, 39-37, and started the big run.

Craig Smith scored 17 points in the first 27 minutes of the game, but with Davis playing strong inside defense, the 6-foot-7 senior forward had just one more point the rest of the way.

``In the first half we did the things we needed but the game has to be played for 40 minutes,'' Boston College coach Al Skinner said. ``That separation they created in the second half was the difference in the ballgame. We made a couple of mistakes. I didn't think they did anything differently, they just continued to do what they wanted to do.''

Michigan State missed just one shot from the field in the opening 13 minutes of the second half and was 28-for-52 (53.8 percent) for the game.

Boston College had one final run, closing within 69-67 with 1:22 left on a 3-pointer by Sean Marshall.

But the Spartans then showed their ability at the free throw line.

Jared Dudley had 23 points for the Eagles, while Marshall had 16. Smith had nine rebounds and Boston College finished with a 32-25 advantage on the boards.

``We played well in spurts and I thought we hurt them with our transition game,'' Izzo said. ``We weren't rebounding well enough to get any breaks going in the first half. Rebounding is our Achilles' heel right now.''

Skinner said the Spartans' second-half shooting performance came through a number of factors.

``Our lack of size, foul trouble and great execution on their part,'' he said. ``We did not defend as well as we needed to and they made a point of attacking the basket.''

Saint Joseph's beat Kansas 70-67 in the opener of the doubleheader at Madison Square Garden that raises money for the V Foundation which was started in the memory of Jim Valvano, the former coach at North Carolina State, and provides funding for cancer research.

Michigan St. Spartans - Boston College Eagles Goals Total 1 2 3 OT Shootout
Michigan St. Spartans 77
Boston College Eagles 70

George Washington-Maryland

2005-12-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

T25-George Washington-Maryland
No. 19 George Washington 78, No. 21 Maryland 70

George Washington coach Karl Hobbs isn't interested in stealing headlines from local rival Maryland.

Duplicating the traditional success of the Terrapins would suit him just fine, and the Colonials took a large step in that direction Monday night.

Reserve Maureece Rice scored a career-high 19 points and Mike Hall had 14 points and 12 rebounds, leading No. 19 George Washington past 21st-ranked Maryland 78-70 in the BB&T Classic.

Danilo Pinnock also scored 19 points for the Colonials (5-0), off to their best start since 1992. George Washington has won four of the last six meetings between the local rivals, including two straight.

For Hobbs, however, this wasn't about bragging rights.

``We're trying to be D.C.'s college basketball team. We're trying to get ourselves in position for a special season,'' he said.

And Hobbs would love to see the Colonials have a run like the Terrapins experienced under coach Gary Williams, who guided Maryland into the NCAA tournament over 11 consecutive years, including the 2002 national championship, before coming up short last season.

``We're trying to copy Coach Williams. Eleven straight NCAA tournaments,'' Hobbs said. ``I'll be happy with three straight.''

The Colonials made it last year, and Monday night they looked capable of making a return trip, outrebounding Maryland 41-40 and forcing 25 turnovers.

``We wanted to make them have to make decisions at quick speed,'' Hobbs said. ``I thought that was the difference.''

Chris McCray scored 21 points and James Gist had 11 for Maryland (5-2), which couldn't overcome a spirited performance by the Colonials in the one-day tournament that featured three games involving Washington-area teams.

``You're going to turn it over. The thing is, you've got to stop the other team,'' Williams said. ``We made it tough on ourselves with so many turnovers.

``I'm disappointed in myself. I've got to do a better job; that's what it comes down to,'' he added. ``We didn't execute well tonight.''

It was 51-all before Hall made a putback, Carl Elliott added a tip-in and Pinnock followed with a dunk to give the Colonials the lead for good. The teams then traded baskets before GW forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu fouled out with 6:43 to go.

That left the Colonials without their star big man, and Maryland's Nik Caner-Medley and Ekene Ibekwe immediately followed with a layups to get the Terrapins to 63-62.

But Maryland never could complete the comeback. Pinnock scored on a drive and Omar Williams made two free throws to start an 8-1 run that made it 71-63 with 2:35 remaining.

At that point, the Terrapins fans began filing out of the MCI Center and the Colonials began celebrating.

``We didn't come into the game looking at it as a big of a challenge as everybody made it out to be,'' Hall said. ``It was just a great win and a great atmosphere.''

A driving layup by Rice, a sophomore guard, and two free throws by Pinnock put George Washington up 44-35 with 15:47 left. One minute later, however, Mensah-Bonsu got his fourth foul and went to the bench.

It was 48-42 before McCray hit three 3-pointers over a 44-second span, lifting the Terrapins into a tie at 51.

That set the stage for the pivotal 6-0 run that put George Washington in control.

The Colonials shot 29 percent in the first half, but forced 14 turnovers in taking a 34-29 lead.

After GW scored the game's first five points, Maryland got two baskets apiece from D.J. Strawberry and Gist in a 10-0 run capped by two free throws by Travis Garrison.

It was 14-6 before the Colonials got their first basket in more than 6 1/2 minutes, a follow by Hall that sparked a 12-3 spurt that gave George Washington an 18-17 lead. Minutes later, Rice hit a 3-pointer among three straight Maryland turnovers to make it 26-21.

The margin swelled to six points before a technical foul on Elliott enabled the Terrapins to cut into the deficit. But Hall nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

George Washington Colonials - Maryland Terrapins Goals Total 1 2 3 OT Shootout

George Washington Colonials 78
Maryland Terrapins 70