Friday, February 09, 2007

Tar Heels Get Wednesday Road Win at Duke

The two games featuring Top 25 matchups were both won by the higher-ranked teams on Wednesday night. #5 North Carolina defeated #16 Duke, 79-73, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke lost their third straight game and are 3-3 at home against ACC foes.

Duke's loss sent them into a fifth-place logjam in the ACC standings at 5-5 with Clemson and Florida State. Virginia and Boston College lead the conference at 8-2. The Blue Devils close out their regular season at North Carolina on March 4.

Out West, #2 UCLA overcame a 7-point second half USC lead to win their 18th straight at home, 70-65. The Bruins finished last season with 3 straight home wins and haven't lost in 15 games at Pauley Pavilion this season. UCLA improved to 21-2 (10-2, Pac-10), retaining their hold on first place in the conference. They also completed a season sweep of their crosstown rival, having already topped the Trojans 65-64 on Jan. 13.

Top 25 road winners:

#1 Florida 71 Georgia 61 - The Gators extended the nation's longest winning streak to 15 games.

#4 Wisconsin 74 Penn St. 58 - Alando Tucker: 24 points, 8 rebounds.

#7 Pittsburgh 60 West Virginia 47 - Pitt is now 9-1 in the Big East, 1st place.

#22 Georgetown 73 Louisville 65 - The efficient Hoyas completely dominated the interior with their size advantage. Center Roy Hibbert scored 20 points on 9-10 shooting and hauled in 11 rebounds. Forward Jeff Green had 16 (7-10) and 7 boards. Georgetown shot 57% to Louisville's 33%. Despite the shooting disparity, good ball control (1 turnover) allowed the Cardinals to stay close.

Top 25 home winners:

#9 Kansas 97 Kansas St. 70 - Brandon Rush: 18 points.

#11 Marquette 67 Rutgers 47 - 8th straight Big East win for the Golden Eagles. Their 8-2 record trails Pitt by one game.

#18 Alabama 80 Mississippi St. 79 - Richard Hendrix: 22 points. Alabama keeps things interesting, winning their 5th SEC game overall and the 4th by 3 points or less. They now have the lead in the SEC West by one game and are the only team in their division with a winning record at 5-4.

#20 Kentucky 95 South Carolina 89 Kentucky: 25-33 free throws; S. Carolina 11-16.

#21 Southern Illinois 60 Bradley 50 - Salukis' Randall Falker: 13 points, 12 rebounds; 6th double-double of season. Creighton visits So. Illinois Saturday.

Top 25 losers:

Oklahoma 67 #17 Oklahoma St. 60 - 18-5 Cowboys drop to 6th in the Big 12 at 4-4.

No comments: