Times wires
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
DURHAM, N.C. — Nolan Smith scored 22 of his career-high 34 in the second half, and No. 5 Duke rallied from 16 points down to beat No. 20 North Carolina 79-73 Wednesday night.
Seth Curry added a season-high 22 points for the Blue Devils (22-2, 9-1 ACC).
Duke trailed 43-27 in the final minute of the first half and was down 14 at halftime before clamping down on the Tar Heels, outscoring them 50-30 in the second half to keep hold of first place in the league.
Tyler Zeller had 24 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and former Sickles High standout John Henson added 14 points for North Carolina (17-6, 7-2), which had its five-game winning streak snapped and lost for the third straight time in the rivalry.
Kyle Singler had 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting for Duke but hit three important free throws in the final minute, two with 25.2 seconds left to make it 75-70 after North Carolina had made it a one-possession game.
Then, after Kendall Marshall hit a free throw to pull UNC within four with 17.2 seconds left, Smith raced downcourt for a breakaway dunk.
NO. 3 TEXAS 68, OKLA. 52: Jordan Hamilton had 20 points for the visiting Longhorns (21-3, 9-0 Big 12), who are 9-0 in league play for the first time since doing it in the Southwest Conference 23 years ago.
NO. 7 BYU 90, AIR FORCE 52: Jimmer Fredette had 25 points to reach 20 for the 10th straight game for the visiting Cougars (23-2, 9-1 Mountain West).
NO. 8 NOTRE DAME 89, NO. 16 LOUISVILLE 79, OT: Ben Hansbrough had 25 points and Carleton Scott nine of his 16 in overtime to lead the host Fighting Irish (20-4, 9-3 Big East), who scored the first 14 of OT to beat the Cardinals (18-6, 7-4).
RUTGERS 77, NO. 9 'NOVA 76: Jonathan Mitchell's four-point play with less than a second left capped a career-best 25-point performance as the Scarlet Knights stunned the Wildcats (19-5, 7-4 Big East).
NO. 11 G'TOWN 64, NO. 12 SYRACUSE 56: Four players scored in double figures for the Hoyas (19-5, 8-4 Big East), who rallied to win their seventh straight and hand the Orange (20-5, 7-5) its third straight home loss.
NO. 13 WIS. 62, IOWA 59, OT: Jon Leuer had 19 points for the Badgers (18-5, 8-3), who barely survived a road test against the Big Ten's worst team.
NO. 22 TEXAS A&M 73, COLORADO 70, OT: Nathan Walkup had 18 points and B.J. Holmes hit a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left to force overtime as the visiting Aggies (18-5, 5-4 Big 12) snapped a three-game skid.
NO. 24 TEMPLE 77, FORDHAM 66: Ramon Moore had 22 points to lead the host Owls (18-2, 8-2 Atlantic 10) to their fifth straight win.
State
MIAMI 74, WAKE 73: Reggie Johnson hit two free throws with four seconds left, and the Hurricanes (15-9, 4-6) survived a rimmed-out 3-pointer at the buzzer to snap a 13-game ACC road losing streak.
MEMPHIS 63, UCF 62: Antonio Barton hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left as the Tigers rallied to hand the host Knights (14-8, 1-8 C-USA) their eighth straight loss.
ECKERD 84, TAMPA 79: Dale Carn had 17 points and 12 rebounds as the visiting Tritons (16-6, 7-5 Sunshine State) avenged a loss at home to the Spartans (18-5, 7-5) last month.