Wayne Ellington and Deon Thompson led a second-half surge and No. 1 North Carolina held Ohio State without a field goal for almost 11 minutes in a 66-55 victory last night in Columbus, Ohio.
Ellington, averaging 17 points per game, scored 23 and Thompson had 14, most at critical times for the Tar Heels (6-0). Tyler Hansbrough was just 6 for 19 from the field and had 13 points and 11 rebounds in one of the premier matchups of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Freshman Jon Diebler came out of a shooting slump to score 19 points for Ohio State (4-2), which had won six of its last seven games against No. 1 teams. Jamar Butler added 17 points.
UCLA 83, George Washington 60 - Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds and freshman Kevin Love added 11 points and 11 rebounds as the host Bruins (6-0) rolled over the visiting Colonials (2-1).
Kansas 87, Florida Atlantic 49 - Brandon Rush scored 17 points and the No. 4 Jayhawks (6-0) routed the visiting Owls, which was a rude welcome for former KU player Rex Walters.
One of the more popular players of the Roy Williams era at Kansas, Walters is in his second season as coach of Florida Atlantic (1-6), which was without leading scorer Paul Graham (team suspension).
Several signs welcoming Walters back popped up in the crowd. He was a top player on two Big Eight championship teams and helped lead the Jayhawks to the 1993 Final Four. "I have said all along that the people are what makes this state and Kansas basketball so special," Walters said. "It means an awful lot to me for them to show that much respect and love. Then, unfortunately, we had to play a basketball game."
Georgetown 66, Old Dominion 48 - Roy Hibbert (14 points, 10 rebounds) and the No. 5 Hoyas got all they could handle from the Monarchs (3-4) and jazzed-up Gerald Lee before pulling away in Norfolk, Va.
The Hoyas (4-0) got 4 points each from Jonathan Wallace and Patrick Ewing Jr. and 3 from Hibbert in an 11-1 run to start the second half, opening a 41-24 lead with 16 minutes to play and diffusing the excitement that lasted through the first half.
Lee, a 6-foot-9-inch sophomore, was the major reason for it, outplaying the 7-2 Hibbert for the first 20 minutes. He had 16 points and eight rebounds (seven offensive) by halftime. Lee finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs.
Texas 98, Texas Southern 61 - Damion James had 19 points and 10 rebounds as the No. 8 Longhorns ran their record to 6-0 for only the second time in coach Rick Barnes's 10 seasons with a convincing win over the visiting Tigers (1-5).
Texas A&M 76, Alabama 63 - Donald Sloan had 15 points and eight assists to help the No. 9 Aggies (7-0) beat the visiting Crimson Tide (3-2).
Michigan St. 81, North Carolina St. 58 - Goran Suton had 16 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 10 Spartans (5-1) cruised past the No. 24 Wolfpack (4-2), their 30th straight nonconference home win.
J.J. Hickson had 21 points and 10 rebounds for N.C. State (4-2). Michigan State led by as many as 32 points in the second half before the Wolfpack rallied late to make the final score closer.
Xavier 93, Oakland 68 - Stanley Burrell scored 15 of his 17 points in a tone-setting first half as the No. 23 Musketeers (5-1) used one crushing run after another to beat the visiting Grizzlies (2-4). Xavier went on 16-2 and 21-2 runs in the first half, when it led by as many as 26 points.
Holy Cross 60, Yale 39 - Tim Clifford was good on 10 of 14 shots from the field in scoring a season-high 23 points and leading the undefeated Crusaders (6-0) over the visiting Bulldogs (1-4).
The senior from Walpole also had eight rebounds and six blocks as the Crusaders played without leading rebounder Alex Vander Baan, who suffered an Achilles' tendon injury this week.
Harvard 72, New Hampshire 67 - Evan Harris had 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 steals and fellow junior Drew Housman scored all 13 of his points in the second half to pace the Crimson (3-4) at Lavietes Pavilion.
Mike Christensen scored a game-high 18 points, and Tyrece Gibbs of Brockton added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (3-2), who snapped a three-game winning streak.
Rhode Island 92, Northeastern 72 - Parfait Bitee and Jimmy Baron scored 17 points each to help the host Rams (7-1) down the Huskies (2-3) and give coach Jim Baron his 300th career win. The Huskies were led by Matt Janning, who scored 34 points. Manny Adako added 12 points and eight rebounds, while Nkem Ojougboh pulled down 10 rebounds.
Elms 85, WPI 80 - Junior guard Aswad Thomas nearly recorded a triple-dozen, gathering 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 13 assists, to lead the Blazers to the first 4-0 start in the program's 10-year history. Antoine Coleman of Everett led all scorers with 23 points for the visiting Engineers (3-2).
Northeast-10 - Nate Fritsch scored 17 points, including 12 in the final 8:30, as top-ranked Bentley (5-0, 3-0) beat visiting AIC (2-3, 1-2), 76-64, for its 32d straight regular-season win . . . Darren Duncan scored 26 points and Darin Mency had 21 as Merrimack (4-0, 2-0) held off St. Michael's, 92-90, in Colchester, Vt. The host Purple Knights (4-1, 2-1) were led by Brian Monahan, who had 35 points (on 15-for-17 shooting) and 13 rebounds . . . Greg Twomey scored 18 points to lead Assumption (5-1, 3-0) over visiting Bryant (2-3, 1-2), 69-66 . . . Steve Dagostino's 24 points led visiting St. Rose (3-2, 2-1) over Southern New Hampshire University, 71-61.
