Jan. 4, 2009

No. 6 Wake Forest Defeats BYU, 94-87
No. 6 Wake Forest ended the nation's longest home winning streak by beating BYU 94-87 on Saturday.

The Cougars had won 53 straight dating to a loss to Loyola-Marymount to open the 2005-06 season. Jeff Teague just missed his career high with 30 points and James Johnson had 22 points and 15 rebounds as the Demon Deacons improved to 13-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season.

Wake Forest broke an 85-all tie with eight straight points in the final two minutes. Aminu Al-Farouq had 12 points and L.D. Williams scored 11 for the Demon Deacons.

Jimmer Fredette had 23 points and Lee Cummard scored 17 for the Cougars (11-2), who led by eight early in the second half but could not hold off the faster Deacons.

Clemson Tops ECU, 79-66
Sophomore reserve Jerai Grant had a career-high 14 points and No. 20 Clemson improved to 14-0 for the second time in three years with a 79-66 victory over East Carolina on Saturday.

Grant is the latest in his family to excel for the Tigers. His father is Harvey Grant, who played two seasons at Clemson before transferring to Oklahoma, and his uncle is Horace Grant, the former Chicago Bull who stuck around Littlejohn Coliseum and helped the Tigers to a 17-0 start in 1986-87.

Jerai's team moved a step closer to that mark against the Pirates (8-5), who have lost four straight and couldn't keep up with Clemson's depth.

Terps Defeat Charlotte, 85-75
Within minutes of the start of Saturday's game, Maryland trailed by 11 points - its largest deficit in more than a month.

Terrapins coach Gary Williams wasn't too pleased at the time, but after Maryland rallied to beat Charlotte 85-75 on Saturday he couldn't have been more delighted.

Greivis Vasquez finished with 27 points, 1 short of his career high, and the junior guard fueled a second-half surge that carried the Terrapins (11-2) to their seventh straight victory.

Down by 4 shortly after halftime, Maryland took a brief lead but was tied with 14:51 remaining. Vasquez then drilled a 3-pointer, sparking a 16-point run that made it 65-49 with 11:27 to go.

Florida State Uses Late Push To Down Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 69-48
Toney Douglas scored 17 points and Derwin Kitchen added 13 as Florida State beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 69-48 on Saturday.

The Seminoles (13-2) closed the game by outscoring the Islanders 29-14 over the final 11 minutes. Florida State opened the door for the comeback by missing 13 of its first 15 shots in the second, but the Seminoles were 12 of 18 from the floor in their decisive run.

The game-clinching run came after the Islanders (6-8) cut a 12-point halftime deficit to 40-34 on Kevin Palmer's jumper with 11:15 remaining.

Dews Leads Hurricanes Past North Carolina Central, 76-42
James Dews scored a game-high 16 points to lead four Hurricanes in double-figures as Miami shook off an early challenge from winless North Carolina Central for a 76-42 victory on Saturday at the BankUnited Center.

The Eagles (0-16) stayed within single digits of the Hurricanes (10-3) in the first half and kept it as close as 15-12 after Stevy Worah-Ozimo's field goal with 8:50 left.

Down by six at halftime, N.C. Central cut Miami's lead to 31-29 after Vincent Davis scored a basket just 2:50 minutes into the second half.

But Miami followed with 11 unanswered points -- including a pair of Dews 3-pointers -- and would go on to outscore the Eagles 30-9 over 11 minutes to break the game open with the 64-38 advantage.

Cavaliers Fall to No. 22 Xavier 84-70
B.J. Raymond scored 24 points and hit four of No. 22 Xavier's nine 3-pointers, and the Musketeers took a big early lead before beating Virginia 84-70 on Saturday.

The Musketeers (11-2) missed their first nine shots, but trailed only 6-2 when Raymond finally broke the ice with a basket in the lane with 15:14 left. It sparked a 23-2 run, with the last 19 coming in succession, as Xavier cruised to a 23-8 lead midway through the half.

Virginia (6-5) never challenged again, failing to avenge a loss last season that rated as one of its low points. In Ohio, the Musketeers led 61-30 by halftime, extended their lead to as many as 43 thereafter and tied a school record with 16 3-pointers in a 108-70 victory.

This time, the Musketeers had a 42-26 advantage at the break, in part thanks to a 9-4 burst to end it by Virginia. Xavier then opened the second half on an 18-6 run to lead 60-32.

Wolfpack Loses Close Road Contest to Gators, 68-66
Nick Calathes scored 32 points and Dan Werner added 10 as Florida rallied to beat North Carolina State 68-66 on Saturday.

Calathes scored 24 points in the second half as the Gators overcame a 10-point halftime deficit.

The win was the sixth in a row for Florida (12-2), while the Wolfpack dropped to 9-3 heading into Atlantic Coast Conference play next week.

Brandon Costner led North Carolina State with 24 points, Ben McCauley had 11 and Farnold Degand added 10

Georgia Tech Falls to Alabama
Playing like he did during his all-conference season three years ago, Ronald Steele scored 23 points and had 10 steals to lead Alabama to an 88-77 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Alabama (10-3) used the fast break to jump out to a 19-point halftime lead and led by as many as 30, before the Yellow Jackets (8-5) used a full-court press to rally in the final 10 minutes.

Gani Lawal had 23 points to lead Georgia Tech. Alade Aminu scored 21 points, Iman Shumpert had 12 and Lewis Clinch added 10 for the Yellow Jackets.