Dec. 20, 2008

Tar Heels Make It 11 Straight, Defeat Valparaiso 85-63
Once Tyler Hansbrough heated up, so did No. 1 North Carolina.

Hansbrough scored 25 points and the Tar Heels overcame a sluggish start Saturday before rolling to an 85-63 victory over Valparaiso.

Hansbrough, who became North Carolina's career scoring leader Thursday night in a victory over Evansville, sparked runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the second.

North Carolina (11-0) won by double figures for the 11th straight game, tying a school record also held by the 1992-93 team that won the national championship.

Valparaiso (3-7) was facing the No. 1 team for the fifth straight season and the seventh time in school history. The Crusaders are now 0-7 in those games.

No. 6 Duke Routs No. 7 Xavier, 82-64
Duke couldn't play a much better first half. Xavier can't play much worse than it did in the opening 20 minutes.

No. 6 Duke beat No. 7 Xavier 82-64 on Saturday, but don't let the final score fool you. It was over at halftime when the Blue Devils were up by 31 points.

It never looked like a matchup of top 10 teams as the Blue Devils were ahead 22-3 before Xavier managed its first field goal, a layup by C.J. Anderson 5:54 into the game.

Everything Duke tried worked, whether it was 3-point shooting or drop passes close to the basket that turned a short jumper into a layup. Meanwhile, Xavier couldn't get anything right as passes flew out of bounds and shots missed by a mile.

Boston College Tops Providence, 81-76
Josh Southern grabbed a key rebound, sank a pair of free throws, blocked a shot and then hit another two free throws - all in the final 10.7 seconds - to lead Boston College to a 81-76 victory over Providence on Saturday.

Tyrese Rice scored 20, and Joe Trapani added 18 for the Eagles (9-2), who saw their 12-point lead with 3:17 left cut to two points in the final 32 seconds. Then Southern took over, sinking 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch and stopping Providence (7-4) on defense as well.

Jeff Xavier scored 16 and Geoff McDermott had eight points and 11 rebounds for Providence, which never led in the game despite a too-late rally to cut a 66-52 deficit to 76-74 in final minute.

Georgia Tech Defeats Pepperdine 86-58
Alade Aminu had team highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Georgia Tech to an 86-58 victory over Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The Yellow Jackets, playing just their second road game of the season and their first outside the state of Georgia, improved to 7-2. The Waves (1-11) lost their 11th straight game since a season-opening win against Cal State Monterey Bay.

Aminu led six Georgia Tech players that scored in double-figures, including all five starters. Iman Shumpert had 15 points, seven assists and three steals. Gani Lawal had his ACC-leading sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Hokies down Columbia, 64-52, in opening game of Holiday Festival
Virginia Tech ended the first half on a 15-2 run and never trailed following intermission en route to a 64-52 victory against Columbia in the opening game of the 2008 Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon.

The Hokies, now 7-4 overall, trailed early in the first half, but scored 15 of the last 17 points of the first period and took a 28-20 lead into the half. Columbia, now 3-6 overall, was able to keep the game within a workable margin during the second half, but could not make a significant run at the Hokies.

Malcolm Delaney led the Hokies with 25 points, including 15 points in the first half. He also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and had four assists. A.D. Vassallo scored 16 points, 13 points coming after the intermission. He also grabbed nine rebounds and handed out four assists. Jeff Allen was the third Hokie in double figures, with 13 points and three blocked shots. Joe Bova scored 13 points and Jason Miller had 12 points off the bench to lead the Lions.

Tech held Columbia to just 35.6 percent from the field and out rebounded the Lions, 43-32. Tech also registered seven blocked shots in the contest. The Hokies also outscored Columbia, 13-8, on second-chance points.

Pack Basketball Scores 78-58 Victory over Lipscomb
Sidney Lowe is getting plenty of practice in the early part of the season in shuffling his lineup.

For the third time in four games, the NC State head coach made a change in his starting five because of an injury, putting freshman Julius Mays at the point in place of Javi Gonzalez, who suffered a deep elbow laceration in Wednesday night's game against East Carolina and was dressed in street clothes for the game against Lipscomb.

It didn't affect the outcome of the game, however, as the Wolfpack (7-1) scored a 78-58 victory over the Bisons Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center.

Mays, in fact, was one of the game's brightest points, as he doled out a season-high seven assists, did not make a turnover and scored nine points. Not bad for someone who didn't know he would be in the starting lineup until Lowe pulled him aside just before the team went out on the court for introductions.

Cavaliers Suffer 58-56 Loss to Auburn
DeWayne Reed hit a 3-pointer with 1:24 left and Auburn held on for a 58-56 victory over Virginia on Saturday.

The Tigers (6-4) led 50-42 with 9:15 remaining before Virginia (4-4) scored 12 unanswered points, including five points each from Sammy Zeglinski and Sylven Landesberg, to take a 54-50 lead - its first since 12:42 left in the first half.

Auburn cut the deficit to 56-55 with 2:16 remaining, using a 5-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Tay Waller.

Virginia, which trailed 32-21 at halftime, shot 20.8 percent from the field (5 of 24) in the first half. The Cavaliers outscored the Tigers 35-26 in the second half, shooting 52 percent from the field (13-for-25).