Top-ranked Wake Forest was handed its first loss and No. 7 Michigan State went down, too. Playing at home was little help for two of the nation’s elite teams.
Malcolm Delaney scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held on to upset the Demon Deacons 78-71 on Wednesday night for its second victory over a No. 1 squad in three seasons.
“Our defense really let us down tonight,” Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. “That part’s a little bit disheartening.”
Jeff Teague scored 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting for Wake Forest (16-1, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), playing as a No. 1 team for the first time since November 2004 when Chris Paul was running the show.
That group held the top spot for two weeks. These Demon Deacons don’t even figure to match them, thanks in large part to a Virginia Tech team that forced 16 turnovers and turned them into 25 points.
ust going to get back to doing what we were doing.”
One thing Michigan State is used to doing is dominating in its own backyard. But the Spartans were stunned 70-63 by Northwestern in East Lansing, Mich., snapping their 28-game home-court winning streak.
Kevin Coble scored 31 points to pace the Wildcats (10-6, 2-4 Big Ten), who have won consecutive games against ranked opponents for the first time. Northwestern beat then-No. 18 Minnesota on Sunday.
Clutch 3-point shooting and an aggressive 1-3-1 zone carried the Wildcats past Michigan State (15-3, 5-1), which still has a one-game lead in the Big Ten. The Spartans’ home-court win streak had been tied for third-longest in the nation behind Notre Dame (45) and Kansas (35).
“It was a shame,” coach Tom Izzo said. “We looked like a dysfunctional team. That’s what happens when you don’t make shots.”
In other Top 25 games Wednesday, it was: No. 3 Connecticut 89, No. 20 Villanova 83; No. 5 North Carolina 94, No. 10 Clemson 70; No. 6 Oklahoma 72, Nebraska 61; No. 9 Louisville 78, Rutgers 59; No. 15 Xavier 84, St. Bonaventure 64; No. 17 Arizona State 53, Arizona 47; No. 22 Memphis 80, Rice 52; and South Carolina 70, No. 24 Florida 69.
Michigan State had won 12 straight against Northwestern and 11 in a row overall this season since losing to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Dec. 3. The Spartans committed 18 turnovers to just seven for the Wildcats.
“We’ve got to do a better job of being focused,” said Kalin Lucas, who led Michigan State with 20 points.
The Spartans got only one point from leading scorer Raymar Morgan, who entered averaging 14.8 per game. He was bothered by flulike symptoms and played just 18 minutes, leaving smaller wing players stuck guarding Coble.
Michael Thompson added 20 points for Northwestern.
“I’ve never felt good leaving this town,” Wildcats coach Bill Carmody said. “Today is a really good win for our program and for our guys.”
At Winston-Salem, N.C., Virginia Tech made sure there are no unbeaten teams left in Division I.
A.D. Vassallo and Jeff Allen had 16 points apiece for the Hokies (12-6, 3-1), who shot 50 percent against a Wake Forest team that was holding opponents to 36 percent.
Virginia Tech led almost the entire way, pushed the lead to 16 and made it stand up for its first win over a top-ranked team away from Cassell Coliseum. The Hokies beat then-No. 1 North Carolina two seasons ago in Blacksburg.
“Just coming onto their home court and doing it – that makes it feel a little more special,” Vassallo said.
The Demon Deacons cut it to two twice in the final 4 minutes but the Hokies allowed one field goal in the final 1:40 to clinch one of the biggest victories in school history.
tings with Wake Forest.
“With these guys being undefeated, that’s totally a big one,” Delaney said.
No. 3 Connecticut 89, No. 20 Villanova 83
At Hartford, Conn., A.J. Price scored a career-high 29 points as Connecticut won its sixth straight.
Jerome Dyson added 19 points and Jeff Adrien had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies (17-1, 6-1 Big East), who improved to 5-1 this season against ranked teams, with the only loss coming at home to Georgetown.
Dwayne Anderson had 15 points for the Wildcats (14-4, 2-3), who have dropped three of five.
No. 5 North Carolina 94, No. 10 Clemson 70
At Chapel Hill, N.C., Wayne Ellington had 25 points to keep North Carolina perfect in 54 home games against Clemson.
Tyler Hansbrough added 20 points for the Tar Heels (17-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), whose 54-0 run against the Tigers (16-2, 2-2) is an NCAA record for the longest home winning streak against one opponent. Ellington, a Clemson nemesis last season, finished 9-for-15 from the field to go with a career-high seven assists and six rebounds. Ty Lawson added 16 points and seven assists.
No. 6 Oklahoma 72, Nebraska 61
At Norman, Okla., Blake Griffin had 27 points and 18 rebounds for his 15th double-double, and Oklahoma (18-1, 4-0 Big 12) slugged out a victory over Nebraska (12-5, 2-2) to become the first team in the nation with 18 wins.
a Big 12 record with his eighth game of at least 20 points and 15 rebounds, surpassing the previous mark set by Kevin Durant of Texas and Michael Beasley of Kansas State.
No. 9 Louisville 78, Rutgers 59
At Piscataway, N.J., Terrence Williams had 23 points, 11 rebounds and four steals as Louisville (14-3, 5-0 Big East) followed up Saturday’s victory over then-No. 1 Pittsburgh with its sixth straight win.
No. 15 Xavier 84, St. Bonaventure 64
At Olean, N.Y., C.J. Anderson scored 15 points and Xavier (16-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10), off to the second-best start in school history, won its seventh straight since dropping consecutive games to Duke and Butler.
No. 17 Arizona State 53, Arizona 47
At Tucson, Ariz., James Harden scored 21 points and Arizona State (16-3, 5-2 Pac-10) won consecutive games at Arizona for the first time in 25 years.
Derek Glasser had 13 points, hitting a pair of late 3-pointers and making four free throws in the final 11 seconds to seal it. The Sun Devils won at McKale Center once from 1984-2007. Now they’ve done it twice in 12 months. Arizona (11-8, 2-5) is off to its worst conference start since 1983-84.
No. 22 Memphis 80, Rice 52
e, won their 47th straight conference game, including the postseason.
South Carolina 70, No. 24 Florida 69
At Columbia, S.C., Zam Fredrick’s layup as time expired lifted South Carolina over Florida, which missed key free throws down the stretch.
The Gamecocks (13-4, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) trailed 67-60 with less than three minutes left. Devan Downey began the comeback with four straight foul shots, and his 3-pointer with 26.5 seconds left cut it to 69-67.
Nick Calathes scored 20 points for the Gators (16-3, 3-1), who had won 10 in a row.
Add A Comment