Bergeron scores twice as Bruins keep rolling
No. 5 North Carolina 86, Ohio State 72
Joel Berry II and Theo Pinson each scored 19 points, and No. 5 North Carolina bounced back from a loss to Wofford with a convincing 86-72 victory over Ohio State on Saturday in New Orleans. Pinson scored six points on flawless free throw shooting inside the final 1:06 of the game as the Tar Heels (11-2) kept the Buckeyes (10-4) at bay in the CBS Sports Classic. Cameron Johnson scored 13 points in just his second game for North Carolina, which had 13 3-pointers. Keita Bates-Diop had 26 points — one point shy of his career high — for Ohio State. He shot 10 of 17 for the game and scored 19 points in the second half, including eight straight for Ohio State during a late 13-4 run that briefly pulled the Buckeyes within 78-69 with 1:10 to play.
UCLA 83, No. 7 Kentucky 75
Aaron Holiday capped a 20-point performance with a pivotal driving scoop and two free throws in the final 33 seconds for UCLA. Kris Wilkes also scored 20 points, and Thomas Welsh added 13 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA (9-3), which won for the seventh time in 15 meetings between these historical college basketball powerhouses. Hamidou Diallo scored 18 points and Wenyen Gabriel added a season-high 16 points for Kentucky (9-2), which lost for the first time in eight games.
No. 10 West Virginia 86, Fordham 69
Jevon Carter and Sagaba Konate had double-doubles to lead West Virginia. The Mountaineers (11-1) started out a little sluggish in the first half, unable to prevent Fordham runs over the first 7 minutes of the game but they were able to lead by 16 with 4 minutes left in the half. Carter had 10 points and a career-high 12 assists while Konate had 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Mountaineers won their 11th straight. Daxter Miles Jr. led the Mountaineers with 21 pointsa and Lamont West added 15. Will Tavares led Fordham (5-7) with 18 points and seven rebounds.
No. 21 Tennessee 79, Wake Forest 60
Jordan Bowden scored 17 points and Tennessee shot 59 percent after halftime to win on the road. The Volunteers (9-2) led by one at the half but took control by scoring on seven of 10 possessions coming out of the break. That pushed Tennessee to a 52-43 lead, a margin that never slipped to fewer than five as the Demon Deacons struggled for a sustained push. Keyshawn Woods scored 18 points for the Demon Deacons (7-5), who had won six straight.
No. 23 Seton Hall 74, Manhattan 62
Angel Delgado scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, Khadeen Carrington scored 15 and Desi Rodriguez added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Seton Hall. The victory was the seventh in eight games for the Pirates (11-2). Myles Powell had 13 points for Seton Hall before he was ejected in an altercation right before halftime. Michael Nzei had 10 points to give the Pirates five players in double figures. The Jaspers (5-7) were led by Zane Waterman who had 18 points.
Boston — David Backes and the Boston Bruins are having one nice holiday season.
Backes picked up two assists after he was away from the team to be with his wife for the birth of their son, and the Bru- ins beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
"After what I saw my wife go through birthing that baby, I figured I could come on a few hours sleep and play a hockey game," said Backes, who missed practice on Friday.
Patrice Bergeron scored twice in the third period and Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists for the Bruins, who have won 13 of 17 since they had a fourgame losing streak last month. Tuukka Rask made 30 saves.
"It's always good to go into a break feeling good and on a little streak," Marchand said. "But we can't get too ahead of ourselves. We have to make sure when we come back we're playing the same way."
Frans Nielsen scored Detroit's only goal and Jimmy Howard stopped 23 shots for the Red Wings, who lost despite outshooting Boston 31-25.
Coach Jeff Blashill said the Red Wings played a lot like they did during a 4-3 loss at Philadelphia on Wednesday.
"On Wednesday, it's a tie game in the third and they make a play on a rush. Same thing tonight. They make a play on a rush," he said. "We've got to find a way to make a play to make the difference in a game. When you end games like this you're frustrated 100 percent."
The game was tied at 1 when Bergeron scored his ninth of the season at 6:11 on a one-timer Howard never saw. Marchand set up Bergeron's shot from the left circle with a pass across the slot for his 198th career assist.
"It was more of a better shot than a pass," Marchand said. "He one-timed it in stride and really didn't give the goalie a chance to get over there. It was a great shot by Bergie."
Down 2-1 in the final minutes, Detroit missed an opportunity to get Howard off the ice for an extra skater by icing the puck with 1:25 remaining. Howard made it to the bench with about 1:10 left and the Bruins needed a big save by Rask on a tip in front with 28 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Marchand and Backes got the puck to Bergeron from just across center ice for the empty netter.
"As a team as of late, we're just not getting the results every single night that we want," Howard said. "For us right now they're must wins. We've got find ways to get the points and that's all it boils down to."
Boston jumped in front on Marchand's 15th goal on a one-timer 13:37 into the first off a crossing pass from Backes from the left side of the net. Boston was just 18 seconds into a 5-on-3 advantage with David Booth sitting out for a slashing minor and a call for too many men on the ice.
Marchand retrieved the puck from the back of the net and gave it to Backes.
"It just shows the character of him and what he's willing to battle through," Marchand said. "The fact that he came out and had such a big game is awesome."