Virginia Tech pulls away, subdues North Carolina
Justin Robinson scored 19 points and host Virginia Tech pulled away in the second half to beat No. 10 North Carolina 8069 on Monday night.
Ahmed Hill added 18 points for Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference). Hill scored seven in a row to start the decisive 13-3 burst, which turned a 51-48 lead into a 64-51 advantage with just under eight minutes remaining. Kerry Blackshear Jr. added 16 points.
Joel Berry and Luke Maye scored 23 points each for the Tar Heels (16-5, 5-3). North Carolina never got closer than eight points in the final eight minutes.
The Hokies ended the first half on a 15-2 run to lead 39-32 at the break. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Berry sparked the Tar Heels early in the second half, but then Hill’s 3-pointer started his personal 7-0 run.
As the final horn sounded, fans that had been chanting “just like football” streamed onto the court.
MICHIGAN STATE 87, ILLINOIS 74 >> Miles Bridges scored 31 points, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the No. 6 Spartans (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten) got a harder-than-expected win over Illinois (10-11, 0-8).
Michigan State shot 68.2 percent, which set a record at State Farm Center for an opponent’s shooting percentage. Illinois shot 43.1 percent. Kipper Nichols led Illinois with a career-high 27 points. TCU 82, WEST VIRGINIA 73 >> Desmond Bane scored eight of his 15 points in just over a minute early in the second half, and the Horned Frogs (15-5, 3-5 Big 12) beat No. 7 West Virginia 82-73 on Monday night.
The Horned Frogs got their first home win over a Top 10 team in nearly five years on the same day they dropped out of the AP Top 25 to end an eight-week run as a ranked team. Jevon Carter had 16 points and Sagaba Konate 14 for West Virginia (16-4, 5-3).
OHIO STATE 64, NEBRASKA 59 >> Keita BatesDiop scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and No. 13 Ohio State (18-4, 9-0 Big Ten) beat the visiting Cornhuskers (14-8, 5-4), the fourth victory for the surging Buckeyes in the past eight days.
The back-and-forth game had seven lead changes in the second half. A pair of foul shots by Nebraska’s James Palmer Jr. cut Ohio State’s lead to four with 2:19 remaining, but the Cornhuskers couldn’t pull any closer.
GAELS RISE TO 16TH IN AP POLL >> Saint Mary’s has risen from unranked to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 after winning at Gonzaga in West Coast Conference play
last week. The Gaels (19-2), led by Jock Landale, were ranked for three November polls before falling out but have won 14 straight, the second-longest winning streak in school history.
Elsewhere, Kentucky is out of the poll for the first time in nearly four years while another bunch of Wildcats — Villanova — maintained its hold on No. 1.
Kentucky slid out of the latest poll from No. 18 after losses to South Carolina and Florida, snapping a 30-game home winning streak for the Wildcats in Southeastern Conference play
Women
MARYLAND 99, OHIO STATE 69 >> Kalia Charles scored a career-high 32 points, Eleanna Christinaki added 26 with six 3-pointers and the No. 14 Terrapins (173, 6-1) cruised past the 12th-ranked Buckeyes (16-4, 5-2) in a duel for first place in the Big Ten.
TCU BACK AMONG RANKINGS >> After more than seven years out of the rankings, TCU entered the AP Top 25 women’s poll at No. 24. They were last ranked on Nov. 22, 2010, and are 13-5 this season, including wins over then-No. 7 Texas and No. 15 West Virginia.
UConn remained the unanimous No. 1 choice in the poll from the 32-member national media panel. Cal (14-5) went from 21st to 23rd.