Virginia rebounds
Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points and No. 3 Virginia’s defense locked down in the second half to beat No. 12 North Carolina 75-64 on Monday night. Justin Anderson added 16 for the Cavaliers (20-1, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who responded to their first loss of the season by blowing open a tight game at halftime for an impressive road victory over the Tar Heels.
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NO. 3 VIRGINIA 75, NO. 12 NOTH CAROLINA 64
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Virginia responded to its first loss by sharpening its focus back on what had carried the third-ranked Cavaliers to their best start in three decades.
The result was an impressive road victory against a highly ranked league opponent, the kind that proves — if there was any question — that Tony Bennett’s veteran-led team isn’t easily shaken.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 17 points and No. 3 Virginia’s defense locked up No. 12 North Carolina in the second half to win 75-64 on Monday night.
Justin Anderson added 16 for the Cavaliers (20-1, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who regrouped after blowing an 11-point second-half lead in a 69-63 home loss to Duke over the weekend.
“They fought,” Bennett said.” I think we got back to the mentality that we needed to. … Our way, it’s a blue-collar way, it’s a fighting way, and I think our guys responded well and really rallied.”
They forced tough shots against the Tar Heels (17-6, 7-3).
They refused to cede transition chances. They closed out on the three-point shots that Duke used Saturday in a late barrage that ended their unbeaten start.
By late in this one, Virginia had turned a 33-32 halftime deficit into an 18-point lead and driven many of the home fans to the exits with 3½ minutes left.
Bennett said he put the team through a tough practice Sunday with the goal of getting back to “some good, old-fashioned, blue-collar basketball.”
“The guys, when they do that and they’re right,” he said, “they can play.”
Virginia shot 52 percent, with Brogdon leading a balanced offense and the defensive effort on preseason all-American Marcus Paige.
“I think we have maturity, I think we have experience,” Brogdon said.
“I think we have poised guys. I [thought] we’d come out and handle business to the best of our ability, at least on our end, and see how UNC responds.”
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, UNC went just 11-for-29 (38 percent) after halftime.
“They kicked our rear ends,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Paige finished with 15 on 5-for-10 shooting, though he went scoreless for nearly 33 minutes until scoring 10 in the final 2½ minutes long after Virginia had taken control.
Worse for the Tar Heels, they were unable to speed up the confident Cavaliers and turn it into an open-court game.
“They run their stuff, they trust their stuff, and they buy into what their coach is telling them,” Paige said of Virginia.
“That’s why they’re so successful. … We’re trying to figure out how to do that.”
NO. 9 KANSAS 89, NO. 15 IOWA STATE 76
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Wayne Selden Jr. scored 19 points in a hot-shooting second half to spark No. 9 Kansas past No. 15 Iowa State.
Selden, after missing all three of his shots and scoring only one point in the first half, drilled four of his first five three-pointers after intermission, often finding himself virtually unguarded on the right wing, as the Jayhawks (19-3, 8-1 Big 12) padded their lead in the Big 12 race to 1½ games.
Georges Niang had 24 points for Iowa State (16-5, 6-3), which dropped out of a second-place tie with West Virginia.
Leading 35-28 after a seesaw first half, the Jayhawks reeled off a 14-6 run the first 4 minutes, 45 seconds after intermission, with Selden scoring eight points, including two uncontested three-pointers.
Iowa State called time out and tried to regroup after Selden’s second three-pointer put Kansas on top 49-34 but never got the lead under nine points.
Perry Ellis’s three-point play gave the Jayhawks breathing room at 77-63 with less than 3 minutes left.
Ellis had 17 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. had 16 for the Jayhawks, who have beaten Iowa State at home 10 consecutive times.
Bryce Dejean-Jones had 14 points for Iowa State and Monte Morris had 12 points.
SWAC MEN JACKSON STATE 69, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 45
Arkansas-Pine Bluff was held to 23.1 percent shooting in a loss to Jackson State in Jackson, Miss.
The Golden Lions (7-16, 4-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference), who led 23-21 at halftime, shot 4 of 18 in the second half and 9 of 39 from the floor overall. They scored 23 of their 45 points from the free-throw line.
Marcel Mosley scored 15 of his 17 points at the free-throw line to lead UAPB. Ghiavonni Robinson added 10 points for the Golden Lions.
Javeres Brent led the Tigers (6-16, 4-5) with 21 points. Kaven Bernard had 20 points and six rebounds.
Jackson State outscored UAPB 48-22 in the second half to earn its fourth SWAC victory.
SWAC WOMEN ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 57, JACKSON STATE 49
Carlisha Walker had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff to its first road victory of the season, beating Jackson State in Jackson, Miss.
The Lady Lions had lost their first 11 road games this season.
Destiny Brewton scored 10 points, while Diamond Richardson added eight points and six rebounds for the Lady Lions.
UAPB (5-15, 3-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) shot 35.3 percent (18 of 51) from the floor, held Jackson State (6-14, 3-6) to 34.7 percent (17 of 49) and outrebounded the Lady Tigers 43-31.
Ayanna Hardy-Fuller and Derica Wiggins each had 10 points for Jackson State.
The Lady Lions trailed 27-23 at halftime, but outscored the Lady Tigers 34-22 in the second half. They held Jackson State without a field goal for the final 6:29.