Tar Heels defeat Georgia Tech in ACC opener
RJ Davis scored 13 of his gamehigh 23 points in the second half Sunday afternoon as North Carolina pulled away in Atlanta to defeat Georgia Tech 79-62 in the ACC opener for both teams.
The game was tied at 31 at halftime after UNC (6-2) overcame a nine-point deficit behind stingy defense. Georgia Tech (5-3) lost its second straight contest as senior guard Michael Devoe, who entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer, with a 25-point average, was limited to 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Freshman guard Deebo Coleman scored 13 points for Tech.
Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, including Caleb Love (17 points) and Armando Bacot, a Richmond-area native who had 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Region/state men
Richmond 60, Northern Iowa 52: Graduate student Jacob Gilyard’s only steal of the game for UR made him the NCAA’s all-time leader as the Spiders (5-4) beat the Panthers (2-5) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Gilyard collected his 386th steal to pass John Linehan, who played for Providence from 1997-2002.
Tyler Burton had 26 points and Grant Golden had seven rebounds for the Spiders. Nick Sherod added eight rebounds. Noah Carter had 13 points for UNI.
VMI 89, Seattle 82: Coming off a victory at Portland, the Keydets (6-4) also beat another West Coast school (7-2). Jake Stephens had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for VMI.
Northwestern 67, Maryland 61: William & Mary transfer Chase Audige and Pete Nance sparked a breakaway run in the final four minutes as visiting Northwestern (6-2) held off cold-shooting Maryland (5-4) in what was both the Big Ten opener for each team and Danny Manning’s debut as the Terrapins’ interim head coach.
Nance led Northwestern with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Audige scored 14. Maryland’s Hakim Hart scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting,
but the other Terrapins were 10 for 49.
Top 25 men
No. 11 Arizona 90, Oregon State 65: Bennedict Mathurin had 29 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats (7-0, 1-0 Pac-12) against the Beavers (1-8, 0-2) in Corvallis, Oregon.
Region/state women
No. 11 Tennessee 64, Virginia Tech 58:
An opportunity for a notable non-ACC victory eluded the Hokies (7-2) as Sara Puckett scored 15 points off the bench and led a decisive scoring run in the fourth quarter at Cassell Coliseum.
Tennessee (8-0) trailed 55-48 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before going on a 12-0 run to build a 60-55 lead with two minutes left. Puckett scored six consecutive points in the run, and Jordan Horston finished it with the last four.
Tennessee overcame a 30-point game by Tech’s Aisha Sheppard, who finished 7 of 16 from 3-point distance. Jordan Walker made all four of her 3-point tries and led Tennessee with 17 points.
No. 14 Iowa State 94, Longwood 56: Ocean Lakes High graduate Kyla McMakin scored 19 points for the Lancers (3-4) against the Cyclones (8-1) in Ames, Iowa,
before 9,542, one of the biggest crowds she’ll ever play in front of.
Two ISU sisters had double-doubles. Sophomore Aubrey Joens had career highs of 24 points and 14 rebounds, and senior Ashley Joens had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Virginia 62, George Washington 53: Amandine Toi scored 14 points and junior Taylor Valladay had a career-high 13 for the Cavaliers (3-6), who finished the first half on a 9-0 run for a 31-28 lead and built an 11-point third-quarter margin at GW (5-4), which didn’t score in the game’s last 4:11.
North Carolina 93, James Madison 47: Former William & Mary standout Eva Hodgson scored nine points, giving her exactly 1,000 as a collegian, and a season-high seven assists for the Tar Heels (8-0) in Chapel Hill.
Deja Kelly scored 21 points and Alyssa Ustby scored 18 for UNC. Hodgson hit a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the fourth quarter to reach 1,000 against a team that was a familiar rival during her two years of CAA competition.
Jamia Hazell had 20 points and six rebounds for JMU (3-5).
Patrick & Henry Community College 63, Bryant & Stratton 55, OT: The Bobcats (5-2) were outscored 10-2 in overtime in Martinsville, though they got 13 points from Joscelyne Meyers and 12 from Shikira Perry, while Ashanti Broughton had 10 rebounds. The
Patriots improved to 4-3.
Top 10 women
Co-No. 2 N.C. State 78, Elon 46: Jada Boyd, a former Boo Williams AAU player from the Petersburg area, scored 17 points in the Wolfpack’s eighth straight win.
The Wolfpack (8-1) led 16-9 after one quarter despite five turnovers, then started the second period with an 8-0 spurt to break away. The Phoenix (5-2) never cut the deficit to single digits after that, though Kayla Liles had 12 points.
Co-No. 2 UConn 73, No. 24 Notre Dame 54: Connecticut (5-1) won a rivalry game against the visiting Irish (7-2) but might have lost last year’s National Player of the Year to a left knee injury in the process. Paige Bueckers scored 22 points before going down with just seconds left in the game.
Bueckers, who is averaging a little more than 20 points per game, was dribbling up the court in the final minute when she stumbled, twisting her ankle and coming down awkwardly on her left leg. She went to the floor a few seconds later and had to be carried off the court. Coach Geno Auriemma said the extent of the injury won’t be known until scans are completed today.
No. 8 Maryland 74, Rutgers 59: Angel Reese scored 18 points, Katie Benzan added 15 points, Chloe Bibby had 14 and former Boo Williams player Ashley Owusu 12 for Maryland (7-2, 1-0 Big Ten) in its road victory. Rutgers (4-6, 0-1) dropped its fifth game in a row.
No. 9 Iowa 88, Michigan State 61: Caitlin Clark had her second triple-double of the season with 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and McKenna Warnock had 21 points in Iowa coach Lisa Bluder’s 800th career victory against 377 defeats. She’s 444-235 with Iowa (5-1, 1-0 Big Ten).
No. 10 Louisville 80, Belmont 66: Sophomore Hailey Van Lith scored 16 points for the host Cardinals (7-1) to bounce back from a recent slump against the Bruins (4-4), who returned all five starters from an NCAA Tournament second-round team.