No. 5 North Carolina beats NC State 93-76

RALEIGH, N.C. – Tyler Hansbrough scored 31 points to help No. 5 North Carolina beat North Carolina State 93-76 on Saturday.

Ty Lawson added 16 points for the Tar Heels (19-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won five straight league games after an 0-2 start. North Carolina dominated most of the way, shooting 56 percent to take a 12-point halftime lead then scoring on its first five possessions after the break to push the margin to 18 points.

N.C. State (11-8, 2-5) managed to cut the deficit to seven points midway through the second half behind a scoring flurry from Courtney Fells, but got no closer.

North Carolina shot 57 percent and dominated in the paint behind Hansbrough, who bounced back from an off day in Wednesday's win at Florida State. The ACC's leading scorer had just eight points in that game, ending his 55-game streak of scoring in double figures and marking only the seventh time in his career he failed to score at least 10 points.

Hansbrough finished 12-for-17 from the field for his second straight big performance against the Wolfpack at the RBC Center. The reigning national player of the year had 32 points and 12 rebounds in last year's 84-70 victory.

Fells scored 20 of his 22 points after halftime for the Wolfpack, including a run of seven straight shots with four 3-pointers.

However, the rivalry game ended in heated fashion when N.C. State's Ben McCauley delivered a hard foul to North Carolina reserve Michael Copeland on a layup attempt with 1.9 seconds left. Copeland jumped up and went after McCauley, forcing the officials to step in and Tar Heels coach Roy Williams to wander on the court to calm Copeland down.

The officials huddled with Williams and N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe before issuing technical fouls to both players.

Each team was coming off dramatic victories on last-second baskets in its last game. Freshman Julius Mays hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left in overtime to help N.C. State beat Miami 84-81 on Tuesday night, while Lawson hit a running 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Seminoles 80-77 on Wednesday.

But North Carolina didn't let it come to that this time, building a big lead than answering every push from N.C. State to maintain control of the game.

When N.C. State closed within 69-62, North Carolina ran off a quick 9-1 spurt that ended with Lawson blowing by Farnold Degand for a layup and a free throw that made it 78-63 with 6:36 to play. Then, after the Wolfpack twice cut deficit to eight, the Tar Heels ran off a 9-0 burst — which ended with Hansbrough burying a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 89-72 with 2:26 left.

Hansbrough left the game after hitting two free throws to crack the 30-point mark with 1:08 left to frustrated boos from the Wolfpack's boisterous fans.

The Tar Heels have won 11 of 12 meetings since Williams took over at his alma mater before the 2003-04 season. North Carolina's only loss in that stretch came two years ago; the 83-79 loss in Lowe's first season ended with fans storming the court to celebrate what still ranks as one of his top wins.

Moore leads No. 1 UConn to rout of Louisville

STORRS, Conn. – Maya Moore had 27 points and 11 rebounds, freshman Tiffany Hayes added a career-high 23 points, and top-ranked Connecticut routed No. 6 Louisville 93-65 on Monday night to remain unbeaten.

UConn (20-0, 6-0 Big East) has opened with 20 straight wins for the second consecutive season and sixth time since 1994-95. The Huskies have run over their competition this season, winning by an average of 34 points. They beat then-No. 4 Oklahoma in November, dismantled then-No. 2 North Carolina last Monday, and now blown out Louisville.

Led by All-American Angel McCoughtry, the Cardinals (19-2, 6-1) were supposed to give the Huskies a challenge in the Big East. She did all she could with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Cardinals saw their 14-game winning streak come to an end. Louisville was off to its best start in school history.

Washington upends No. 13 UCLA 86-75

SEATTLE – Freshman Isaiah Thomas scored 24 points and Justin Dentmon returned from foul trouble to spark the decisive late run that sent resurgent Washington to an 86-75 victory over 13th-ranked UCLA and gave the Pac-10 a new leader on Saturday.

Jon Brockman rebounded from an off night Thursday to score 18 points and add eight rebounds for Washington (15-4), which won for the 13th time in 14 games. The Huskies scored more points than anyone had this season against the rugged Bruins.

The Huskies won for the fifth consecutive time over UCLA in Seattle and are 6-1 in the conference for the third time in 25 years.

"It's a great feeling," Brockman said, before sounding like the senior leader he is. "But there's a lot of league season left."

Josh Shipp scored a career-high 25 points but went scoreless for more than nine minutes of the second half for the Bruins (15-4, 5-2 Pac-10), who lost for the second time in three games.

"Right now, we just don't have enough heart, basically," UCLA freshman forward Drew Gordon said after scoring five points and getting a bruised knee from the face of the diving Brockman. "At the end of the day, the other team wants it more.

"I think this game was a good wake-up call. Hopefully, we'll get hungrier."

Dentmon finished with 16 points — 10 after he returned with 4:59 left from being on the bench for eight minutes with our fouls.

When Dentmon, who had scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games, went to the bench after getting his fourth foul with 12:39 remaining, Thomas was Washington's only guard for a stretch.

Yet "I.T." was all good for the Huskies.

UCLA's Nickel Dragovic, who had missed four of his first five shots, scored five consecutive points to tie the game at 58 midway through the second half. Then Thomas took over. Quincy Pondexter scored for Washington before Thomas made his third consecutive 3-pointer, this one from four steps behind the arc.

The sellout crowd roared, Thomas raised both arms and flashed two thumbs up while the UW students chanted "You can't stop I.T.!" UCLA took a timeout down 63-58.

Darren Collison, who finished with 12 points on just 5-for-14 shooting, made two free throws to draw the Bruins within 67-66 with 6:13 remaining. But the Huskies scored the next 12 points, eight by Dentmon.

He turned his consecutive steals into points, then smoothly drove into the lane and scooped in two more with the shot clock running out to make it 76-66 with 2:50 remaining and effectively give the Pac-10 a new leader.

Two days after Southern California held Brockman without a field goal for the first time since his freshman season, the senior scored seven points in the first 4:17 of the second half. The final ones came on a three-point play when he bulled through J'mison Morgan after getting prime position inside. That gave Washington a 49-46 lead.

How much was this Washington's day? Brockman, a Shaq-like 55-percent free throw shooter, was 8-for-10 from the line.

Dragovic scored eight points and was 3-for-8 from the field after scoring 20 in a two-point win at Washington State on Thursday. That escape had come after a loss at home to No. 17 Arizona State last weekend.

The Bruins, who have won three consecutive conference titles and been to three straight Final Fours, never led over the final 16 minutes on Saturday.

Shipp had 12 points early, thanks to 3-for-4 shooting on 3-pointers. That gave UCLA a 39-38 lead at halftime.

No. 23 Gonzaga stays unbeaten in WCC

MALIBU, Calif. – Josh Heytvelt scored a season-high 25 points and Matt Bouldin delivered a career-high 10 assists as No. 23 Gonzaga remained perfect in the West Coast Conference by beating Pepperdine 83-69 on Thursday night.

It was the fifth straight victory for the Bulldogs (12-4, 4-0), who scored the first 17 points of the game.

Heytvelt, who had six points in the Bulldogs last game, scored the team's first nine points and made his first five field goal attempts. He was two points shy of his career high.

WCC player of the week Austin Daye had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Bouldin added 14 points for Gonzaga.

Keion Bell led Pepperdine (4-16, 1-3) with 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and Mychel Thompson had 14 points.

Trailing 45-26 at the break, Pepperdine scored nine straight points to start the second half, but would get no closer.

The margin of victory against a WCC opponent was the fewest so far for Gonzaga, which beat its first three league opponents by an average of 34.3 points.

No. 21 Baylor beats Oklahoma St 98-92 in OT

WACO, Texas – Tweety Carter hit two 3-pointers to start overtime and finally put No. 21 Baylor ahead to stay in a 98-92 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday that was filled with wild swings.

Curtis Jerrells led the Bears (14-3, 2-1 Big 12) with 31 points and 10 assists, but missed a chance to win the game in regulation when he made only one free throw with 2.5 seconds left.

Carter, who had three points while playing 32 minutes in regulation, broke the 82-82 tie 12 seconds into overtime. He hit another 3 on the Bears' next possession, then added a floater and a steal to finish with 11 points.

Obi Muonelo had 21 points and James Anderson added 20 for Oklahoma State (12-4, 1-1), which needed a 13-0 run in the second half to regain the lead after blowing a 17-point advantage built over the game's first 14 minutes.

The Cowboys had won seven straight, the longest winning streak in the Big 12.

Baylor, coming off an 11-point loss at Texas A&M, went ahead 81-77 when Henry Dugat hit a free throw with 29 seconds left in regulation to cap a 12-1 run. Byron Eaton of the Cowboys fouled out on the play. Dugat had made only one of two free throws a minute earlier, and Jerrells missed another free throw before Dugat went to the line again.

Freshman guard Keiton Page made an inside basket for the Cowboys, but missed a free throw that was rebounded by Muonelo. That led to a 3-pointer by Page with 12 seconds left for a one-point lead.

Quincy Acy, a freshman making his first career start for Baylor, had 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Kevin Rogers had 14 points, LaceDarius Dunn 13 and Dugat 12.

Eaton had 17 points, while Terrel Harris had 12 and Page 11 for the Cowboys, who had won by an average margin of nearly 24 points during their winning streak.

Muonelo already had 13 points when he made a long 3-pointer with 7:20 left in the first half to put the Cowboys up 33-19. But he didn't score again until overtime.

Muonelo had two fouls in a 17-second span to start the second half and left the game with four. He scored eight of Oklahoma State's 10 points in overtime with Eaton and Harris already fouled out.

The Cowboys led 37-20 with 6:15 left in the first half when Anderson hit two free throws after stealing a pass and getting fouled on his drive. They led throughout the first half after Harris hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute, even after not making a field goal over the final 6:34.

Baylor responded with a 37-12 spurt, not even slowed down by the halftime break, and led 57-49 when Jerrells hit a 3-pointer with 12:20 left.

But Eaton sparked a 13-0 run with a floater and consecutive assists on 3-pointers by Anderson and Page. Harris' reverse baseline layup capped the 3-minute spurt and put the Cowboys ahead 74-67 with 5 minutes remaining.

Jerrells followed his own miss for a basket with 2:23 left. Then Jerrells grabbed the rebound after Eaton missed and passed ahead to Dunn for a breakaway layup that pushed Baylor back in front.

Jodie Meeks sets Kentucky record with 54 points

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With its rich basketball tradition, Kentucky has had some incredible players come through its program in the last 106 years. None have had a game like Jodie Meeks.

Meeks scored 54 points to break a school record and lead Kentucky to a 90-72 victory over No. 24 Tennessee on Tuesday night.

"To be at the top of the list for the time being is something else because there have been a lot of great, great, great players," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. "I hope they were all watching tonight and enjoying it. I guarantee they were rooting him on."

Meeks broke Dan Issel's 39-year-old record of 53 points set at Mississippi. The Southeastern Conference's leading scorer was only the second player this season to surpass the 50-point mark, according to STATS. North Dakota State's Ben Woodside had 60 against Stephen F. Austin in a triple overtime loss on Dec. 12.

Meeks surpassed his previous high of 46 points, set Dec. 20 against Appalachian State, with 4:50 left when he hit one of his 10 3-pointers. He set the record with two free throws with 1:31 left.

After the game, he was mobbed by teammates in the middle of the Thompson-Boling Arena court, where the Wildcats (13-4, 2-0 SEC) handed the Volunteers their third loss in January.

Meeks entered the game ranked fourth in the nation in scoring with a 24.2 average.

The 54 points was also the biggest individual SEC performance since Chris Jackson had 55 for LSU against Mississippi in 1989.

Down by 4 at the half, Tennessee (10-5, 1-1) cut Kentucky's lead to 43-41 on a fastbreak basket by Wayne Chism 1:30 into the second half.

But the Vols' spotty defense couldn't contain Meeks, who hit a layup and two 3-pointers to help the Wildcats on a 10-0 run that gave them a 53-41 lead. Meeks was 10-for-15 from 3-point range.

Kentucky stumbled into foul trouble with 9:34 left, and Tennessee sank 11 straight from the free throw line to cut the Wildcats' lead to 71-64 with 6:52 left. But Meeks, who was 14-for-14 from the line, scored nine straight points to put the game away.

"He's a great player and he came out and showed it tonight," Chism said.

Tyler Smith led Tennessee with 19 points, Chism had 18 and Bobby Maze added 11.

Tennessee shot a measly 37.9 percent from the field compared to Kentucky's 56.6 percent and hit only six of 23 attempts from behind the arc.

"We tried to deny Jodie Meeks the basketball, but to show how pitiful we were, Meeks did anything he wanted to do," Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said.

(This version CORRECTS halftime lead to 4 instead of 6)

Price is right for No. 5 Huskies, 81-72

CINCINNATI – The road just seems to bring out the best in the Connecticut Huskies.

A.J. Price hit 5 of 8 3-pointers and scored 22 points and the fifth-ranked Huskies flexed their muscles down the stretch to beat Cincinnati 81-72 on Saturday night.

The Huskies (14-1, 3-1 Big East) improved to 7-0 on the road while shooting 58 percent from the field. Jeff Adrien added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Jerome Dyson had 12 points.

Deonta Vaughn scored 19 points, Mike Williams 14 and Yancy Gates 12 for Cincinnati (10-6, 0-3), which has lost four in a row on the heels of a four-game winning streak. The Bearcats had been booed off the floor in an 87-79 home loss to Providence on Wednesday night, but they fought on relatively even terms with the Huskies.

Connecticut has won three in a row since sustaining its only loss, 74-63 at home to Georgetown, in the conference opener on Dec. 29.

This game was nothing like the last meeting between the teams. The Huskies won last March at home, 96-51, in the most lopsided Big East game ever. Cincinnati has never beaten the Huskies in five meetings.

Up four at the half, the Huskies used an 8-2 run to build their advantage to 55-46 on Dyson's long 3 from in front of coach Jim Calhoun with 12:01 left.

But Cincinnati came back with scores on its next three possessions — Rashad Bishop converting a blocked shot, Gates making a short jumper and Dion Dixon hitting a reverse layup off an assist from Vaughn — to winnow the lead back to three points.

The Huskies stretched the margin to seven again when Stanley Robinson dunked off an alley-oop pass from Price — who had five assists — before Hasheem Thabeet jammed in an assist frm Dyson.

Cincinnati kept applying pressure but could never pull even.

Clinging to a 61-56 lead, the Huskies finally gained some breathing room on Price's perimeter jumper and, after a miss, Kemba Walker's end-to-end drive for a layup and a 65-56 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left.

Price then hit a fallaway 3 from the left corner for a 12-point lead, all but putting the game out of reach.

Cincinnati never led and Connecticut was never up by more than six points in a physical opening half, the teams frequently trading body blows whenever anyone drove to the basket.

The Bearcats pulled even on two Gates free throws at the 3:53 mark and a Larry Davis 3-pointer tied it again at 30 a minute later.

The Huskies eventually built a 38-34 lead at the break thanks to two high-arching 3-pointers by Price over defenders' hands in the final minute. He hit his third 3 of the half with a second left.

During a loose ball with just over 3 minutes left in the half, Adrien came up with a loose ball in a pileup near midcourt and threw a hard elbow that never connected. That was enough to inflame the crowd at Fifth Third Arena.

Price had 13 for the Huskies and Williams and Vaughn each had 10 for the Bearcats in the first 20 minutes. Vaughn, Cincinnati's leading scorer at 14.5 points a game, didn't score in the final 8:29, however.

The Huskies hit half of their eight shots behind the arc in the opening half and finished 8 of 15.

They improved to 12-0 this season when leading at the half.

UConn's Brown runs over Buffalo in 38-20 win

TORONTO – Donald Brown and a stout defense helped Connecticut overcome a fumble-prone performance. Brown, the nation's leading rusher, ran for a career-best 261 yards — including 208 in the first half — in his final college game, and UConn defeated Buffalo 38-20 in the International Bowl on Saturday.

After vowing last month that he would return for his senior season, Brown announced after the game he would apply for the NFL draft in April.

The Huskies (8-5) overcame five first-half turnovers and a 20-10 deficit to win their second bowl game in three appearances since joining the Big East in 2004.

The Mid-American champion Bulls (8-6) had their breakout season under coach Turner Gill end with a loss in their bowl debut. James Starks scored on a 4-yard run for the Bulls, who scored all 20 points off turnovers, but were unable to get their potent offense in gear.

The Huskies went ahead for good 10 minutes into the third quarter when Tyler Lorenzen completed his first pass, a 4-yarder to tight end Steve Brouse for a 24-20 lead. After Lorenzen scored on a 15-yard scamper with 4:44 left, Huskies linebacker Dahna Deleston dealt the final blow. He returned Drew Willy's interception 100 yards for a touchdown with 2:15 remaining.

The touchdown — matching the longest interception return in UConn history — ended Buffalo's final chance to get back into the game, coming when Willy's attempt to Naaman Roosevelt at the goal line bounced off the receiver's hands and to Deleston. The score rewarded the Huskies' defense for a strong effort. UConn limited Buffalo to a mere 237 yards and 10 first downs — and five through three quarters.

Brown, on the other hand, was unstoppable. Only Huskies coach Randy Edsall's decision to get some of his other runners involved in the second half, kept Brown's totals down.

The talented junior scored on a 45-yard run, and his 75-yarder was a career high and set up Lorenzen's 12-yard touchdown run late in the first half.

Brown's 18th TD of the season set a single-season school record. He fell 17 yards short of UConn's single-game rushing record, set by Nick Giaquinto in 1976. He also fell short of the International Bowl mark of 280 set last year set by Rutgers' Ray Rice.

The Huskies opened the game looking much like the team that committed five turnovers in a regular season-ending 34-10 loss to Pittsburgh. The first half was a comedy of errors in which the Huskies muffed two punts and a kickoff and also lost two of three fumbles.

Buffalo's Ray Anthony Long recovered Jasper Howard's muffed punt in the end zone. Howard failed to make an over-the-shoulder catch of Peter Fardon's punt at the UConn 13, and then inadvertently kicked the ball into the end zone.

Starks' score came after another Huskies' miscue. Robbie Frey had a kickoff go off his hand and into the end zone.

Rather than downing the ball for what would've been a touchback, Frey ran the ball out and had it jarred loose by Justin Winters and recovered by Buffalo's John Syty at the UConn 4.

Among those in attendance were about two-dozen members of Buffalo's 1958 team, the players wearing UB jerseys and lining up on the Bulls' sideline during the national anthem, and took the field during the captains' meeting. The players were honored guests, and noted for their stand for rejecting Buffalo's only other bowl bid 50 years ago because of a rule that barred black players from competing with whites on the same field at the Tangerine Bowl.

Huskies RB Brown has 208 yards rushing in 1st half

TORONTO – Connecticut's Donald Brown, the nation's leading rusher, announced he will enter the NFL draft after running for a career-best 261 yards in the Huskies' 38-20 victory against Buffalo in the International Bowl Saturday.

Brown had previously said he would return for his senior year, but was hedging going into the bowl game.

The junior ran for 208 yards rushing on 16 carries in the first half in the International Bowl. He came into the game averaging 151.83 yards per game.

Texas Tech QB sets NCAA career TD record

DALLAS – Texas Tech's Graham Harrell has thrown more touchdown passes than anyone in major college history.

Harrell tied, then broke the record Friday with two scoring passes in the Cotton Bowl against Mississippi. The record-setting 132nd touchdown pass was a 2-yard slant to star receiver Michael Crabtree early in the second quarter. Harrell passed the record held by Colt Brennan of Hawaii, who had 131 from 2005-07.

Harrell, playing his final game for Texas Tech, also was close to becoming the first player in NCAA history to throw for 5,000 yards in multiple seasons.