NO. 20 CLEMSON 82,
NO. 19 NORTH CAROLINA 78
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Gabe DeVoe had one thought when the game ended and Clemson fans poured onto the court to celebrate the Tigers' first victory over North Carolina in eight years.
"I was just trying to get out of the way," DeVoe said with a smile after Clemson's 82-78 victory Tuesday night.
Forgive DeVoe and the rest of the 20th-ranked Tigers if they don't know how to react after beating North Carolina. After all, it happens so rarely.
Clemson had lost 10 consecutive and 20 of 21 -- dating back to 2004 -- to the Tar Heels entering this latest matchup.
"This is my first time beating North Carolina," said DeVoe, a senior from Shelby, N.C. "So it meant a little bit more."
Marcquise Reed had 20 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer after the Tigers blew a 16-point lead
Clemson (18-4, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) was up 44-28 at the half and looked like they would cruise to their first victory over the Tar Heels (16-7, 5-5) since January 2010. Instead, Cameron Johnson and Joel Berry II rallied UNC back, with Berry's jumper tying it at 74 with 2:03 to play.
That's when Reed struck with his three-pointer from the left side to put Clemson ahead for good. Reed rebounded Johnson's miss moments later, and Elijah Thomas made an inside shot to go up 79-74.
"I think he made the biggest play," North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said of Reed.
North Carolina has its first three-game losing streak since the 2013-14 season.
Clemson fans rushed the court after the school's second win over North Carolina since March 2004.
DeVoe had 17 points, including five of Clemson's season high 15 three-pointers.
"We were shooting the ball with confidence," he said. "Teammates trusted in me, coaches believed in me."
Clemson had everyone believing by the end, with students -- as they do each game with their ACC champion football team -- flooding the playing surface to jump around with the team.
Johnson had a career-high 32 points while Berry had 27, 19 of those coming in the second half.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell was anxious down the stretch during North Carolina's comeback, but was proud to see Reed and his teammates hang tough in a difficult situation.
"We've got multiple playmakers," he said. "That's something different from past teams."
Clemson improved to 5-0 at home in the ACC this season.
NO. 6 XAVIER 73,
ST. JOHN’S 68
NEW YORK — Trevon Bluiett scored 14 points to lead No. 6 Xavier over St. John’s.
Bluiett was one of four players in double-figure scoring for the Musketeers (20-3, 8-2 Big East). Kerem Kanter and Quentin Goodin each had 13 points, and J.P. Macura added 11. Despite a 31-point performance from Shamorie Ponds, the Red Storm (10-13, 0-11) dropped their 11th consecutive. Marvin Clark II added 19 points, and Bashir Ahmed had 12.
In the final 2:29, Bluiett made four free throws, and Kanter and Kasier Gates each converted layups. Kanter was aided by a defensive goaltending call on Tariq Owens, which led St. John’s Coach Chris Mullin to complain to senior associate commissioner Stu Jackson after the game.
St. John’s committed other errors which aided Xavier’s cause, such as Ahmed taking a shot-clock violation and shoving Bluiett on the ensuing possession. Bluiett made both free throws.
A few minutes earlier, Amar Alibegovic fouled out attempting to grab an offensive rebound of Clark’s missed three-pointer.
The Musketeers went into halftime leading 37-32. After falling behind 14-8 at the first media timeout, Xavier outscored St. John’s 29-18 for the remainder of the half.
St. John’s opened the second half with a 13-6 run spanning the first 4:25 to take 45-43 lead.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA 98,
BAYLOR 96
NORMAN, Okla. — Trae Young scored 31 of his 44 points in the second half to help No. 12 Oklahoma hold off Baylor.
Young, a freshman guard who leads the nation in scoring and assists, made 11 of 20 field goals and 16 of 19 free throws. It was his fourth game this season with at least 40 points, and the third time in the past six games he has scored that many.
Rashard Odomes scored 18 points, Brady Manek had 16 and Khadeem Lattin added 15 for the Sooners (16-5, 6-3 Big 12).
Oklahoma led 97-96 when Baylor’s Jake Lindsey was fouled with 4.7 seconds remaining. Lindsey missed the free throw and Oklahoma rebounded. Odomes was fouled with 3.9 seconds to play. He made the first free throw and missed the second, but Baylor’s King McClure missed a wild shot at the buzzer.
Manu Lecomte scored 29 points and Nuni Omot scored 23 for Baylor (12-10, 2-7), which lost its fourth consecutive.
NO. 17 OHIO STATE 71, INDIANA 56
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jae'Sean Tate scored 16 points and No. 17 Ohio State took control early in cruising over Indiana.
Kaleb Wesson added 14 points and Keita Bates-Diop had 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Buckeyes (19-5, 10-1 Big Ten) bounced back from last week's buzzer-beater loss to Penn State that dropped them three places in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Devonte Green scored 20 for the Hoosiers (12-11, 5-6), who have lost three in a row and four of five. Indiana, playing its fourth game in eight days, shot 36.4 percent from the floor after hitting better than 50 percent of its shots the past three games.
The Hoosiers struggled on defense, too. They had trouble stopping Wesson when he went to the basket in the lane. Ohio State scored 40 points in the paint.
Zach McRoberts hit two quick jump shots, one of them a three-pointer, in the first 1:14 to put the Hoosiers up by one, but Ohio State reeled off 10 consecutive points and didn't relinquish the lead again.
The Buckeyes led 38-23 at halftime on 5-for-5 shooting by Wesson. Indiana couldn't get any closer than 12 the rest of the way.
NO. 22 RHODE ISLAND 85,
MASSACHUSETTS 83
AMHERST, Mass. -- Jeff Dowtin had 19 points and 10 assists, and No. 22 Rhode Island escaped with a victory over Massachusetts after the Minutemen botched an intentional missed free throw in the final seconds.
The Rams (18-3, 10-0 Atlantic 10) led by three points with 1.8 seconds left when UMass' Luwane Pipkins went to the free-throw line. Pipkins made the first shot and missed the second on purpose, but he was called for a lane violation while grabbing the rebound.
Rhode Island has won 13 consecutive games.
Jared Terrell led the Rams with 21 points and fueled a 21-2 run in the first half, capped by E.C. Matthews' three-pointer with under eight minutes left. Rhode Island led 44-41 at halftime.
Pipkins paced the Minutemen (10-13, 3-7) with 27 points. He came in as the Atlantic-10's third-leading scorer at 19.9 points per game.
Sports on 01/31/2018