Duncan Spells More Than Double Trouble for Tar Heels

North Carolina Coach Dean Smith expected to see a classic Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday night at Winston-Salem, N.C., where his 11th-ranked Tar Heels were playing No. 2 Wake Forest.

That proved to be wishful thinking on Smith’s part.

“I saw one great basketball team tonight, I had hoped to see two,” Smith said after his team’s 81-57 loss to the Demon Deacons. “They’re better than we are, that’s obvious.”

What made Wake Forest, 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, better in this game was the play of 6-foot-10 center Tim Duncan, who had 23 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots.

The double figures in points and rebounds are routine for Duncan--he’s done it 19 consecutive games and six of seven times against North Carolina.

What had the Tar Heels (9-2, 0-1) shaking their heads was Duncan’s defensive presence. They had their lowest shooting percentage (33%) since a loss to Georgia Tech in February 1990, and the ACC’s leading scorer, Antawn Jamison, seemed particularly intimidated by Duncan in scoring 13 points and missing 13 of 19 shots.

“Everything we did [on offense] they just came up with a knockout punch,” said Jamison, who came into the game averaging 23 points and shooting 57%.

North Carolina, which returned Tuesday from a three-game overseas exhibition tour, fell behind by nine points at halftime as Duncan had 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Wake Forest then made 11 of its first 13 shots of the second half to take command for its 24th consecutive home-court victory.

No. 1 Kansas 62, Kansas State 59--Guard Jacque Vaughn made two free throws with 13.5 seconds for the Jayhawks (13-0), who beat the rival Wildcats (7-4) for the 15th consecutive time at Manhattan, Kan., in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Kansas State, coming off a 41-point loss to Xavier (Ohio), had a chance to take the lead with 20 seconds left, but 6-foot-10 Shawn Rhodes missed a three-point shot.

Kansas forward B.J. Williams was fouled after getting the rebound. Williams shot an air ball on his first free throw and was long on the second, but guard Billy Thomas tipped the ball back out to Vaughn, who was fouled.

Kansas shot 29%, the lowest in a Big 12 game in nine seasons under Coach Roy Williams. “Overall, maybe we should have lost, but we got lucky at the end,” said Kansas center Scot Pollard, who had 17 points and seven blocked shots. “Overall, it was luck to some degree on our part. It’s a concentration thing. They got in the passing lanes and we couldn’t get the ball inside.”

No. 3 Kentucky 74, Tennessee 40--The Wildcats (12-1) backed off their uptempo game and patiently worked the ball to their inside players in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams at Lexington, Ky.

Tennessee (6-4) entered the game as the top team in the SEC in field-goal defense (35%), but Kentucky inside players Jamaal Magloire, Nazr Mohammed and Jared Prickett made 16 of 23 shots and had 35 points.

The Volunteers, working the shot clock below 10 seconds on nearly every possession, scored only 12 points in the first half, shot 28% for the game and had 24 turnovers that the Wildcats converted into 23 points.

“Tennessee plays a totally different style than anything we have seen,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “We had to get down and dirty and play a defensive game.”

No. 4 Iowa State 68, Missouri 65--The Cyclones remained unbeaten (10-0) as troubled star forward Kenny Pratt, reinstated to the team earlier this week, had 20 points and eight rebounds in the Big 12 opener for both schools at Columbia, Mo.

Pratt, the second-leading scorer for last season’s surprising 24-9 team, was academically ineligible the first semester, during which he pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct. He was arrested again Dec. 28 after failing a sobriety test and reportedly kicking at police officers as they put him in their car. Iowa State Coach Tim Floyd suspended Pratt but was overruled by a school athletic committee.

Jacy Holloway, a reserve guard who averages 6.6 points for Iowa State, twice made three-point shots to break tie scores in the final 2:40.

Forward Kelly Thames had a season-high 22 points, making 10 of 12 shots, for Missouri (8-5), which has lost its last six games against nationally ranked teams. Forward Derek Grimm missed a three-point shot with two seconds left that could have forced an overtime.

No. 5 Clemson 63, South Carolina State 44--The Tigers (12-1) missed 20 of their first 30 shots in a nonconference game at Clemson, S.C., but were always in control against the Bulldogs (1-7), who lost by 50 to Duke Thursday night and are ranked 304th among 305 Division I teams in the power rankings.

“I hate to say this, but we felt like we were going to win the game before it started,” Clemson Coach Rick Barnes said. “I told the guys, I was going to try and get everybody out there. It’s hard to establish a flow.”

Forward Greg Buckner had 19 points for Clemson, which has won its last eight games by an average of 19 points. South Carolina State guard Roderick “Moo Moo” Blakney, the only starter back from last season’s NCAA tournament team, had 17 points.

No. 7 Utah 84, Colorado State 63--The Utes (9-2), which had shot 33% in a 21-point loss to Wake Forest on Tuesday, made five consecutive three-point attempts at the start of the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Salt Lake City.

Forward Keith Van Horn had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 24 minutes for Utah, which led Colorado State (10-3) by 33 points with 10 minutes to play.

No. 8 Michigan 75, Northwestern 57--Guard Louis Bullock, usually most effective driving to the basket, made seven of 10 three-point shots and had 25 points for the Wolverines (10-3, 1-1) in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Michigan, which had lost three of its previous four games, held double-digit leads throughout the second half in beating Northwestern (5-8, 0-2) for the 22nd time in the last 23 games between the schools.

No. 15 Minnesota 68, Michigan State 43--The Golden Gophers (13-1, 2-0) used an 18-0 run in a span of 8:28 late in the second half at East Lansing, Mich., and held a Big Ten opponent under 50 points for the second consecutive game.

Michigan State (7-3, 0-2) shot 30% as guards Ray Weathers and Mateen Cleaves were five of 18 against Minnesota’s tenacious backcourt of Bobby Jackson and Ray Harris. It was the fewest points scored by the Spartans in a Big Ten game since a 52-39 loss to Illinois on Jan. 9, 1993.

Minnesota shot 54% and committed only three turnovers in taking a 37-27 halftime lead which it increased to as many as 39.

No. 17 Xavier (Ohio) 102, Virginia Tech 67--The Musketeers (10-0) used a full-court trapping defense to force 22 turnovers in an Atlantic 10 game at Cincinnati which was delayed 30 minutes because of a slippery court.

Guard Darnell Williams scored eight of his career-high 25 points in a 20-4 Xavier run that was interrupted when the court--which rests on ice used by the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League--had to be dried off. The combination of the ice beneath the floor, unseasonably warm temperatures outdoors and a capacity crowd created condensation.

Cincinnati Gardens officials turned down the coolant to the ice and opened the arena doors to remedy the problem.

During the delay, Xavier Coach Skip Prosser attended to his 19-year-old son, Scott, who had a seizure behind the bench. Scott recovered in a few minutes and sat at the end of the bench for the rest of the game.

Virginia Tech is 5-5 and 1-1.

No. 18 Texas 92, Oklahoma State 58--Guard Reggie Freeman had 33 points, including six three-point baskets, as the Longhorns (7-3) avoided their first three-game losing streak in three years in the Big 12 opener for both teams.

Texas shot better from three-point range (55%) than it did on two-point attempts (47%).

Oklahoma State is 7-4. Coach Eddie Sutton had compiled a 21-7 record in Southwest Conference against Texas when he was at Arkansas from 1975-85.

No. 19 Maryland 78, Virginia 62--Guard Sarunas Jasikevicius a career-high 24 points at College Park, Md., as the Terrapins (12-1) got off to a 2-0 start in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in nine years.

Jasikevicius, who had not scored in double figures in six of his previous seven games, made six of his first eight shots to help Maryland take a 42-28 halftime lead, and Virginia (9-4, 0-2) never got closer than six.

No. 23 Texas Tech 86, Baylor 75--The Red Raiders (9-2) scored only one field goal in the final six minutes but made eight consecutive free throws in the last 52 seconds in the first Big 12 game for the two former Southwest Conference schools at Lubbock, Texas.

Guard Cory Carr had 25 points and center Tony Battie had 24 as Texas Tech won its 35th consecutive home game.

Baylor (11-2), off to its best start in 51 years, reduced a 14-point deficit to six with 2:41 left as 5-foot-9 Patrick Hunter, who had 18 points, repeatedly penetrated Texas Tech’s interior defense for layups.

No. 24 Illinois 72, Ohio State 64--Guard Kiwane Garris continued to raise his level of play against the Buckeyes (6-5, 1-1), scoring 23 points for the Illini (11-3, 1-1) in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

It was the ninth consecutive time the Illinois has beaten Ohio State, including seven in Garris’ career. He came into the game averaging 23 points a game against the Buckeyes and 15.4 against other teams. He also had six rebounds and five assists.

No. 25 Boston College 80, Seton Hall 64--Forward Danya Abrams had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles (8-2, 3-1) in a Big East game at East Rutherford, N.J.

A 51-21 rebounding advantage and four double figure scorers allowed Boston College to overcome a 31-point by Seton Hall freshman guard Shaheen Holloway, who had nine three-point baskets and tied a record held by Dana Barros (Boston College, 1989) and Ray Allen (Connecticut, 1996).

Seton Hall is 6-6 and 1-3.

OTHER GAMES

Forward Bubba Wells, the nation’s third-leading scorer last season, had 39 points in his season debut for Austin Peay (5-8, 2-1), which was a 96-85 winner over Southeast Missouri (3-9, 0-1) in an Ohio Valley Conference game at Clarksville, Tenn. Wells had undergone surgery before the season to insert a rod in his left leg and played 28 minutes in his first game. Wells previously redshirted one season and sat out the final games of another because of stress fractures in his right leg. . . . Forward Pat Garrity, the Big East’s leading scorer at 24.7 points a game, had a season-low nine points and missed 13 of 16 shots as Notre Dame (7-4, 1-2) was a 70-53 loser to Rutgers (6-3, 2-2) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Freshman guard Donnie Carr had 20 points, nearly 10 below his nation-leading scoring average, for LaSalle (5-4) in a 73-56 nonconference victory over Holy Cross (3-9) in Philadelphia.

Connecticut (10-2, 3-1), poised to break into the Top 25, held West Virginia (7-3, 1-2) to 37% shooting and 26 points below its season scoring average in a 79-62 Big East victory at Hartford, Conn. It was the Huskies’ eighth consecutive victory. . . . Guard Kevin Norris made 15-foot shot with 0.4 seconds left to give Miami (8-4, 2-2) a 69-67 Big East victory over Georgetown (9-3, 2-2), whose home-court win streak ended at 23 games. Hoya guard Victor Page scored 10 of his 30 points in the final 6:19 and tied the game with the two free throws with 16.4 seconds left. . . . Shawnta Rogers, a 5-foot-4 guard, had a career-high 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in leading George Washington (5-5, 1-0) to an 86-66 Atlantic 10 victory over Fordham (4-6, 0-1) in Washington. . . . Center Adonal Foyle had a career-high 37 points and 11 rebounds as Colgate won for the first time in 10 games, beating Siena, 93-81, at Albany, N.Y. Foyle had six blocked shots in addition to getting double figures in points and rebounds for the 2Oth consecutive game. . . . Penn State (7-3, 0-1) lost for the first time in 15 games at Bryce Jordan Center at State College, Pa., falling to Iowa, 69-57, in a Big Ten game. The Hawkeyes are 11-3 and 2-0.

Guard Bart Hyche’s three-point basket with 16 seconds was decisive as Mississippi State (7-7) was a 69-66 winner over Louisiana State (7-7) in the SEC opener for both teams at Starkville, Miss. It was the first game for LSU since Dale Brown, in his 25th season, announced his resignation at the season’s end. . . . Florida State (9-1, 1-1) used a 25-6 run to finish the first half and take command in its sixth consecutive victory, a 71-51 decision over North Carolina State (7-3, 0-2) in an ACC game at Tallahassee, Fla. . . . Forward Kwan Johnson made a 70-foot shot at the buzzer in overtime to give New Orleans (9-2, 2-1) an 82-79 Sun Belt Conference victory at home over Arkansas Little Rock (6-5, 1-2). Johnson finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and six steals.

Guard Shea Seals scored 25 points as Tulsa (9-4) was a 66-58 winner over San Jose State (8-4) in its Western Athletic Conference debut at San Jose. The victory was also No. 999 in 85 seasons for Tulsa. San Jose State’s high-scoring Olivier Saint-Jean had 20 points but missed nine of his first 10 shots. . . . Guard Chad Nelson had 21 points for San Diego State (9-2) in a home-court 74-70 victory over Texas El Paso (6-4), the WAC opener for both teams. . . . San Diego (8-4) has a five-game winning streak for the first time since 1991-92 after a home-court 80-54 nonconference victory over Southern Utah (3-9). . . . Pacific (9-1) will enter Big West play with a nine-game winning streak after a 73-47 victory over Sacramento State, which was playing its first game in a refurbished downtown building that is 69 years old. . . . Guard Chivo Anderson had 18 points and eight rebounds for Portland (5-7) in an 81-72 nonconference victory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (6-6).