2009-11-20T21:48:06Z urn:uuid:60a76c80-d399-11d9-b93C-0003939e0af6 CoalEngine CoalSpeak urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-20T21:48:06Z

Syracuse Runs Away From No. 6 North Carolina Associated Press November 20, 2009 NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku combined for 13 points in Syracuse’s 22-1 run to open the second half and the Orange went on to a 87-71 victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic. The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Garden with blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1). North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry as Triche and Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the run ended 8 minutes into the second half Syracuse had a 59-40 lead. Tournament MVP Wesley Johnson had 25 points for the Orange, who beat California 95-73 in the semifinals. Onuaku finished with 15 points and Triche had 11. Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Iowa State, was 10 of 17 from the field, including making half of eight 3-point attempts, and had eight rebounds. Ed Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Ginyard added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who lost almost all of a 19-point second-half lead before beating No. 15 Ohio State 77-73 to reach the title game. North Carolina missed its first 13 shots of the second half and turned the ball over six times as the Orange just didn’t miss. Syracuse started the half by making 10 of its first 14 shots and the baskets were coming down low from Onuaku and from the perimeter including a 3 by Johnson that made it 57-40. The Tar Heels closed to 68-60 on a 3 by David Wear with 7:04 left, but Onuaku had the first and last baskets of a 6-0 run that ended any thoughts of a comeback for the ages. The first half had the crowd, which was split almost evenly between Carolina Blue and Syracuse Orange, on a ride of runs that kept Madison Square Garden in a constant roar more accustomed to late in the season than late November. Syracuse scored the first eight points of the game and was up 11-2 when Andy Rautins hit a 3. It didn’t take long for North Carolina to get right back in it as the Tar Heels scored 11 straight points, including two 3s by Will Graves. There were four lead changes and four ties the rest of the half, which ended with the Tar Heels leading 39-37. It wasn’t a perfect half as both teams had 10 turnovers. Ohio State beat California 76-70 in the third-place game.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-20T17:49:55Z

N.C. State Defeats Akron 66-45 Associated Press November 20, 2009 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Tracy Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds as North Carolina State beat Akron 66-45 at the Glenn Wilkes Classic on Friday. Dennis Horner also scored 16 points for the Wolfpack (2-0), who took control early and built a 43-21 halftime lead. The Zips (0-2) got 10 points from Anthony Hitchens. Horner had five points, including a 3, and C.J. Williams hit a pair of jumpers as N.C. State jumped out to a 17-4 lead 6 minutes into the game. Smith had consecutive baskets to extend the Wolfpack advantage to 23-7 in the first half. Horner’s second 3 of the game made it 31-12 with 7 minutes left in the half. Smith closed out his 14-point first half on a 3-point play with 25 seconds remaining. Horner had 10 during the opening 20 minutes. Akron pulled within 17, at 56-39, when Darryl Roberts had a 3 with 9 minutes remaining. N.C. State improved to 15-2 in November over the last four seasons under coach Sidne y Lowe. The Wolfpack plays Austin Peay on Saturday. Akron freshman center Zeke Marshall, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds against Austin Peay on Nov. 15 in his first collegiate game, had two points and four rebounds. Zips forward Chris McKnight played just 5 scoreless minutes in the first half after picking up three fouls and finished with four points. Jimmy Conyers, also in foul trouble during the game, didn’t score and fouled out with 3 minutes to play.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-20T16:00:41Z

Lawal Leads No. 21 Georgia Tech Past George Mason Associated Press November 20, 2009 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - A friendly rivalry between teammates Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors means trouble for opponents of No. 21 Georgia Tech. The two big men each scored 18 points and added three blocks apiece Friday to lead the Yellow Jackets (2-1) to a 70-62 victory over George Mason on Friday in the consolation round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off. “We push each other to see who can get the most rebounds, score the most points,” Favors said. “Me and Gani just try to play hard.” Favors scored six of his points in a 13-0 run, capped by one of his dunks, that gave the Yellow Jackets a 43-23 lead with 15 minutes to play. The Patriots (2-2) got no closer than six points the rest of the way. George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said he could not remember a game in which his team had been dunked on so many times. “The two big guys just manhandled us inside,” he said. “I’ll have to watch the tape to see how they were able to do it so easily.” Georgia Tech tallied 12 assists and coach Paul Hewitt said his team made fewer mistakes compared with its first-round performance in a 63-59 loss Thursday to No. 18 Dayton. “The big thing today is our point guards played with poise and got the balls in to them in the right spots,” Hewitt said. George Mason led 17-9 on a 3-pointer by Andre Cornelius with 9:54 left in the first half, but the Yellow Jackets then went on a 15-0 run that featured two dunks from Favors and one from Lawal. Georgia Tech led 27-19 at halftime. The Patriots were coming off a 69-68 loss to No. 5 Villanova 69-68 in the first round, and Larranaga said the fast pace of that game left his team tired. “We quickly lost our focus and as a result we were not able to score at all,” Larranaga said. George Mason mounted a late rally and with less than 30 seconds to play Luke Hancock made a layup to cut Georgia Tech’s lead to 66-60. But Favors and D’An dre Bell each converted a pair of free throws to seal the victory. Kevin Foster led George Mason with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Cornelius added 11 points, going 3 for 5 from behind the 3-point line. The Patriots shot more than twice as many 3-pointers as the Yellow Jackets, hitting 7 of 24. Lawal had a game-high 14 rebounds for Georgia Tech, which, as he noted, gave him the edge over Favors for the day. “When we’re on, we really dominate,” Lawal said. “When our hands are up and we’re active, it’s hard for anyone to score on us.”

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-19T22:24:58Z

Scott Leads Virginia Past Surprising Rider 79-46 Associated Press November 19, 2009 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Mike Scott had 17 points and nine rebounds Thursday night, leading Virginia to a 79-46 victory against Rider in the Cancun Challenge. The Cavaliers (2-1) held Rider to 33.3 percent shooting (17-for-51), ending a fast start to the season that saw the Broncs (2-1) average 87 points in beating Mississippi State and Lehigh. Scott had 13 points in the first half, which ended with Virginia ahead 36-22. The Cavaliers used a 14-3 run to start the second half to stretch the margin to 50-25 with 15 minutes left. The Broncs never got any closer, even when first-year Virginia coach Tony Bennett began emptying his bench midway through the second half. Sammy Zeglinski added 12 points and Jeff Jones 11 for the Cavaliers. The Broncs, who arrived with three players averaging 17.5 points or more, got nine points from Ryan Thompson, 8.5 below his average. Mike Ringgold had eight, more than 15 below his average, and Novar Gadson had just three, 17 off his norm. Brandon Penn scored 10. Rider had stunned Mississippi State 88-74 in winning its opener for the first time since 2003, and then hit 16 3-pointers in an 86-71 victory against Lehigh on Monday night. But against Virginia, coming off a 66-49 loss at South Florida, the defense Bennett has promised the Cavaliers would play was on display. Virginia also shot almost 52 percent (29-for-56). The Cavaliers led 36-22 at halftime after shooting 56 percent in the half. Virginia had runs of 10-2 and 9-0 early in the half as the Cavaliers opened a 25-13 lead, then outscored the Broncs 11-2 over the final 6 minutes after Rider closed within five.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-19T16:34:10Z

Collins’ 23 Points Lead Miami Past Tulane 74-54 Associated Press November 19, 2009 CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Dwayne Collins had 23 points and 14 rebounds as Miami overpowered Tulane 74-54 Thursday in the first round of the Charleston Classic. Collins made all eight of his shots from the field, and eight of his rebounds came on the offensive end. “He played like a man today,” Miami coach Frank Haith said. “It was a really good effort. We shared the ball, had 19 assists, and I thought our defense exerted itself in the second half, and we got on the offensive glass.” Collins was miffed that he made only seven of 12 foul shots. “I was disappointed I didn’t shoot better from the free throw line,” the power forward said. “Other than that, I guess I’ll take it. I thought we played well as a team, especially on defense.” The Hurricanes (3-0) broke away early in the second half with a 19-4 run. They advanced to play the Penn State-UNC Wilmington winner. Miami held Tulane to 20 points in the second half, limiting the Green Wave to 30 percent shooting. “Our thought our defense was the key to the game,” Haith said. “We were able to switch up between zone and man and our press, and I thought we played with a lot of energy.” Kris Richard scored 13 points for Tulane (0-2).

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-19T14:45:00Z

No. 18 Dayton Tops No. 21 Georgia Tech 63-59 Associated Press November 19, 2009 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Paul Williams’ summer of work paid off for No. 18 Dayton. The sophomore guard hit the go-ahead 3-pointer and went 4 for 4 from the free throw line in the last minute to seal the Flyers’ 63-59 comeback win over No. 21 Georgia Tech in the opening game of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday. “All summer we were working out shooting free three throws, a thousand after a thousand, and that shows you I can hit it,” Williams said. Dayton coach Brian Gregory was not surprised by his reserve guard’s performance. “He’s going to be an impact guy for us, which is what we thought from the beginning,” Gregory said. Williams finished with 13 points for Dayton (2-0), which got 47 points from its backups, including 19 from Chris Johnson. “I just come in and play my role,” said Johnson, who shot 4 for 8 from behind the 3-point line as the Flyers’ outside shooting countered the Yellow Jackets’ inside game. “I try to bring energy to the team.” The Yellow Jackets (1-1) trailed the Flyers 31-22 at the half, but rallied with a string of dunks and layups by Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal. A 3-pointer by Brian Oliver gave Georgia Tech its first lead of the second half at 49-47 and a layup by Zachery Peacock on an offensive rebound with 4:37 to play gave them a 57-50 lead. Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said Dayton’s energy was the key to its comeback. “We had a little flow going and then we got a little frantic, gave them some life,” Hewitt said. “The turnovers really hurt us, but you have to give credit to Dayton’s energy.” The Flyers had 22 turnovers, but scored 27 points off 26 Georgia Tech turnovers. “At times we were ugly out there, but we played hard,” Gregory said. Maurice Miller and Favors led Georgia Tech with 10 points apiece, and Lawal had eight rebounds in helping the Yellow Jackets outrebound Dayton 34-26. In t he first half, Dayton took control with an 8-0 run capped by Chris Wright’s breakaway dunk that gave the Flyers a 30-20 lead three minutes before the break. Luke Fabrizius also scored two 3-pointers during the run and finished with 12 points.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-18T22:52:46Z

Wake Forest Overcomes High Point 83-60 Associated Press November 18, 2009 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Al-Farouq Aminu had 22 points and 10 rebounds to help Wake Forest pull away early in the second half and beat High Point 83-60 on Wednesday night. Ishmael Smith added 13 points for the Demon Deacons (3-0), who trailed almost the entire first half before finally pushing ahead by three at the break. But Wake Forest scored the first seven points after halftime to finally get some separation from the pesky Panthers (1-1), then steadily increased the margin down the stretch. That’s not to say it was all easy for Wake Forest, which was facing a team picked to finish sixth in the Big South Conference. In fact, High Point led by nine points midway through the first half while Wake Forest didn’t take its first lead until just 2 minutes remained before halftime. Nick Barbour scored 15 points to lead High Point.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-18T21:57:59Z

Florida State Crushes Stetson 80-38 Associated Press November 18, 2009 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Deividas Dulkys led four Florida State players in double-figures with 13 points in an 80-38 rout of Stetson on Wednesday night. The Seminoles (2-0) held the Hatters (1-2) to just three first-half field goals and used a balanced scoring attack to enter halftime with a 36-point lead. For more ACC game stories check out our Wires section. Stetson finally ended its scoreless drought with Mark Lohuis’ 3-pointer with 16:31 left in the game, but FSU led by as many as 49. Florida State’s defense dominated, blocking 10 shots, forcing 17 turnovers and holding Stetson to 27.5 percent shooting. Chris Singleton scored 12 for FSU, and Xavier Gibson and Ryan Reid each scored 11. Tyshawn Patterson led Stetson with a game-high 15.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-17T22:58:48Z

No. 25 Maryland Breezes Past Fairfield 71-42 Associated Press November 17, 2009 COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) - Eric Hayes scored 14 points, and No. 25 Maryland celebrated its return to the AP poll with a 71-42 victory over Fairfield on Tuesday night. Landon Milbourne had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Sean Mosley scored 13 for the Terrapins (2-0). After opening the season with an 89-51 rout of Charleston Southern, Maryland resurfaced in the Top 25 this week for the first time since the end of the 2006-07 season. The Terrapins took control against Fairfield (2-1) with a 15-0 run in the first half, then pulled away with a 14-4 spurt immediately after halftime. Greivis Vasquez scored seven points on 3-for-11 shooting and led the Terrapins with six assists. The senior guard was 1 for 9 before hitting a 3-pointer from the left side to put Maryland ahead 41-26 with 14:12 left. As soon as the ball dropped through the net, he turned his head toward the crowd and flashed a “check-that-out” look. Freshman Derek Needham scored 15 for Fairfield (2-1). The Stags trailed by only eight points at halftime, but fell hopelessly behind after making only one basket in the opening 7½ minutes of the second half. Milbourne made two straight field goals immediately after intermission, then added a tip-in following a Fairfield basket. Minutes later, Maryland freshman James Padgett followed his own miss to launch an 8-0 spree that put the Terps up by 18. Hayes scored 10 points, and the Terrapins held Fairfield scoreless for a stretch of nearly eight minutes in going up 30-22 at halftime. Maryland missed 11 of its first 14 shots while falling behind 12-7. Fairfield then wilted under the Terrapins’ pressure defense, and Hayes peeled off seven straight points to cap a 15-point run that put Maryland in front for good. After scoring seven points in the opening seven minutes, Needham did not score the rest of the half. He also had four of the Stags’ 13 turnovers.

urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a 2009-11-17T22:25:17Z

Boston College Rolls Past St. Francis 72-44 Associated Press November 17, 2009 BOSTON (AP) - Boston College coach Al Skinner is looking forward to seeing what his team is really like after a pair of easy matchups. Tyler Roche scored 19 points, Reggie Jackson had 17 and Boston College tuned up for its upcoming trip to the Paradise Jam tournament with a 72-44 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) on Tuesday. The Eagles face Saint Joseph’s on Friday in the U.S. Virgin Islands. “When we planned this, I thought it would help our team find out where we are,” Skinner said. “I’d rather (play in the Paradise Jam) than play 20 of these games.” In just the schools’ second meeting since 1953, BC opened a double-digit lead against St. Francis early in the first half and coasted from there. Roche was 5-for-6 from 3-point range after going 4-for-5 from behind the arc and scoring a career-high 30 points in a season-opening win over Dartmouth on Friday. “Obviously we’re going to be playing some good competition in the Virgi n Islands,” Roche said. “That’s going to prepare us for league play.” The Eagles don’t return home until their Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Miami on Dec. 6, so they’ll have a good idea of what type of team they have after three games at the Paradise Jam, then road games at Providence and Michigan. “We’ve got to work on finishing games,” Jackson said. “We’re not going to be playing teams like Dartmouth and St. Francis.” Josh Southern added 13 points and Joe Trapani had 13 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles (2-0) were without three suspended players: starting forwards Corey Raji and Rakim Sanders and substitute Cortney Dunn. The players were suspended for two games and are expected to play when BC faces Saint Joseph’s. Akeem Bennett led the Terriers (0-2) with 18 points and eight rebounds. “He rebounds, scores, handles the ball. He does everything for us,” St. Francis assistant coach Andy Johnson said. The Eagles led 36-2 2 at halftime. They opened it to 45-25 on Roche’s 3-pointer 3:17 into the second half. He was fouled on the play, nearly falling out of bounds, but he missed the free throw. The expectation of a blowout kept many fans away. About 10 minutes before tip-off there was only about 100 people in the stands before the rest of 2,882 filed into Conte Forum.