Terrapins Get Tough and Win

Trailing by 12 points and in danger of falling to 0-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Maryland got tough on defense in an effort to make something positive happen against No. 13 Florida State.

The Terrapins proceeded to limit the Seminoles to two baskets over a 12-minute span and rallied to an 81-74 victory Wednesday night at College Park, Md.

Obinna Ekezie had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland, 8-5 overall and 1-2 in the ACC. The Terrapins were coming off a 32-point home defeat against No. 2 Duke and at halftime appeared in danger of losing a third consecutive game for only the second time in four seasons.

Instead, Maryland ended Florida State’s winning streak at four games. It was the Terrapins’ fifth straight home victory against the Seminoles (12-3, 1-2).

No. 2 Duke 64, North Carolina State 50--Two baskets by backup point guard William Avery during a 26-second span of the second half sparked the sluggish Blue Devils in the ACC game at Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils (13-1, 3-0) beat the Wolfpack (9-4, 1-2) for the 10th straight time in Cameron Indoor Stadium and for the 14th time in the last 17 meetings.

No. 4 Kansas 111, Colorado 62--The weakened Jayhawks were still way too much for the Buffaloes in the Big 12 game as Ryan Robertson and Lester Earl each scored a career-high 20 points at Lawrence, Kan.

With leading scorer Raef LaFrentz expected to be out another five weeks because of a broken finger, the Jayhawks (18-2, 2-0) got a scare when Paul Pierce limped off the court early in the first half holding his right knee.

But he appeared to be at full speed in the second half when he stole the ball from Aki Thomas at halfcourt and scored to give Kansas a 58-27 lead with 17:23 left. Kenny Price had 17 points for Colorado (6-6, 0-2).

No. 9 Purdue 77, Penn State 55--The Boilermakers (13-3, 2-1) broke the Big Ten game open with a 22-6 run as the Nittany Lions (7-5, 0-2) had only two baskets in a six-minute span during the first half at West Lafayette, Ind.

No. 16 South Carolina 71, Vanderbilt 70--Despite BJ McKie, the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer, making just two of 13 shots, the Gamecocks (9-2, 1-1) used a late 9-0 run to hold off the Commodores (11-4, 0-2) at Columbia, S.C.

No. 14 Mississippi 90, Florida 79--The Rebels tied a school record with their 15th consecutive home win.

Mississippi (11-1, 2-0) never trailed. Florida (7-4, 1-1) tried full-court pressure in an effort to erase a 48-32 halftime deficit, but was called for six fouls over the first three minutes.

No. 18 Syracuse 77, Providence 59--The Orangemen took advantage of the worst half of shooting the Friars have ever had in the Big East game at Providence.

Providence (5-7, 0-3) shot only 19% in the first half as they lost their third straight game. Todd Burgan scored 17 points for the Orangemen (13-1, 4-0).

No. 19 Xavier 104, La Salle 67--The Musketeers took control with an 11-1 run to start the second half of the Atlantic 10 game at Cincinnati.

Lenny Brown scored 22 points to lead the Xavier (9-1, 1-1). Donnie Carr had 19 points for La Salle (4-7, 0-2).

Alabama Birmingham 65, No. 20 Marquette 52--Cedric Dixon scored all of his 21 points in the second half of the Conference USA game at Milwaukee as the Blazers (10-4, 2-0) handed the Golden Eagles their first loss of the season.

The Blazers have won six consecutive games and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Golden Eagles (10-1, 1-1).

No. 22 Arkansas 83, Mississippi State 70--Nick Davis scored 10 points over the first 4 1/2 minutes of the second half as the Razorbacks (12-2, 2-0) took control of the SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark. The Bulldogs are 12-3 and 1-1.