Kansas Clears a Big Hurdle on Road to Stay Unbeaten

It was generally believed before Wednesday that there were only two obstacles in Kansas’ path toward becoming the third team in the last 18 years to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten.

The top-ranked Jayhawks cleared one of those obstacles in a Big 12 Conference game at Lubbock, Texas, coming from a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 22 Texas Tech, 86-77.

Kansas (21-0, 7-0) forced Texas Tech (13-5, 5-3) into 10 second-half turnovers, five during a 10-0 run that produced its first lead at 63-62 with 8:20 left.

The teams traded baskets the next three minutes, but the Jayhawks made 16 of their last 18 free throws and used superior depth to wear down the Red Raiders, who made only one free throw in the final five minutes.

Texas Tech’s 6-foot-11 center Tony Battie made 13 of 16 shots and had 29 points, but usually reliable guard Corey Carr was six of 21 from the field in scoring 16.

Raef LaFrentz, playing center for the Jayhawks in place of injured Scot Pollard, had 21 points but only two rebounds. Forward Paul Pierce had all his 16 points in the second half.

Kansas’ last difficult road game before the Big 12 Tournament is expected to be Feb. 9 against No. 11 Iowa State in Ames. The Jayhawks are bidding to become the first team since Nevada Las Vegas in 1991 and Indiana State in 1979 to start the NCAA tournament unbeaten. Neither team won the national championship.

No. 2 Wake Forest 68, Wofford 51--Center Tim Duncan did not block a shot for the first time in his 115-game career for the Demon Deacons (17-1) in a nonconference game at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The 6-11 Duncan also failed to get a double-double in scoring and rebounding for the first time in 27 games. He had 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes against Wofford (5-13), which has no player over 6-9.

No. 3 Kentucky 92, Florida 65--The Wildcats (19-2, 7-1) dominated the Gators (10-10, 3-5) at Gainesville, Fla., in the first Southeastern Conference meeting between Rick Pitino and his former player and assistant coach, Florida Coach Billy Donovan.

Florida State 74, No. 5 Maryland 70--Guard Kerry Thompson, who had committed nine turnovers against the Terrapins’ trapping defense, made a three-point shot with 1:13 to break a tie and put the Seminoles back in control (12-5, 3-5) of the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Tallahassee, Fla.

Maryland (17-3, 6-2) had rallied from a 13-point deficit to tie the game at 65-65 with 1:41 left on a layup by forward Keith Booth, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half. Florida State forwards Randell Jackson and Ron Hale had career highs of 20 and 17 points, respectively.

No. 12 Duke 80, No. 19 North Carolina 73--Trajan Langdon had a career-high 28 points and his seventh three-point basket with 41 seconds left sealed the Atlantic Coast Conference victory for the Blue Devils (16-5, 5-3) at Durham, N.C.

It was Duke’s first victory over North Carolina (12-6, 3-5) in eight games. Tar Heel forward Antawn Jamison, the ACC’s leading scorer, had a season-low 10.

No. 11 Iowa State 77, Nebraska 67--The Cyclones (14-3, 5-2) made 11 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes of the Big 12 game at Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska (11-8, 3-4) had a 40-19 rebounding advantage, with 6-11 center Mikki Moore getting 15.

No. 18 Colorado 69, Kansas State 60--Guard Chauncey Billups had 25 points for the Buffaloes (16-4, 7-1) in the Big 12 game at Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas State (7-10, 0-7) made only 12 of 24 free throws in losing its eighth consecutive game.

No. 25 South Carolina 65, Vanderbilt 64--Guard Melvin Watson’s basket with 16 seconds left in the Southeastern Conference game at Nashville proved decisive for the Gamecocks (14-5, 8-0), who have a nine-game winning streak.

Vanderbilt (11-8, 3-5) missed two shots in the final seconds.

OTHER GAMES

Forward Gordon Malone had career highs in scoring (28 points) and rebounding (15) to lead West Virginia (12-5, 6-4) to an 89-76 Big East Conference victory over Boston College (13-5, 7-3) at Morgantown, W. Va. Forward Danya Abrams, the Eagles’ leading scorer and rebounder, had seven points and one rebound. . . . Forward Derrick Brown had a career-high 31 points and 10 rebounds as Providence (15-5, 6-3) was a 62-47 Big East winner over Connecticut (11-7, 4-5) at Storrs, Conn. . . . Pittsburgh (11-9, 5-4) made a Big East-record 16 three-point baskets in a home-court 88-64 victory over Notre Dame (9-8, 3-7). . . . Guard Andre Woolridge had 25 points as Iowa (15-5, 6-2) held onto second place in the Big Ten Conference behind No. 6 Minnesota with an 82-65 victory over Illinois (14-6, 4-4) at Iowa City.