The North Carolina Tar Heels arrived at Silvio O. Conte Forum looking to duplicate the win against Boston College, a 91-69 thrashing of the Golden Eagles a month earlier. Well this time around BC was going to put up more of a fight, as they quickly jumped out to a lead behind the 3 point shooting of Tyrese Rice. Rice had an unbelievable 1st half, he helped BC get out to a fast lead by hitting 4 3 point shots in a row. With the Tar Heels being in a bit of an earlier slump he continued his shooting feat, hitting 4 more 3 point shots and getting himself to the foul line. At one point in the game Rice was outscoring UNC by himself, he would go on to achieve his career high by the end of the half with 34 points and 8 for 9 3 point shooting. After coming out the 2nd half leading UNC 54-40, it looked like Rice would continue his onslaught as he stripped Thomas at halfcourt and finished the defensive play with a layup. Coach Williams switched up his defensive play on Rice and had Marcus Ginyard cover the 6 foot guard, Ginyard was a great choice considering he has 6 inches on Rice. Behind the 25 points from Tyler Hansbrough, 20 points from Wayne Ellington, and 18 points from Danny Green off of the bench UNC would go on to outscore BC 50-26 in the 2nd half, winning the game 90-80. Tyrese Rice finished the 2nd half with 12 of the 26 points, he finished the game shooting 14-25, 10-11 from the free throw line and 8-12 from the 3 point line. Rice finished with 46 points, 4 shy of achieving the school record and became the 1st BC player with 40 points since Troy Bell in 2001. UNC improved to 12-2 in ACC play and 27-2 overall, as BC dropped to 4-10 in ACC play and 13-14 overall.
(Photo courtesy of AP Press/ESPN)
USC Trojans visited the Arizona State Sun Devils in hopes of improving their run to the NCAA tournament. The first half both teams played to a tie 25-25, but heading into the 2nd quarter is where the game became more intense. ASU would go on a few runs and open up the lead on the Trojans, as the Trojans begin to foul out OJ Mayo begin to really dominate the game. He would start out on either wing with the ball and just drive it right down the lane and finish with a difficult layup. It didn't help that his 3 point shot was falling as well, he hit 7 of his 1st 8 attempts. Even though Mayo was read hot, his team however had most of their big guys on the bench because of fouls and didn't do a good job defensively. The Sun Devils would go on to outscore USC 55-41 in the 2nd half, with 4 players in double digits. Freshman Guard James Harden lead the way with 24 points, Junior Forward Jeff Pendergraph poured in 21 points and 9 rebounds, Sophomore Guard Derek Glasser added 11 points and Freshman Forward Rihards Kuksiks added 10 points, including 2 3 pointers. OJ Mayo finished with 37 points shooting 13-21, 6 for 7 from the foul line and 7 for 10 from the 3 point line, he was the only Trojan in double digits. Both teams have an overall record of 18-10, while USC is 9-7 on PAC-10 play and ASU is 8-8 in PAC-10 play.
(Photo courtesy of AP Press/ESPN)
The Kansas State Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks earlier in the season to end a Jayhawk 24 year winning streak in Manhattan. Last night KSU was looking for their first sweep of Kansas in the regular season since 1983. This game was star filled, as everyone knows the freshman sensation Michael Beasley who is having one of the best individual college basketball seasons in history. Kansas has it's share of stars from Darrell Arthur to Brandon Rush, they are loaded with great talent. The game tipped off and the tone was set early, KSU was in trouble when superstar Beasley received two quick fouls and had to sit for a period of time. It didn't help the Wildcats when their other forward, Bill Walker and 2nd scoring threat on the team got into early foul trouble as well. It looked as the second foul called on Beasley was a blocking foul since the defender was moving and one of Walker's fouls was wrongly assigned to him. What happened next was inevitable, as KU jumped out to 23 points as KSU struggled to get out of single digits. Coach Frank Martin had no choice and had to play Beasley, he figured out a way to play him the rest of the half. Coach Martin would put Beasley in on offense and when a change of possession would come he would take him out, hence he only played offense aside form the last minute or two. It was a tough game for KSU as they got the lead down to 8 points, but entered the locker room down 41-29. When the Jayhawks came out the 2nd half, they came out for blood. They jumped out to an 11-0 run in the second half behind the shooting of Brandon Rush, who hit a three to cap the run off and 4 points from Darnell Jackson. While Kansas was hot the Kansas State faltered as they missed their first 6 shots of the half. Though a deep deficit Beasley got rolling, as he started to knock down his jumper from inside and outside the 3 point line. He also got to the front of the rim and to the line but it wasn't enough to defeat the Jayhawks. Beasley finished with a quiet 39 points, tying for the 4th most in Phog Allen Fieldhouse. He was the only Wildcat in double figures, finishing 11-23 on the floor, 13-16 from the line and 4-7 from behind the arc. The Jayhawks had 5 players finish in double figures as Guard Brandon Rush lead the way with 21 points, shooting 5 for 9 from the 3 point line as Kansas shot 11 for 23 from the 3 point line. Guard Sherron Collins came off the bench and poured in 18 points hitting 3 three pointers, Senior Guard Russell Robinson had 14 points and 5 assists and 2 three pointers, and both Forwards Darrell Arthur and Darnell Robinson added 10 points each in the win. The annually top 10 Jayhawks improved to 26-3 overall and a tie for the Big 12 lead with Texas at 11-3 in conference play. The Wildcats who started the season hot and handed Kansas there first loss, have became dismal down the stretch. Losing 5 of their last 6 games and 4 in a row, KSU is 8-6 in conference play and a 18-10 overall record.
(Photo courtesy of AP Press/ESPN)
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