College Basketball Capsules - Men: Taylor coming to grips with leading No. 7 Kansas

It's just like being the quarterback at Florida under Steve Spurrier, or the running back at Southern California during the eras of O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen and Reggie Bush.

Tyshawn Taylor isn't worried about his doubters even though there are plenty of them. The most polarizing player to suit up at Allen Fieldhouse in years is universally loved or loathed depending on the day — and the performance — by one of college hoops' most passionate fan bases.

These days it's been nothing but love. Taylor has scored 28 points the past two games, including the seventh-ranked Jayhawks' rout of No. 3 Baylor on Monday. The two big games have boosted his average to 16.2 points, while also cutting into some of the criticism that he's received.

"I hear it, I see it. It is what it is," he said. "It's going to keep coming — it's probably going to come more now because I'm playing better. I'm going to keep trying to play better."

Taylor hasn't changed his shot. The mechanics are all the same. He's just knocking them down at a greater rate, which has given him more confidence.

The basket seems bigger, and every shot looks as if it's going in.

On Monday, Taylor was voted Big 12 Player of the Week, one week after teammate Travis Releford was given the honor. It was Taylor's first weekly award since he was the newcomer of the week his freshman season, back when there were expectations of greatness.

A couple of unsteady years that included landing in coach Bill Self's doghouse for several incidents tempered some of the expectations. But they've come roaring back with a vengeance this season.

Taylor is just letting the scoring come to him, and Self has taken notice.

"I'm biased, but I've said all along he's one of the best," Self said. "Talent-wise he's one of the top five guards in the country. He doesn't always play to his talent, but when he plays to his talent, his ceiling is way up here and we've seen that the last couple of games."

It hasn't just been his production on offense that has received attention, but also his defense and decision-making. He helped shut down Baylor's Pierre Jackson and has cut down on his turnovers, one of the biggest criticisms of his game.

"I'm trying to attack when I see openings and make plays when I can," Taylor said. "It's part of our offense for me to come off ball screens. I think that's where I do well at and I can get to the paint. Coach Self does a good job of opening up the court for me."

Taylor knows that it takes more than two solid performances to win over everyone, and that may never happen. After all, he's already on the back half of his senior season.

But the fact remains that now, after more than a hundred games and practices too numerous to count, things seem to be clicking heading into Saturday's game at Texas.

"That's what my focus is," Taylor said. "I just want to keep working the same practice and coming in with a good attitude every day, working hard and trying to get better, not like, 'I scored 28, I'm a good player.' I'm trying to continue to get better."

Self isn't sure that Taylor can play much better than he has, though the coach refuses to put a ceiling on anyone. The attacking guard can still involve his teammates more, and he's still averaging more than four turnovers per game. But right now, Self would be hard-pressed to trade him for anyone. So would many Kansas fans.

"I'm not trying to please every fan," Taylor said. "I've got a job to do and I'm trying to do that."

Kansas State's Henriquez suspended indefinitely

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Isaiah Wilkerson scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds as New Jersey Institute of Technology defeated Houston Baptist 85-62 Thursday night in the teams' Great West Conference opener.

The senior forward, who matched his career scoring high, made 7 of 13 shots, including all three of his 3-point tries, for the Highlanders (8-9). NJIT shot 45.8 percent (27 of 59) from the field, including 55.6 percent (10 of 18) from 3-point range.

Art Bernardi scored 14 points and Marcus Davis 13 for the Huskies (6-11), who shot 33.3 percent (19 of 57) overall.

Houston Baptist dropped to 0-8 in road games, while NJIT is 7-1 at home.

Lamar Kearse came off the NJIT bench to get 15 points and seven rebounds. Ryan Woods added 11 points for the Highlanders and junior Chris Flores scored 10 points to go with a career-best eight assists.

Top 25 Capsules

Dawkins hit seven 3-pointers to help the Blue Devils (16-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) build a huge lead that was never seriously threatened.

Ryan Kelly finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, which shot 54 percent in claiming its fourth straight win in the series.

The Blue Devils moved within one victory of the school record for consecutive home victories and will match the mark if they beat Florida State on Saturday.

C.J. Harris had 20 points for Wake Forest (10-8, 1-3), which was coming off a 36-point home loss to North Carolina State and lost its third straight and fourth in five games.

NO. 8 NORTH CAROLINA 82, VIRGINIA TECH 68

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Harrison Barnes scored nine of his 27 points during a 19-0 second-half run and North Carolina bounced back from a 33-point loss at Florida State.

John Henson added 16 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks for the Tar Heels (16-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed 44-36 before Barnes started the run with two free throws, a jumper and a dunk. Before it was over, it stretched to 31-5 and a 67-49 lead with 8:23 remaining.

The Hokies (11-7, 0-4) missed 15 straight shots during the run and lost their fourth straight. They are off to their first 0-4 start in league play since the 2006 team lost its first six.

Erick Green led Virginia Tech with 17 points and Dorenzo Hudson had 16, all in a span of less than 8 minutes in the first half.

The Tar Heels trailed 39-34 at halftime.

NO. 15 VIRGINIA 70, GEORGIA TECH 38

ATLANTA (AP) — Mike Scott scored 18 points and Virginia bounced back from a tough loss at Duke.

The Cavaliers (15-2, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) were never seriously challenged by the Yellow Jackets, who put up their lowest-scoring game since a 53-38 loss to Wake Forest on Feb. 6, 1982, during Bobby Cremins' first season as coach.

Virginia was coming off a 61-58 defeat at Cameron Indoor Stadium that snapped a 12-game winning streak.

Kammeon Holsey had 12 points to lead Georgia Tech (8-10, 1-3), which shot 29 percent (14 of 48) from the field, including 1 of 15 from 3-point range, and lost for the sixth time in seven games.

The Cavaliers have won five straight over the Yellow Jackets and six of the last seven. Virginia is off to its best start since beginning 15-2 during 1982-83 — Ralph Sampson's senior year. This was the Cavaliers' largest margin against an ACC opponent since a 104-72 win over North Carolina State in 1991.

PENN ST. 54, NO. 22 ILLINOIS 52

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Tim Frazier hit a floater in the lane with 8 seconds left and Jermaine Marshall blocked Sam Maniscalco's layup at the buzzer to give Penn State the upset win.

Frazier finished with 12 points and nine assists for the Nittany Lions (10-10, 2-5 Big Ten), who ended a three-game losing skid.

Off a timeout, Frazier drove at the top of the key before Jon Graham's pick freed him from hounding defender Brandon Paul.

The Illini (15-4, 4-2) lost for the first time since re-entering the AP Top 25 this week. They had a short stay atop the Big Ten as the league's lone one-loss team in conference play.

Paul had 20 points to pace the Illini, while Meyers Leonard added 15.

Cammeron Woodyard finished with 17 points for Penn State, while Marshall finished with seven points and five rebounds.

NO. 24 SAINT MARY'S 61, PEPPERDINE 47

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — Rob Jones had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Matthew Dellavedova scored 13 points to lead Saint Mary's to its eighth straight victory.

Stephen Holt added 12 points and three assists to help the Gaels (18-2, 7-0) remain the only unbeaten team in the West Coast Conference. Saint Mary's has won 16 of 17 since a loss at No. 3 Baylor on Dec. 22.

Caleb Willis had 14 points and Jordan Baker added 13 for Pepperdine (7-11, 1-6), losers of six straight and still searching for its first conference road win of the season. Corbin Moore had 15 rebounds for the Waves.

Dellavedova and Holt made consecutive 3-pointers to put the Gaels ahead 59-44 with 5:56 remaining. Saint Mary's outshot Pepperdine 42.6 percent to 40.9 percent.

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