College Top 25 Capsules: No. 2 Stanford beats UCLA for 11th straight win

STANFORD, Calif. — Jayne Appel held her ground and even sent someone to the ground.

Appel had a season-high 23 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots before being ejected with 7:41 left for throwing an elbow that hit UCLA star Jasmine Dixon in the face, and No. 2 Stanford won its 41st straight home game at Maples Pavilion with a 74-53 victory over UCLA on Thursday night.

Appel insists her action was unintentional — and Dixon and Bruins coach Nikki Caldwell backed her on that.

"Appel was just trying to get the rebound and clear the board," Dixon said. "I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think she meant anything by it."

The Pac-10 reviewed the flagrant foul late Thursday and announced it would not suspend Appel for Sunday’s game against Southern California. A flagrant-foul ejection doesn’t immediately disqualify a player for the next game.

Stanford’s 24th-year coach Tara VanDerveer said the game became more physical than she likes, and she can’t remember one of her players ever being thrown out.

"I was in no way intentionally trying to be flagrant or trying to hit her at all, just playing basketball," Appel said. "It was a heavyweight the whole way."

Stanford’s Rosalyn Gold-Onwude was fouled from behind on the next possession after Appel left the game.

Kayla Pedersen pulled down a season-best 15 rebounds and Nnemkadi Ogwumike added 15 points and seven boards for the Cardinal (20-1, 10-0 Pac-10) in their 11th straight victory overall since the team’s lone loss at top-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 23. They beat the Bruins for the seventh time in a row after holding off a late rally for a 65-61 win at UCLA back on Jan. 10.

Dixon scored 16 points to go with nine rebounds to lead the Bruins (14-7, 7-3), who kept things interesting until late but had their four-game winning streak snapped. Dixon went down hard after being hit by Appel and was helped to the bench.

The officials quickly turned to a television review at the scorer’s table before sending Appel to the bench for good because of the flagrant foul.

"We had plausible reason to believe the contact was excessive or severe in nature," head official Scott Yarbrough said. "As we reviewed the monitor, we found the contact was excessive. Her elbow caught her in the face."

While neither VanDerveer nor Caldwell saw the entire play, both defended Appel. Caldwell recruited Appel while working at Tennessee.

"I saw lot of arms and people around and Jayne trying to square up," VanDerveer said. "She’s got like three people all over her. People are swiping at her. She was trying to hold onto the ball and be aggressive with the ball. She’s not a dirty player."

Said Caldwell, "I don’t think she’s that type of kid who would intentionally try to hurt anybody."

Appel moved past Val Whiting and into second place on Stanford’s career rebounding list with 1,140. She is three away from tying Nicole Powell’s school record.

Appel scored six points and Gold-Onwude had five during a 16-4 run early in the second half that put the game out of reach. Gold-Onwude finished with 14 points and Jeanette Pohlen had 10 points and eight assists.

The Bruins used an 11-2 run to go ahead 21-20 on Erica Tukiainen’s 3-pointer with 7:50 left in the first half. Still, Stanford led 36-32 at the break after trailing at halftime in its games against Arizona State and Arizona last week. But the Cardinal had a scoring drought of 3:07 and went 5½ minutes between field goals.

Appel, an All-America center and the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year, didn’t practice this week while nursing an infection in her left foot and others also were held out with varying ailments. That had VanDerveer concerned how her Cardinal would respond against the aggressive, scrappy Bruins.

Appel took charge.

"This is old Jayne," VanDerveer said. "I said, ‘Go to Jayne,’ and she delivered."

UCLA was whistled for three traveling calls in the initial 5 minutes and committed four turnovers in their first nine possessions over the opening 6 minutes — and another travel at the 12:12 mark.

The Bruins haven’t beaten Stanford since Jan. 4, 2008, and are winless on the Cardinal’s home floor since Jan. 16, 1999.

Stanford, home for a rare second straight weekend during the Pac-10 schedule, shot 43 percent and held a 45-36 rebounding advantage.

Melanie Murphy suited up for Stanford but played only 1 minute after missing the two previous games because of a sore back. VanDerveer had a full squad available for the first time in four games.

No. 5 Tennessee beats Arkansas 74-57

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Kelley Cain positioned herself on one post while Alyssia Brewer took the other one. Arkansas could handle one at times, rarely both.

Cain scored 14 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked eight shots, Brewer scored 20 and pulled in nine rebounds and No. 5 Tennessee beat Arkansas 74-57 on Thursday night.

"One of them shoots it on one block, the other one rebounds it on the other block," Razorbacks coach Tom Collen said. "They’re a nightmare to defend."

With eight games left in the regular season, Tennessee got its 20th win — a feat that took the Lady Vols (20-2, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) until the final game of the season a year ago. It’s the 34th consecutive season they’ve gotten at least 20 wins under coach Pat Summitt.

And even though the win kept Tennessee on top of the SEC and gave the Lady Vols their 21st win over Arkansas in 22 tries, Summitt still wasn’t completely pleased.

Sloppy screens and shots by the guards kept the Lady Vols from getting off to a fast start against one of the SEC’s worst teams.

The Razorbacks (9-13, 1-8) read the screens and had an easy time predicting the Lady Vols’ passes, making it easy for them to snatch the ball. C’eira Ricketts had five of Arkansas’s 11 steals which helped lead to 10 fastbreak points.

"The guards were trying to do too much," Summitt said. "I said, ‘Get the ball inside. We’re going to play from the inside, out.’ That really changed how we played."

Brewer and Cain both hit layups as Tennessee scored seven straight points to pull away from Arkansas in the first half. Glory Johnson missed her first free throw attempt but sank the second to give the Lady Vols an 18-10 lead with 9:12 left in the first half.

Tennessee finished with 40 points in the paint.

"We always emphasize getting the ball inside because we have two of the best posts in the country," Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund said. "They work really well together. I thought they both really battled inside, and I was proud of them. I hope they continue to play like that."

The Lady Vols led 31-23 at halftime but could have been much more in control had they not missed six of 10 free throw attempts before the break.

Tennessee entered the game averaging an uncharacteristically low 63.6 percent on free throws in SEC play and hit just 54.5 percent against the Razorbacks.

The Lady Vols pulled away in the second half thanks to some help from Bjorklund, who scored all of her 17 points after halftime, including seven straight points. Shekinna Stricklen finished with 12 points.

They couldn’t completely shake the Razorbacks, who continued to threaten with their outside shooting.

Charity Ford led the way with 18 points and Ricketts added 13. Lyndsay Harris scored four of Arkansas’ nine 3s and finished with 12 points.

"We can’t beat teams that way," Ford said. "We have to be able to get it inside."

Summitt put Kamiko Williams at the point guard position in her first-ever start for the Lady Vols in hopes of curing some of her team’s offensive woes. Williams was coming off a career-high 17 points in a sloppy win over South Carolina.

It didn’t work quite as Summitt had hoped. Williams was responsible for two early turnovers, and Summitt pulled her at the first media timeout, opting instead for what she called "point guard by committee."

"I thought (Williams would) be a lot better, but this is her first start at that position so we’ve got time," Summitt said.

-- Beth Rucker

Boston College upsets No. 6 Duke, 61-57

BOSTON — Another big upset for Scott Brown’s family.

Just a few hours after her father was sworn in as the newest member of the U.S. Senate, Ayla Brown helped Boston College knock off sixth-ranked Duke 61-57 on Thursday night.

"He sent me a text message before the game saying, ‘I wanted to be at the game, but I’m so proud of you. Win it for me,"’ Ayla Brown, a backup forward on the Eagles and a former American Idol contestant, told The Associated Press. "And that’s what we did."

Carolyn Swords scored 14 points and added nine rebounds for BC (13-10, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), going 8 for 8 from the line in the final 5 minutes. It was the Eagles’ first victory over a ranked team since beating then-No. 2 Ohio State in the second round of the 2006 NCAA tournament.

Jasmine Thomas scored 19 points for Duke (18-4, 6-1), which has spent 200 straight weeks in the AP Top 25.

"It only takes one game like this to turn our team around in terms of our confidence level," BC coach Sylvia Crawley said. "Until that happens, you’re always intimidated by those teams. This is huge for this team. A mindset is a hard thing to change. I think they are coming around in terms of believing in what we’re doing."

Brown scored six points, making a key basket midway through the second half after Duke went ahead 41-38 to match its biggest lead of the game. Swords hit a pair of free throws to give BC the lead, and though the game remained close the Eagles never trailed again.

Swords went 10 for 10 from the line in all, and BC made 20 of 21 free throws in the game as they fought back the Blue Devil’s attempt at a comeback.

"If we’re going to be a special team, we’ve got a long way to go," Duke coach Joanne McCallie said.

Scott Brown, a former state senator, overcame a double-digit deficit in the polls to stun Democrat Martha Coakley and win the seat that had been held by Ted Kennedy for almost 50 years. At a Capitol Hill ceremony on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden swore him in as the Senate’s 41st Republican — giving the GOP the vote they need to filibuster Democratic initiatives.

So, which was the bigger upset?

"I think Brown over Coakley is a bigger upset, because that’s for the state of Massachusetts," said Ayla Brown, who had an active role in the campaign. "But in my eyes, this is the biggest upset I’ve ever experienced in my basketball career."

And that even made it worth missing her dad’s big day.

"Obviously, I wish I was there," Ayla Brown said. "But at the same time, I have a job to do. That’s why I stayed behind, and he understood."

It was the second straight victory for BC, which beat Miami on Sunday after losing its previous four games. The Blue Devils had won four straight since losing to top-ranked Connecticut 81-48, but they’ve played just two games in the past 11 days.

The rust showed early.

Duke fell behind 7-0 but the game was tied 30-all at halftime and the Blue Devils opened a 41-38 lead before Brown’s jumper and Swords free throws to give the Eagles the lead. Duke tied it one last time when Thomas came out of a timeout and hit a floating jumper from the side of the key to make it 55-alll with 59 seconds left.

But Brittanny Johnson made a pair of free throws and then Swords — shaking off a timeout called to ice her — did the same. By the time Bridgette Mitchell’s basket brought Duke within two points, there were only three seconds left.

After Picco’s foul shots iced it and the last second ticked off the clock, the BC players ran to the center of the court to celebrate.

-- Jimmy Golen

Johnson rallies No. 8 Ohio St. past Iowa

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With Iowa focused on stopping Jantel Lavender and Samantha Prahalis, No. 8 Ohio State used its depth to win the game.

Brittany Johnson scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half to rally the Buckeyes to an 86-82 victory over Iowa on Thursday night.

"They started double downing on Jantel because on the first half they couldn't stop her," Johnson said. "They were focusing more on her so she kicked it out. I hit my shots."

Prahalis finished with 22 points — 11 in each half — and Lavender added 18 to help Ohio State (22-3, 10-2 Big Ten) improve to 17-0 at home.

"I've always felt that they're the best two-person game in the league and maybe the whole country," Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.

Jaime Printy scored 22 points, Kachine Alexander had 16 of her 20 in the second half, and Kamille Wahlin added 18 for Iowa (11-11, 4-7).

The Hawkeyes were more proficient on the perimeter, making 11 of 21 3-pointers while Ohio State was 8 for 17. However, the Buckeyes were 28 for 34 on free throws, and Iowa was just 9 of 13.

"You can't let the other team shoot that many free throws," Bluder said.

After trailing by four, Ohio State tied the score at 69 with 6:15 left thanks to two 3s by Johnson around a layup by Wahlin.

"We wanted to set a tempo," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "We wanted a pace because we thought we could go deeper in the bench. The pace is what I thought got them in foul trouble. We had fresher bodies that we could keep the tempo."

Lavender's layup gave the Buckeyes the lead for good at 74-72 and Prahalis followed with 3.

Iowa, which led 44-43 at halftime, was down 81-78 with the ball in the final minute but Shavelle Little stole the ball from Alexander. Prahalis was fouled with 26 seconds left and made both shots to push Ohio State's lead to 83-78.

Little stole the ball from Wahlin with 21 seconds left, was fouled and converted one free throw.

Little, the conference defensive player of the year the past two seasons, had four steals in 10 minutes.

"That was my fault," Bluder said. "I should not have had Kamille bring the ball up against her. We know what a great defensive player (Little) is."

Miami snaps skid with win over No. 9 N. Carolina

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Shenise Johnson had enough of Miami’s losing streak.

Johnson had 25 points and 10 rebounds as Miami snapped a three-game losing streak with an 80-69 victory over No. 9 North Carolina on Thursday night.

"The last few games we felt as if we were carrying rocks on our shoulders," Johnson said. "We definitely were very hungry coming off a three game losing streak.

"People don’t expect us to win but we do."

Johnson also had six assists and eight steals as Miami won its second game of the season over a ranked team. The Hurricanes defeated No. 13 Florida State Jan. 10.

"I just came out and did what I’ve been doing all my life," Johnson said. "It kind of came easy."

The Hurricanes broke a 61-61 tie with 10 consecutive points late in the second half. Johnson scored seven points during the spurt and her two free throws with 3:18 remaining capped the run.

Riquna Williams finished with 19 points for the Hurricanes (15-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference).

"Broken? That’s not this team, they’re too resilient," Miami coach Katie Meier said of the team’s recent struggles. "I could tell that my team not just wanted to win but was very composed."

Waltiea Rolle scored 20 points for North Carolina (16-5, 4-3), which lost its second straight.

"We’re not quite the team that we usually are," North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said. "We just have to take more pride and keep working and hope come tournament time to make a run."

Trailing 34-21, the Tar Heels outscored Miami 13-5 in the final 4:16 of the first half.

But the Tar Heels could not add to the advantage and the Hurricanes retook the lead with an 11-3 spurt in the next 2:15.

"It’s very hard to lead North Carolina the entire game," Meier said. "They always take it back to you. For us to sustain that with the youth that we have was so impressive."

The Hurricanes led most of the first half after an 18-4 run capped by Shanel Williams’ field goal with 10:19 remaining. Miami increased its lead to 29-16 on Charmaine Clark’s short jumper with 7:40 remaining.

"Life in the ACC is strange," Meier said. "We’ve now beaten two of the three ranked teams in the conference and dropped some games that we shouldn’t have. That’s the ACC."

James lifts No. 14 Georgia past No. 19 LSU in OT

ATHENS, Ga. — Jasmine James had a baseline drive with 1:23 to go in overtime and added a free throw with 39 seconds left to give No. 14 Georgia a 49-46 victory over No. 19 LSU on Thursday night.

James finished with 15 points for the Lady Bulldogs (19-4, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

"Our defense was terrific," Georgia Coach Andy Landers said. "There are different styles of defense, and right now Georgia and LSU are playing very similar styles. I would characterize those defenses as stingy."

Allison Hightower had 22 points to lead LSU (15-6, 4-5). Her basket with 4:06 to go in overtime was LSU’s only field goal after the 5:02 mark left in regulation.

"We played as hard as we could," Lady Tigers coach Van Chancellor said. "Our defense tonight was the old LSU defense. Georgia struggled to score. We forced 26 turnovers, but we couldn’t make a shot. We had 18 more shots than they did, but only hit 27 percent from the field."

Neither team scored in the last 4 minutes of regulation and the score was tied at 42 heading into the extra period.

Georgia junior Porsha Phillips, who played as a freshman at LSU, scored on a putback with 3:50 to go in overtime and hit two free throws with 2:03 remaining.

Landers said that LSU’s defense was so solid that he instructed his guards to freelance with the basketball and hope that the Lady Tigers made a mistake before the 30-second shot clock expired.

"I would rather do that than have to guard them," he said.

Landers praised Phillips in particular for her defense.

"She was a one-man zone from the baseline out to 25 feet," he said. "It was uncanny when you looked at how much space she covered, and she never got beat."

LSU’s Katherine Graham hit a pair of free throws with 1:39 to play, tying the score at 46.

Kentucky tops Ole Miss to run home streak to 15

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell has found a winning formula for his 20th ranked Wildcats: defending all possessions. It’s a message he tries to reinforce every game.

A’dia Mathies scored 21 points, Victoria Dunlap added 18 and Kentucky forced 18 turnovers while extended its home winning streak to 15 games with an 80-66 win over Mississippi on Thursday night.

"He always tells us it’s about defense," said Dunlap, who leads the Southeastern Conference in steals. "That’s always what he says wins games. Fundamentals on defense."

The Wildcats (19-3, 7-2) also harassed Mississippi guard Bianca Thomas into a 4 for 19 shooting performance, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range. Thomas, who came in ninth in the nation in scoring at 21 points per game, finished with 17.

"As we go forward, I’m saying the same things I said early on — that we need to keep doing the little things," Mitchell said. "That message doesn’t seem to be getting boring."

Ole Miss (14-8, 5-4) held its only lead at 6-5 early in the first half before the Wildcats went on a 14-2 run to pull away. Kentucky led 41-28 at halftime.

Mississippi, which shot only 23 percent (19 of 59), trailed by as many as 23 late in the game.

"I felt their pressure affected us greatly," Mississippi coach Renee Ladner said. "It affected our shots, our normal shots."

With every drive to the basket, Thomas was confronted with a flurry of hands slapping the ball away.

"We had possession after possession," Ladner said. "We just didn’t do anything with it."

Despite having a height advantage, the Rebels were outscored 36-20 in the paint.

"I think our chemistry is good and our intensity on defense is good," Dunlap said. "We can let bad things happen during the game because we know we can get back in it."

Detroit upsets No. 23 Wis-Green Bay, 71-55

DETROIT — Brigid Mulroy scored 20 points Thursday night to help Detroit upset No. 23 Green Bay 71-55.

Yar Shayok added 17 and 12 rebounds and Jalesa Jones had 12 points for the Titans (10-11, 8-2), who took sole possession of first place in the Horizon League with the victory.

The Phoenix led 47-40 six minutes into the second half but went scoreless for almost the next nine as Detroit took the lead for good. Mulroy had a 3-pointer to tie the game at 47 and added another later in the Titans' 15-0 run.

The Titans trailed 71-55 at intermission but made 61 percent (14-for-23) of their field goal attempts in the second half.

Kayla Tetschlag had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Phoenix (18-3, 7-3), which had won 15 straight games against Detroit.

Green Bay, the league's highest-scoring team, finished the night 18 points below its average and was outrebounded 31-29 by the shorter Titans. While Detroit was hot for much of the second half, the Phoenix managed just six field goals in the final 20 minutes.

Men's Top 25

No. 8 Purdue holds off Indiana, 78-75

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Purdue finally won a game in Bloomington after going a decade and then some without one.

Robbie Hummel and JaJuan Johnson each scored 21 points, and No. 8 Purdue held off its in-state rival 78-75 on Thursday night. The Boilermakers won a road game in the series for the first time since 1999 to snap an eight-game skid in Bloomington.

"So many players have passed through Purdue and never won here," Johnson said. "For us to be able to do that was great."

E’Twaun Moore added 14 points for Purdue (19-3, 7-3 Big Ten), which won its fifth straight heading into a showdown at conference leader Michigan State next Tuesday.

Moore said Purdue’s only concern was the Hoosiers.

"Anytime it’s a rivalry game, you definitely stay focused," he said. "We definitely weren’t looking ahead. We knew it was going to be a hostile environment. We knew it was going to be a tough game."

Indiana’s Verdell Jones III, who led the Hoosiers with 22 points, missed a long 3-pointer at the buzzer that could have forced overtime. Jones laid on the court for several seconds after he missed the shot.

"I thought it was going in," he said.

Jones was the intended shooter. He pulled up and fired from about 40 feet.

"It was to go to me, but they sort of pinched on me, and I should have kicked it ahead," he said.

The heavily favored Boilermakers never delivered the knockout blow to take the crowd out of the game. Hummel enjoyed the atmosphere, saying it was good for the rivalry. The rematch will be at Purdue on March 3.

"That’s how it’s expected to be," Hummel said. "We wouldn’t expect any less coming here. They’ll get the same treatment when they come to West Lafayette."

Tom Pritchard scored a season-high 13 points and Devan Dumes added 11 for Indiana (9-12, 3-6).

It was the second straight tough loss for the Hoosiers. Illinois beat Indiana 72-70 on Jan. 30 when Demetri McCamey made a floater at the buzzer.

"We practice late-game situations," Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "We had a guy who had 22 points, with the ball in his hands at the end of the game, with other guys right there. It just came down to not getting enough stops."

Purdue asserted itself in the early minutes of the second half. Johnson corralled an errant pass from Lewis Jackson, then powered the ball in and was fouled. The three-point play gave Purdue a 57-51 lead five minutes into the second half.

Indiana hung tough. Jones hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, then Jordan Hulls hit another to give Indiana a 69-66 lead with just under 6 minutes to play.

Hummel hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes left, then Moore drained a floater in the lane with 1:17 remaining to give Purdue a 75-69 edge.

Jones made a 3-pointer with a minute to play to trim Purdue’s lead to 75-72 and end a scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes.

Moore missed a short jumper and Indiana regained possession and a chance to tie. Jones left the ball short on a drive. Hummel rebounded, was fouled and made two free throws.

Jones made a three with 4.8 seconds left to trim Purdue’s advantage to 77-75. Purdue inbounded to Hummel, who was fouled with 4.1 seconds left. He missed the first free throw and made the second to give Jones the final shot.

Hummel was fouled again with 4.1 seconds left. He missed the first free throw and made the second to make it 78-75 and give Jones the final shot.

Pritchard averages just under five points per game, but he scored eight in the first 13 minutes. Indiana took a 31-28 lead on a 3-point play by Jones. The shot was part of a 10-2 run that gave the Hoosiers a 36-28 lead.

Indiana led 45-38 before Moore hit a 3-pointer and Barlow got a steal and layup in the final minute to cut the Hoosiers’ lead to two. Pritchard’s two-handed power dunk gave Indiana a 47-43 lead at halftime. It was the most points Purdue has allowed in a half this season and the most Indiana has scored in a half.

Pritchard went scoreless in the second half after Johnson stopped rotating away from him.

"I think it was just a defensive adjustment by coach Painter," Johnson said. "In the first half, I was really hedging, which made it hard for me to get back to Pritchard down low."

Hummel scored 15 points in the second half. He made 2 of 7 3-pointers overall, but the one with two minutes left was key.

"I didn’t shoot it great, but the guys kept finding me in places where I could go up and shoot, and where I thought I could score the basketball," he said.

Hulls, Derek Elston and Jones each missed the front end of a 1-and-1 in the final 4:29.

"That’s really what the game came down to," Hummel said.

-- Cliff Brunt

Singler leads No. 10 Duke past No. 21 GTech, 86-67

DURHAM, N.C. — Kyle Singler went to the bench and clutched his banged-up right wrist. Then he came back onto the court, rattled in a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer and kept making those long-range shots during the second half.

That pesky wrist injury certainly couldn't slow the Duke star. Georgia Tech's defense didn't stand a chance, either.

Singler had career highs of 30 points and eight 3-pointers to lead the 10th-ranked Blue Devils past the 21st-ranked Yellow Jackets 86-67 on Thursday night.

"I just got into a rhythm," Singler said. "I took open shots ... and started knocking them down."

Jon Scheyer added 21 points for Duke (18-4, 6-2), which was strong inside and outside — hitting nearly 67 percent of its 3s and dominating Georgia Tech's foul-plagued front line. Duke held a 40-32 rebounding edge and remained atop the Atlantic Coast Conference by claiming an easy win in a matchup of the league's only ranked teams.

"In this type of game," coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "it's a spectacular shooting performance."

Zachery Peacock scored the Yellow Jackets' first 11 points, but was shut out after that. Leading scorers Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors were in foul trouble all night for Georgia Tech (16-6, 4-4), even though coach Paul Hewitt refused to use that as an excuse.

"I don't think the fouls had anything to do with anything," Hewitt said. "We had three days to prepare. I was sure we were ready. We spent more time preparing for them than we did anybody this year, and obviously, it didn't do any good."

Nolan Smith had 14 points for Duke, which led by double figures for the entire second half in bouncing back from an embarrassingly lopsided loss at Georgetown and avenging last month's 71-67 loss to Georgia Tech.

"We wouldn't be 18-4 unless we played really well," Krzyzewski said. "We've had a couple of poor games, and we're not going to define ourselves by a poor game. We're going to define ourselves by the full body of work, and we're just in a situation where a lot of people like to define us by whatever we don't do well. Our kids have done a lot really well, and tonight, they even did it a little bit better."

The Blue Devils shot nearly 45 percent against the nation's fourth-best field-goal percentage defense, and Singler — who was just 2 for 13 in that defeat in Atlanta — was the main beneficiary of a newly installed motion offense designed to give him the freedom to create open looks for himself.

He finished 8 for 10 from 3-point range, scored 20 points in the final 20 minutes and shook off that sprained wrist on his shooting hand to lead the way in a dominating second half that carried the Blue Devils to their 15th straight win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Kyle Singler made us pay, big time," Hewitt said.

Duke was a late Georgia Tech free throw away from its 11th 20-point win at home this season, and entered outscoring its visitors by an average of 28.9 points.

Singler hit his first three 3s of the second half to help push Duke's lead well into the teens. Then, he helped the Blue Devils take their first 20-point lead when he took off downcourt after his steal and dumped a behind-the-back pass to Smith, whose layup attempt was swatted away on the rim and Brian Oliver was called for goaltending to make it 63-43 with 11½ minutes left.

"We didn't do a good job of staying poised," Lawal said. "We got rattled a little bit."

Duke's three S's — Singler, Scheyer and Smith — entered as the nation's most productive scoring trio, averaging 53 points, and they were simply too much for a talented but young Georgia Tech team.

Lawal picked up two fouls in the first 33 seconds and played just 16 minutes; he and Favors logged six minutes apiece in the first half. Duke was in the double-bonus 10 minutes into the game — prime position for the nation's top free-throw-shooting team — and made 24 of 36 attempts from the line.

"They're our two big men and our two people who draw a lot of attention in the middle," Peacock said of Lawal and Favors. "With them not in the game, that definitely hurt us."

Singler's only two baskets of the first half were big ones, and overshadowed the brief scare he gave the Blue Devils.

His 3 with 12½ minutes until the break put Duke ahead to stay. Then, after his short trip to the bench to check his wrist, he came back moments later and hit the 3 just before the buzzer — "a silent kind of dagger," he later called it — that capped a half-closing 15-6 run and gave the Blue Devils their first double-figure lead, 45-33.

The Yellow Jackets were denied their second victory at Cameron since 1996.

-- Joedy McCreary

Chism leads No. 14 Vols past LSU 59-54

BATON ROUGE, La. — Seven points in the final eight minutes was enough for Tennessee to avoid being upset by LSU.

Wayne Chism scored 20 points and the 14th-ranked Volunteers kept the Tigers winless in the Southeastern Conference with a 59-54 victory Thursday night.

Tennessee (17-4, 5-2) weathered a late rally by the Tigers (9-13, 0-8) after leading 51-37 with eight minutes to play. The Volunteers made two field goals the rest of the way.

"This game was a defensive struggle," Pearl said. "But we have to play a lot better to win the upcoming games."

The Vols' next three games are at home against South Carolina, followed by road games against Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

Bo Spencer scored nine points as the Tigers pulled to 55-54 with 17 seconds remaining. He finished with 25.

Bobby Maze sank two foul shots with 16 seconds left to give the Volunteers (5-2, 17-4) a three-point advantage.

"Bobby and Scotty stepping up and making free throws was huge," Pearl said. "Offensively, we had some real empty possessions down the stretch."

Tasmin Mitchell missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 6 seconds remaining for LSU. Scotty Hopson then clinched the victory with two foul shots for the Vols.

Chism was 9 for 15 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds.

"Wayne was our most consistent offensive player and we just kept going to him," Pearl said. "We did a good job on Tasmin. We wanted to limit his touches. Spencer played great. That's a concern with South Carolina's Devan Downey coming up Saturday."

Mitchell finished with 13 points and 17 rebounds, but he was 4 of 12 from the field. The Tigers made 31 percent (18 of 59) of their field goal attempts.

"We just kept fighting and fighting," LSU coach Trent Johnson said. "We just couldn't get over the hump and give ourselves a margin of error so to speak. I'm pleased with the effort, but 0-8 is 0-8 and 9-13 is 9-13."

Despite shooting 9 of 30 from the field, Tennessee took a double-digit lead into halftime. Baskets by J.P. Prince and Chism put the Volunteers on top 26-16.

Prince and Chism combined for 14 of Tennessee's first-half points.

LSU shot even worse than the Vols in the opening 20 minutes. The Tigers made 24 percent (6 of 25) of their field goal attempts.

Tennessee went more than three minutes before scoring their first points on a 3-pointer by Melvin Goins. That basket ignited a 13-0 run which gave the Volunteers an eight-point advantage.

The Volunteers expanded their advantage in the first four minutes of the second half. With Maze and Hopson making 3-pointers, Tennessee moved ahead 36-24.

Mitchell made his first field goal of the night with 18:35 left in the game.

LSU reduced its deficit to 36-28 on two free throws by Aaron Dotson and a basket by Mitchell. The Vols then outscored the Tigers 7-2 to take their biggest lead of game at 43-30. Cameron Tatum had two field goals and a foul shot during that stretch.

A 3-pointer by Spencer again put LSU within eight points at 45-37.

But Tennessee answered with three straight field goals — two by Chism and one by Prince — to go on top by four.

Bouldin scores 20 as Zags beat Portland

SPOKANE, Wash. — Matt Bouldin scored 20 points and No. 17 Gonzaga got back to its winning ways with a 76-48 blowout of Portland on Thursday night.

Demetri Goodson added 12 points for Gonzaga (18-4, 7-1 West Coast), which was coming off a rare WCC loss, in overtime at San Francisco last Saturday. It was only their sixth league loss in the past six seasons.

Playing without leading-scorer Nik Raivio, out with an Achilles' injury, Portland (14-8, 5-3) had a four-game winning streak snapped. The Pilots have lost 14 straight to Gonzaga since 2003.

The Pilots shot 35 percent while tying their season low in points. Robin Smeudlers led them with 12 points and Ethan Niedermeyer had 11.

Gonzaga blew open a tie game with a 20-2 run late in the first half and coasted to victory.

Portland was expected to battle the Bulldogs for the WCC title this year, and lost by just three points earlier in Portland.

Both teams started sloppily and the score was tied at 15 with 7:30 left in the first.

Then the Zags found their shot and buried the Pilots. Mangisto Arop's putback ignited Gonzaga's decisive run that led to 35-17 lead.

They led 41-21 at halftime, behind 12 points by Bouldin. Portland shot just 37 percent in the first and was outrebounded 22-10.

It got worse for the Pilots in the second half, as they fell behind by more than 30 points.

Elias Harris added 10 points and seven rebounds for Gonzaga, which had 11 different players score.

Bouldin, a senior guard, displaced Casey Calvary for 10th place on Gonzaga's career scoring list with 1,518 points.

At halftime, there was a ceremony honoring the selections of former Gonzaga star John Stockton and former Michigan State basketball coach Jud Heathcote into the state of Washington Sports Hall of Fame. Stockton is a Spokane native and Heathcote coached high school basketball in Spokane and later was an assistant at nearby Washington State.

-- Nicholas K. Geranios

No. 23 Butler holds off Detroit 63-58

INDIANAPOLIS — Butler's last loss is still fresh in Gordon Hayward's mind, even though it came in December.

Hayward had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 23 Butler past Detroit 63-58 on Thursday night for its 11th straight win.

Matt Howard finished with 11 points and Ronald Nored scored nine for the Bulldogs (19-4, 12-0 Horizon League), whose last loss came to UAB on Dec. 22. Butler's winning streak matches the fourth longest in program history.

"Definitely still remember the loss," said Hayward, who went 4 of 7 from the field and made all 10 of his free throw attempts. "The losses hurt so much. We're not really looking at that, we're just looking at the next day."

Butler hosts conference foe Wright State on Saturday night.

"We're not really looking at 11, we're trying to see if we can't play better in No. 12," Bulldogs coach Brad Stevens said.

Chase Simon had 15 points and Thomas Kennedy scored 12 for Detroit (14-9, 7-5), which dropped its eighth straight to Butler. The Titans were trying to beat a ranked team on the road for the first time since Feb. 1979.

The Bulldogs escaped with a 64-62 overtime win at Detroit on Jan. 10.

"They are a really good basketball team who could beat a lot of people on a given day," Stevens said. "They are very, very good."

After opening the game with 10 straight points, Butler fell behind 16-15 midway through the first half. Despite committing 10 turnovers, resulting in 11 Detroit points, the Bulldogs took a 30-26 lead on Avery Jukes' rebound and tip-in at the buzzer.

"We knew we had to play very well and we wanted to get off to a good start to win the basketball game," Titans coach Ray McCallum said. "A slow start affected us, but I thought we came back and played through it."

Butler opened a six-point lead on Shawn Vanzant's 3-pointer with 13 minutes left in the game, but Kennedy's 3 got the Titans within 45-44 a few minutes later. Hayward scored the next six points to help Butler regain the momentum.

Stevens said the consecutive three-point plays by Hayward was the turning point.

"In retrospect you'd say that, but I don't think you feel that as a coach," Stevens said. "You just want to finish the game, finish the game, finish the game."

Detroit cut the deficit to 53-50 with 4 minutes left, but the Bulldogs answered with a 10-3 run to seal the victory.

"We're just finding ways to win," Hayward said. "That's what you got to do in a tough conference schedule like we have."

Butler tied a season-high with 21 turnovers, compared to Detroit's 16.

"Somehow we got the win," Hayward said. "That's a really good feeling if we can pull games out like this."

State Men

Houston Baptist outlasts Chicago State 85-83 in OT