AUSTIN, Texas - Texas was running and gunning, hitting 3-pointers, forcing turnovers and grabbing rebounds. It simply wasn't going to be Wake Forest's night.
The 18th-ranked Longhorns cranked up the nation's top-scoring offense behind freshman P.J. Tucker to roll over the fourth-ranked Demon Deacons 94-81 on Tuesday night, handing them their first loss of the season.
"You gotta love this," senior forward Brian Boddicker said after the Longhorns (10-2) extended their home winning streak to 24 games in front of a school-record crowd of 16,837 at the Frank Erwin Center.
Predictably, chants of "Over-rated" rained down on the Deacons (11-1) and about 100 people in the crowd ran on to the floor after the final buzzer.
Tucker had 21 points to lead five Texas players in double figures, while Brandon Mouton added 17 points and Boddicker had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
It was the most impressive win of the season for Texas, a Final Four team last season which had struggled in its other two games against Top Ten opponents - Duke and Arizona - and lost both.
"A lot of people doubted us. They said we didn't beat anybody big," Texas guard Royal Ivey said. "And now we just beat Wake Forest. This is a stepping stone for us."
The Longhorns outrebounded the Deacons 42-28, shot 52 percent from the field and went 25-for-30 from the free throw line to help manage its lead throughout the game.
"That might be as good a total win as you could have," coach Rick Barnes said. "Everybody did what they had to do."
Tucker, a North Carolina native who was passed over by Wake Forest and the other basketball powers in his home state, went 9-of-15 from the field, doing most of his damage in the second half.
He scored 13 points over the final 11 minutes and put the exclamation point on the win when he slipped behind the defense on an inbounds pass for a dunk that made it 92-78 with 52 seconds left.
"It was satisfying, but it would be satisfying coming against anybody," Tucker said.
Texas took control with a nearly flawless first half that built a 52-39 lead. The Longhorns shot 60 percent, including 8-of-13 on 3-pointers, and their aggressive defense forced nine turnovers.
Texas led 34-30 with 6:15 left in the half before hitting five straight shots, including two 3s by Kenny Taylor and another by Mouton to stretch the lead to 14 points.
"We had to play near perfectly in the second half to come back," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said.
Or at least wait for Texas to cool off, which the Longhorns eventually did, although only briefly.
The Longhorns' blistering pace stumbled early in the second half as Texas missed its first eight 3-point attempts and Wake Forest closed the gap to 62-56 with 12:01 to play.
Justin Gray led Wake Forest with 27 points, going 8-of-18 on 3-pointers.
NO. 5 KENTUCKY 67, NO. 22 MISS. ST. 66: Erik Daniels grabbed a tipped desperation pass out of the air and laid it in as time expired to lift the Wildcats. The previously unbeaten Bulldogs (13-1, 2-1 SEC) rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half, taking a 66-65 lead with a minute left on Branden Vincent's putback. But Winsome Frazier and Timmy Bowers both missed the front end of 1-and-1s in the final 30 seconds, giving Kentucky (11-1, 2-0) a shot to win it in the final seconds. Cliff Hawkins inbounded the ball from the side with 2.5 seconds left and tried to throw a lob to Chuck Hayes underneath. Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts had two hands on the ball, but Hayes tipped it away and Daniels never had an easier game-winning basket. Gerald Fitch had 23 points and Daniels finished with 16 for the Wildcats, who have won 19 straight SEC regular-season games. Bowers led the Mississippi State comeback and scored 20 points, while Roberts had 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Wildcats have won four straight, the last three against ranked teams and the last two against opponents who came in with perfect records.
NO. 6 ST. JOSEPH'S 79, FORDHAM 35: Jameer Nelson scored 13 to lead the Hawks (14-0, 4-0 Atlantic 10). St. Joe's opened on a 31-8 run thanks to five early 3-pointers and led 48-12 at halftime. The Hawks are just two wins shy of the longest winning streak in school history set by the 1964-65 team coached by Jack Ramsay. Delonte West had 12 points and 10 rebounds for St. Joe's. Fordham (4-10, 1-2) turned the ball over 10 times.
IOWA 83, MINNESOTA 68: Jeff Horner set the tone with a pair of 3-pointers in the game's first 11/2 minutes, finishing with a career-high 23 points for the visiting Hawkeyes. Iowa had four others in double figures, including Brody Boyd with 15 points. Iowa (9-4, 2-1 Big Ten) used a 12-2 run early in the first half to take the lead for good. Kris Humphries had 17 points for the Gophers (8-6, 0-2).
ST. LOUIS 56, SOUTHERN MISS 55: Reggie Bryant had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists for the host Billikens.
DEPAUL 82, MEMPHIS 73: Drake Diener scored a career-high 27 and Delonte Holland added 20 for the host Blue Demons.
TCU 55, HOUSTON 54: Chudi Chinweze scored 18 points including a buzzer-beating basket for the visiting Horned Frogs.
