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Pitt bounces back by suffocating Syracuse

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Published January 25, 2004

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The last time Syracuse looked this bad on offense, the Carrier Dome wasn't even built.

Chris Taft and Mark McCarroll scored 15, and No. 8 Pittsburgh held the 13th-ranked Orangemen to their lowest point total in 36 years with a 66-45 victory Saturday.

"That's what this program has been known for for years, rebounding and defense," Taft said. "We have a tradition to uphold."

Pitt outrebounded Syracuse 50-36 five days after its first loss of the season, 68-65 at No. 4 Connecticut.

It was the fewest points the Orangemen have scored since losing 71-41 at Kansas in 1968. Their previous low in the 24-year history of the Carrier Dome was set in a 51-50 loss to Connecticut on Jan. 16, 1988. It was the first time Syracuse failed to reach 50 points at home since coach Jim Boeheim was a freshman in 1962.

"It was 50-50 of them having great rebounding position and them outhustling us the whole game," Syracuse's Hakim Warrick said. "It's something you can't teach. It's having heart, and we didn't have that."

Chevon Troutman scored 12 for Pitt, which steadily pulled away from Syracuse after holding a 29-23 halftime lead.

NO. 1 DUKE 85, GEORGETOWN 66: Shelden Williams scored a career-high 26 for the visiting Blue Devils, who won their 13th in a row. Williams finished 12-of-15 from the field, and his jumper at the first-half buzzer was his first 3-pointer of the season.

Duke has won by an average of 23.4 points during its win streak and trailed for about 9 minutes. Georgetown led just once, at 12-10. The game was over by halftime after a 27-5 run during the final seven minutes put Duke up 48-24.

NO. 3 SAINT JOSEPH'S 114, ST. BONAVENTURE 63: Jameer Nelson made all six of his shots for 19 points as the visiting Hawks remained unbeaten. The Hawks, who next play Temple on Saturday, are one of two undefeated Division I teams along with No. 2 Stanford, which played late Saturday. The game was decided eight minutes in when the Hawks scored 15 in a row to lead 20-3.

NO. 6 CINCY 83, SOUTHERN MISS. 47: The visiting Bearcats recovered from their first loss of the season by forcing more turnovers (16) than field goals allowed (14).

Cincinnati, which lost 93-66 at No. 5 Louisville on Wednesday, led 15-3 after five minutes. The Golden Eagles, which beat the Bearcats in last season's Conference USA tournament, missed 19 of their first 21 shots. After its lead dwindled to 21-8 with 10:43 left, Cincinnati scored 11 consecutive points, including Jason Maxiell's one-handed dunk and turnaround jumper.

NO. 7 NORTH CAROLINA 96, VIRGINIA 77: Rashad McCants scored 26 to lead six players in double figures for the host Tar Heels. Sean May scored 17 for North Carolina, which improved to 17-2 against the Cavaliers at the Smith Center.

Virginia trailed 42-40 at halftime but took a 49-48 lead 2:10 in on Devin Smith's slam off a steal. The Tar Heels responded with a 26-6 run. McCants had two dunks, one off an alley-oop from Raymond Felton and the other off a turnover.

North Carolina ended the run with 15 consecutive points, capped by David Noel's fastbreak layup for a 79-58 lead with 7:48 left.

N.C. STATE 76, NO. 11 GA. TECH 72: Scooter Sherrill scored 18 and Ilian Evtimov had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Wolfpack, who beat the Yellow Jackets for the eighth consecutive time at home. Georgia Tech's last victory in Raleigh was 76-71 on Jan. 24, 1996, Les Robinson's last season coaching N.C. State.

Georgia Tech battled back from a 16-point deficit in the second half to cut it to 54-52 with 9:59 left. But Sherrill got loose for a layup and Levi Watkins made a 3-pointer to help seal it. Evtimov also made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left.

NO. 24 OKLAHOMA ST. 72, NO. 16 TEXAS 67: Brandon High graduate Joey Graham had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Cowboys, who ended the Longhorns' 25-game home win streak. Graham had three huge dunks as Oklahoma State became the first visiting team to win in Austin since it did it Feb. 20, 2002.

The Longhorns closed a 60-49 deficit to 68-66 on Kenny Taylor's 3-pointer with 1:35 left. After a timeout, the Longhorns appeared to have the Cowboys trapped near midcourt as the shot clock wound down. But Terrance Crawford slipped behind the defense for an easy layup that made it 70-66 with 27 seconds left.

Royal Ivey, who made big shots in Texas' previous two victories, over Nebraska and Missouri, then got to the line but missed the second. He went 4-of-10 from the line, including 1-of-4 during the final 22 seconds.

NO. 18 TEXAS TECH 80, TEXAS A&M 78: Andre Emmett scored 23, including the winning basket with six seconds left for the visiting Red Raiders, who won their 12th in a row. There were seven ties during the second half, the last at 78 on a putback by the Aggies' Jesse King after a long miss by Leandro Garcia-Morales with 20 seconds left.

The Raiders, coming off a 67-47 victory over Oklahoma on Monday, didn't wilt. Emmett fought his way to the basket for the winning layup. The Aggies got one more chance, but Garcia-Morales missed a long shot at the buzzer.

NO. 20 OKLAHOMA 61, KANSAS ST. 49: Jason Detrick broke out of a shooting slump to score 24, helping the host Sooners end their longest losing streak in five seasons. Oklahoma hadn't won in three weeks, a four-game skid with an average margin of 18 points. And before Saturday's game, it was announced starting forward Kevin Bookout would miss the rest of the season for shoulder surgery.

But Detrick, who scored a combined 20 in the previous three games, went 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-6 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats finished with more turnovers (21) than field goals (18), and the Sooners led by at least 11 throughout the second half.

NO. 21 WISCONSIN 76, ILLINOIS 56: Devin Harris scored a career-high 30 and Mike Wilkinson a career-high 24 for the Badgers, who won their 24th consecutive home game. After trailing by 12 early in the second half, Illinois pulled within 44-40 on eight consecutive points, including consecutive three-point plays by Roger Powell. But Wisconsin, which is 20-0 in Big Ten home games under coach Bo Ryan, responded with a 15-2 run to take a 59-42 lead with 10:18 left.

ARKANSAS 70, NO. 22 VANDY 62: Freshman Ronnie Brewer scored a season-high 21 and Jonathon Modica matched that for the Razorbacks, who handed the Commodores their third consecutive road SEC loss. It was Arkansas' first victory over a ranked opponent this season and first since beating No. 20 Mississippi State 53-51 on March 1. The 10 wins surpass the total coach Stan Heath had last season, his first at Arkansas.

Modica's 3-pointer gave Arkansas a 61-56 lead with 2:43 left and started a 12-6 run to end the game. Modica added another basket after missing the front end of a one-and-one, grabbing two offensive rebounds, and Michael Jones made 6 of 6 free throws down the stretch.

NO. 25 SOUTH CAROLINA 61, LSU 55: Carlos Powell scored 12, including the host Gamecocks' only 3-pointer of the game with 1:38 left. South Carolina had lost a 10-point lead and trailed 50-47 on Brandon Bass' dunk with 3:54 left.

The Gamecocks then got some help when LSU coach John Brady was called for a technical for disputing a charge. Josh Gonner made one free throw, and Powell tied it on an inside basket off the inbounds play. After Xavier Whipple's two free throws put the Tigers up 52-50, Powell made a high-arcing 3-pointer from the left corner, the Gamecocks' first after starting 0-of-22. Gonner stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to make it 55-52.

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