TULSA, Okla. (AP) -Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 20 points, Derrick Rose added 19 points and top-ranked Memphis beat pesky Tulsa 56-41 Wednesday night to avoid the fate that befell the Tigers their only other time with the No. 1 ranking 25 years earlier.
After winning each of its last six games by at least 20 points, Memphis (18-0, 5-0 Conference USA) didn’t take a double-digit lead until Douglas-Roberts’ two-handed jam with 6:21 remaining made it 48-38.
The last time Memphis reached No. 1, Virginia Tech was waiting hours later to pull off a 64-56 upset on Jan. 10, 1983. It took the school just over a quarter-century to get back to the top.
Calvin Walls led the Golden Hurricane (9-7, 1-3) with 12 points.
No. 2 Kansas 83, Iowa State 59
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Darnell Jackson had 21 points and 11 rebounds to help the Jayhawks stay unbeaten.
The Jayhawks (19-0, 4-0 Big 12), one of two unbeaten teams in Division I when the night began, dominated almost from the start, leading by 10 at halftime en route to their 33rd victory in their last 34 games.
The 6-foot-8 Jackson, with his first double-double of the season, scored six points during a 15-5 run in the second half that gave Kansas a comfortable 64-41 lead over the Cyclones (12-7, 2-2), who had won nine of their last 11 but hadn’t played a ranked team all year.
No. 5 North Carolina 98, Miami 82
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Tyler Hansbrough scored 27 of his season-high 35 points after halftime, Lawson scored 15 of his 23 points in the opening 20 minutes, and the fifth-ranked Tar Heels got back to their winning ways by beating the Hurricanes 98-82 on Wednesday night.
Hansbrough made 10 of 15 shots from the floor and 15 of 16 from the line.
Wayne Ellington added 12 points for North Carolina (19-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which lost its No. 1 ranking after an 82-80 home loss to Maryland on Saturday. But losing rarely becomes a Tar Heel trend: Excluding season-ending defeats, North Carolina is now 24-4 after a loss in the Roy Williams era.
Lance Hurdle scored a season-high 20 points for Miami (14-4, 1-3), which has dropped three straight and four of its last six – erasing whatever luster remained after a somewhat-surprising 12-0 start.
No. 7 Indiana 65, Iowa 43
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – D.J. White scored 19 points and Eric Gordon added 17 to help the Hoosiers extended their winning streak to 13.
Indiana (17-1, 6-0) has now won 29 in a row at Assembly Hall, the nation’s fourth-longest home winning streak. It’s the best start in Big Ten play and the longest winning span at Indiana since 1992-93. The Hoosiers’ only loss this season came Nov. 24 against Xavier.
Iowa (9-11, 2-5) was led by Tony Freeman with 14 points but was plagued by 20 turnovers and struggled to contend with Indiana’s deep roster and better athletes. It was Iowa’s second loss to Indiana this season.
No. 13 Pittsburgh 81, St. John’s 57
NEW YORK (AP) – Sam Young scored 26 points and No. 13 Pittsburgh continued its recent success at Madison Square Garden.
Ronald Ramon added 16 points and five assists for the Panthers (16-3, 4-2 Big East), who have won four of five overall and improved to 5-2 since starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields were injured.
With six players getting the bulk of the minutes, Pittsburgh improved to 19-8 at Madison Square Garden since the 2000-01 season. Most of the victories came in the Big East tournament, an event in which the Panthers have reached the championship game in six of the last seven seasons.
Freshman DeJuan Blair had 10 points and eight rebounds for Pittsburgh, which is 5-2 all-time against St. John’s at the Garden.
Anthony Mason Jr. had a career-high 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting for the Red Storm (7-10, 1-5), who have lost four straight and six of seven.
Rutgers 80, No. 18 Villanova 68
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) – Anthony Farmer and Mike Coburn each scored 23 points to help the Scarlet Knights get their first victory against a ranked opponent in more than two years.
Malcolm Grant scored 23 points, including a stretch of 17 in a row, for the Wildcats (13-4, 3-3), who lost for the first time in five games against Rutgers (9-11, 1-6).
Rutgers shot 50 percent (24-of-48) for the game and improved to 9-11 overall.
Scottie Reynolds, who was averaging 17.5 points per game to lead the Wildcats, struggled through one of his worst shooting performances. The sophomore made just 5 of 19 shots from the field, missed 7 of 8 3-point attempts and finished with 16 points.
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