Heels deal Duke major defeat, State “finishes” with win over Wake

Lawson Leads UNC Past Duke 101-87

Ty Lawson helped Tyler Hansbrough make it four in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium, while keeping himself perfect against North Carolina’s most despised rival. Lawson scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half, and No. 3 North Carolina rallied past No. 6 Duke 101-87 on Wednesday night.

Hansbrough scored 17 points–and hit another late 3-pointer–for the Tar Heels (22-2, 8-2), who became the first team in nine seasons to hit triple digits against Duke.

They came on strong down the stretch, using late runs of 25-11 and 14-0 to first take the lead for good and then stretch it to 17. In the process, they snapped the Blue Devils’ 14-game home court winning streak while claiming first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Pack Upsets No. 7 Wake Forest, 82-76

This time, the second-half lead was big enough. And, even though No. 7 Wake Forest cut a 20-point second-half deficit down to two points in the final minute, NC State’s players weren’t all that concerned about the outcome of Wednesday night’s game at the RBC Center.

Costner was a big reason the Wolfpack (13-9 overall, 3-6 ACC) was in position for the 82-76 upset. During one two-minute stretch of the second half, the junior forward scored 11 points, pushing State’s lead up to 62-42. He had 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half.

Costner, who also added nine rebounds, was one of five Wolfpack players in double figures.

Hokies pull away from Yellow Jackets en route to 76-71 win

Malcolm Delaney scored 13 of his 23 points in the final eight minutes, the smaller Virginia Tech team out-rebounded Georgia Tech, and a defensive change by Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg midway through the second half all proved pivotal as the Hokies won their second straight game, knocking off Georgia Tech 76-71 in an ACC game played Wednesday night at Cassell Coliseum.

With the win, the Hokies moved to 16-7 overall, 6-3 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets, who have lost three straight and eight of nine, fell to 10-13, 1-9 in the ACC.

The Hokies never trailed in this one, using an 11-2 run to end the first half and take a 41-31 lead at the break and then expanding the lead to 13 early in the second half.

But the Yellow Jackets’ press – which gave the Hokies trouble most of the game – enabled them to cut into the lead. Iman Shumpert’s 3-pointer with 9:26 remaining cut the lead to three, 55-52.

*****from theacc.com*****