College Basketball Roundup
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Associated Press
The college basketball roundup …
LINCOLN, Neb. — Ryan Evans scored a career-high 22 points and No. 11 Wisconsin defeated injury-plagued Nebraska 64-40 in the Cornhuskers’ inaugural Big Ten game Tuesday night.
The Huskers closed within five points early in the second half, but the Badgers went on a 27-5 run to put the game out of reach.
Jordan Taylor added 15 points as the Badgers (12-2, 1-0) won their ninth consecutive Big Ten opener.
Toney McCray led the Huskers (8-4, 0-1) with 16 points and nine rebounds.
The season-high crowd of 10,812 at the Devaney Sports Center began filing out with 5 minutes left and the Badgers leading by 23 points.
Wisconsin extended its streak of holding opponents to 65 points or less to 18 games. The nation’s top defensive team, Wisconsin has held 12 of 14 opponents to season lows in points.
NOTRE DAME 72, NO. 22 PITTSBURGH 59
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Alex Dragicevich hit four 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points to lead Notre Dame over Pitt in the Big East opener for both teams.
Jerian Grant added 15 points and nine assists, and Eric Atkins also scored 15 points for the Fighting Irish (9-5, 1-0), who trailed 26-25 at intermission but rallied with a 18-for-25 performance from the field in the second half.
The loss was Pitt’s second straight after a 59-54 loss to Wagner at home on Friday, while Notre Dame extended its home winning streak to 28 games.
Talib Zanna had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Panthers (11-3, 0-1).
NO. 23 VIRGINIA 69, MD-E. SHORE 42
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Mike Scott scored 10 of his 17 points during a 12-point spurt early in the second half to help Virginia overcome a sluggish start.
Darion Atkins added 13 points and Joe Harris had 10 for Virginia, off to an 11-1 start for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Cavaliers were playing their first game since KT Harrell and redshirt freshman James Johnson announced last week they were transferring.
It hardly mattered against the Hawks (3-10), who trailed 30-20 at halftime and saw it quickly get out of hand in the second half.
Hillary Haley led the Hawks with 11 points.