North Carolina, Ahead by 22, Loses Again

No. 13-ranked North Carolina is 0-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time in 17 seasons after letting a 22-point second-half lead slip away in an 85-75 loss to No. 19 Maryland Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The second-half collapse by the Tar Heels, 9-3 overall, came four days after losing by 24 points at No. 2 Wake Forest.

For the Terrapins (13-1, 3-0), it was the greatest in school history and the second best road comeback in ACC history, trailing only Virginia’s 23-point winning rally at Duke two seasons ago.

Obinna Ekezie scored a career-high 21 points and Laron Profit, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, was the key down the stretch for Maryland.

Maryland trailed, 66-44, with 14:23 remaining before outscoring the Tar Heels 41-9 as North Carolina played without second-leading scorer Vince Carter, who was sidelined with a hip pointer.

No. 2 Wake Forest 73, Georgia Tech 63--Tony Rutland felt a twinge in his right knee, but it didn’t affect his shooting in the ACC game at Atlanta.

Rutland and Tim Duncan each scored 24 points for the Demon Deacons (11-0, 3-0).

Rutland, who hurt his knee Saturday in an 81-57 victory over North Carolina, wore a brace but showed little effect of the injury once the game began.

Georgia Tech, winner of the ACC regular-season title in 1996, is 6-6, 0-3.

No. 6 Cincinnati 74, Alabama Birmingham 54--The Bearcats (10-2, 2-0) had to rely on a balanced offense attack for a ragged victory over the Blazers (9-7, 0-3) in a Conference USA game at Cincinnati.

No. 8 Villanova 64, Oral Roberts 46--Jason Lawson, benched for most of the second half in a 23-point loss at Providence two days earlier, scored 19 points as the Wildcats (12-2) rebounded with a victory over Oral Roberts (9-4) at Villanova, Pa.

No. 11 Minnesota 96, No. 15 Indiana 91--The Gophers saved their best for the closing minutes at Bloomington, Ind., making three three-point shots in the final minute to send the game into overtime, then going on to a Big Ten road victory over the Hoosiers (14-3, 1-2).

Bobby Jackson had 26 points and Sam Jacobsen scored six in overtime as the Gophers (14-1, 3-0) overcame a seven-point deficit in the final minute of regulation.

No. 20 Texas Tech 73, Oklahoma State 64--Tony Battie, 6-foot-11 junior center, had 25 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in leading the Red Raiders (10-2, 2-0) to a Big 12 victory over the Cowboys (7-5, 0-2) at Stillwater, Okla.

No. 24 Georgia 61, Vanderbilt 53--The Bulldogs (12-2, 1-1) used defense to beat the Commodores (9-4, 1-1) at Nashville for the first time since 1990. Vanderbilt shot only 35% and had 24 turnovers.

OTHER GAMES

Making his first start since suffering an ankle injury three weeks ago, Virginia’s Courtney Alexander scored 26 points to boost the Cavaliers (10-4, 1-2) to a 64-61 ACC victory over Florida State (9-2, 1-2) at Tallahassee, Fla. . . . Similar to what Michigan’s Chris Webber did in the 1992 NCAA title game loss to North Carolina, Texas A&M;’s Tracey Anderson called a timeout when his team had none left. The result was a 69-66 Big 12 victory for Baylor (12-2, 1-1) at Waco, Texas. The Aggies (6-6, 0-2) committed a season-high 28 turnovers. . . . Duane Spencer scored 24 points, including 10 in the last five minutes of regulation and two in overtime, as Louisiana State (8-7, 1-1) recorded an 88-82 Southeastern Conference victory over Florida (8-6, 1-1) at Baton Rouge, La.