His teammates sent out a distress call, and Donald Williams came to the rescue one more time for No. 2 North Carolina.
Williams delivered the Tar Heels from the post-exam doldrums Saturday, scoring 16 of his 26 points in the final seven minutes for an 81-68 victory over Ohio State.The Buckeyes, who trailed by 14 points in the first half, rallied to tie it at 58 with 7:09 left on Derek Anderson's corner jumper.
"Then, at that timeout, the guys told him to get going," North Carolina coach Dean Smith said of a television timeout with 6:35 left. "Maybe, I did, too."
Williams took over and Ohio State couldn't stop him.
"In our semi-delay, we go down to 10 seconds (on the shot clock) and put it in Donald's or Derrick's (Phelps) hands," Smith said. "In this case, Derrick gave it to Donald."
With the Tar Heels offense spreading out to give Williams room to operate, he started his streak with a running jumper with 6:47 left to break the tie. Jerry Stackhouse added a free throw at 6:23, and Williams came back with a 3-pointer in transition.
Williams, the most valuable player of the 1993 Final Four, added another basket on the break and converted a three-point play with 4:45 left, giving the Tar Heels (8-1) a 69-58 lead.
"Coach Smith just wanted me to step it up," Williams said. "My teammates have so much confidence in me, they just wanted me to have the ball, and they did a good job of getting me the basketball and screening for me."
No. 1 Arkansas 96, Jackson St. 80
At Fayetteville, Ark., Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman scored the first 16 points of the second half for Arkansas and the top-ranked Razorbacks defeated Jackson State.
The Razorbacks (6-0) led by 14 at the half and the production of Williamson and Thurman kept them in front points during the second half. Jackson State dropped to 4-3.
No. 6 Kansas 89, Georgia 79
At Atlanta, sixth-ranked Kansas used a 19-5 run sparked by freshman Jacques Vaughn and Steve Woodberry to build a 16-point lead as the Jayhawks beat Georgia.
It was the fifth victory in a row for the Jayhawks (9-1), who withstood a late rally. Woodberry and Richard Scott led Kansas with 23 points each and Vaughn added 17.
Bernard Davis led Georgia (3-3) with 21 as the Bulldogs failed for the second time to give Hugh Durham his 500th coaching victory.
No. 9 UCLA 100, No. 25 LSU 80
At Los Angeles, George Zidek scored 17 points, 13 in the first half, as ninth-ranked UCLA easily passed its first significant test of the season by downing No. 25 Louisiana State.
The 7-foot Zidek, six inches taller than LSU center Lenear Burns, dominated inside as the Bruins (5-0) took command in the first half.
No. 10 Louisville 72, Wyoming 55
At Laramie, Wyo., No. 10 Louisville, getting 18 points and 14 rebounds from Clifford Rozier, used a 15-5 surge in the closing minutes to draw away.
The Cardinals (4-1) capitalized on poor shooting by the Cowboys. Wyoming (3-2) made just 39 percent while hitting only 12 of 22 free throws.
Wyoming's Theo Ratliff scored 26 points.
No. 11 Purdue 97, Ga Southern 59
At West Lafayette, Ind., Glenn Robinson scored 28 points to power No. 11 Purdue past Georgia Southern. Robinson, averaging 28.3 points a game, has scored in double figures in 30 consecutive games.
Lonnie Edwards led Georgia Southern (4-2) with 18 points.
No. 12 Indiana 91, E. Kentucky 80
At Bloomington, Ind., Damon Bailey matched his career-high with 32 points and helped No. 12 Indiana pull away in the second half for a victory over Eastern Kentucky.
The victory raised Indiana's home winning streak to a nation-best 35 games, tying an Assembly Hall record set from 1973-76.
No. 14 Georgia Tech 86,
No. 24 Vanderbilt 77
At Atlanta, Fred Vinson forced overtime with a 3-pointer and Ivano Newbill put No. 14 Georgia Tech ahead to stay in the extra period as the Yellow Jackets downed No. 24 Vanderbilt.
No. 17 Cincinnati 95,
Youngstown State 55
At Cincinnati, LaZelle Durden scored 22 points and 17th-ranked Cincinnati used its bench extensively while beating winless Youngstown State for its most lopsided victory of the season.
No. 19 Illinois 121, Chicago St. 52
At Champaign, Ill., No. 19 Illinois posted its most lopsided victory ever, routing winless Chicago State.
Freshman guard Kiwane Garris had 23 points, leading nine Illinois scorers in double figures.
No. 21 Syracuse 108,
Maryland-Eastern Shore 71
At Syracuse, N.Y., Luicious Jackson's 17 points paced six players in double figures as No. 21 Syracuse scored 100 points for the second straight game.
No. 22 Oklahoma St. 85,
Cal-Davis 41
At Stillwater, Okla., No. 22 Oklahoma State ended a one-week layoff for final exams by coasting past Cal-Davis behind 18 points from Bryant Reeves.
No. 23 George Washington 66,
Pepperdine 59
At Washington, Yinka Dare led the way with 21 points and five rebounds as No. 23 George Washington pulled away in the closing minutes to defeat Pepperdine.