Kansas was down 14 points at halftime in one of the toughest places to play in the country. Starting center Scot Pollard was on the bench, his left foot in a cast. All that was left was for the top-ranked Jayhawks to show why they are the only unbeaten team in Division I.
They did.Paul Pierce scored all 16 of his points in the second half as the Jayhawks (21-0, 7-0 Big 12) rallied for an 86-77 victory over No. 22 Texas Tech at Lubbock Municipal Coliseum.
No. 2 Wake Forest 68, Wofford 51
Tim Duncan had his string of consecutive double-double games stopped at 27 as he finished with 10 points and five rebounds in just 24 minutes as the Demon Deacons (17-1) won their second nonconference game in as many nights.
No. 3 Kentucky 92, Florida 65
Ron Mercer and Nazr Mohammed each had 18 points for the visiting Wildcats (19-2, 7-1 Southeastern Conference), while Anthony Epps had 16 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Florida St. 74, No. 5 Maryland 70
Sophomore Randell Jackson scored a career-high 20 points and freshman Ron Hale added 17 as the Seminoles (12-5, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat a ranked team for the second time in a week.
No. 11 Iowa St. 77, Nebraska 67
Dedric Willoughby scored 21 points and the Cyclones (14-3, 5-2 Big 12) made 11 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes for the road victory.
No. 12 Duke 80,
No. 19 North Carolina 73
Trajan Langdon scored a career-high 28 points, and his seventh 3-pointer with 41 seconds left sealed the win for the Blue Devils (16-5, 5-3 ACC), breaking their seven-game losing streak to their archrival.
California 70, No. 15 Stanford 64
Ed Gray scored 27 points, including four free throws in the final 46 seconds, and the Bears (15-5, 6-3 Pac 10) won their fifth straight overall and 15th straight at home.
No. 18 Colorado 69, Kansas St. 60
Chauncey Billups scored 25 points as the Buffaloes (16-4, 7-1) improved to just 5-45 at Manhattan, Kan., although they won three straight there.
No. 25 South Carolina 65,
Vanderbilt 64
Melvin Watson's jumper with 16 seconds left won it for the Gamecocks (14-5, 8-0 SEC), who have won nine straight games.