COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : No. 16 Georgia Tech Stumbles Again, 81-58

For eight days, Georgia Tech has been in free fall.

Rodney Rogers scored 29 points and Randolph Childress added 18 Thursday night as Wake Forest continued No. 16 Georgia Tech’s slide with an 81-58 Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Atlanta.

“We need a great game to come out of this now,” Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said. “We’re in a little of what we call a downward spiral. It’s a tough thing to be in.”

Since upsetting then-No. 1 Duke, the Yellow Jackets (9-4 overall, 2-2 in the ACC) have been beaten by North Carolina, College of Charleston and Wake Forest.

No. 6 Duke 92, North Carolina State 56--The Blue Devils scored the first 13 points and trounced the Wolfpack in an ACC game at Durham, N.C.

It was second-worst defeat for N.C. State (4-8, 0-4) in the 186-game series. Duke won by 39 points during the 1966-67 season.

The Blue Devils (13-2, 3-2) made 10 of their first 12 shots and took a 23-5 lead with 11:12 left in the half. Duke had a 55-20 lead at halftime, making 20 of 31 shots (64.5%), and committed only three turnovers.

Grant Hill scored 20 points for Duke. Thomas Hill added 17 and Bobby Hurley had 15.

No. 22 Utah 82, Hawaii 67--Byron Wilson scored 24 points and the Utes won their eighth in a row by defeating the Rainbows (5-9, 1-5) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Salt Lake City.

Utah (12-2, 3-0) led, 48-29, at halftime and was leading, 57-37, with 15:31 remaining on a layup by Wilson.

Josh Grant had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Utah, which is 9-0 at home this season.

OTHER GAMES

Deon Thomas scored 24 points and Illinois (10-4, 3-1) gave Coach Lou Henson his 600th victory by beating Penn State, 82-66, in a Big Ten Conference game at Champaign, Ill. John Amaechi scored 29 points for the Nittany Lions (6-8, 1-4). . . . Tony Amundsen had 15 points, seven rebounds and six steals to lead Pacific (7-7) to a 71-49 Big West Conference victory over Nevada (7-6, 2-4) at Stockton. . . . Matt Greene had 20 points as Tulane (13-3, 3-0) defeated Virginia Commonwealth (9-5, 1-2) in a Metro Conference game, 84-76, at Richmond, Va. . . . Billy Smith scored 20 points as Memphis State (11-6) missed its first 14 shots but still beat Missouri, 64-56, at Columbia, Mo. Chris Heller had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers (11-4). . . . Brett Studdard scored 20 points, leading Wyoming (10-5, 4-2) to a 74-70 Western Athletic Conference victory over Texas El Paso (11-6, 4-3) at El Paso. . . . Ryan Yoder scored with one second left in overtime and Colorado State (1-4, 4-2) ended a 22-year drought in Albuquerque, N.M., with a 67-65 WAC victory over New Mexico (11-3, 4-3), ending the Lobos’ 21-game home win streak.