East Coast Trip Benefits Gonzaga

Gonzaga made the type of East Coast impact it was hoping for, winning the BB&T; Classic Sunday at Washington with a 96-91 victory over George Washington.

The 17th-ranked Bulldogs (6-1), who beat Maryland, 82-68, in the first round Saturday, overcame 28 points by T.J. Thompson, who made seven of 12 three-point shots for the Colonials. In the first half, he scored 22 of their 52 points.

The inside game, led by Ronny Turiaf’s 29 points, was too much for the Colonials (5-2).

The Bulldogs took control early in the second half with a series of power moves and dunks that simply overwhelmed the smaller Colonials.

No. 10 North Carolina 115, George Mason 81 -- The Tar Heels (5-0) remained one of five undefeated Atlantic Coast Conference teams by routing the Patriots (4-2) at Chapel Hill. Raymond Felton had a school-record 18 assists for North Carolina. Jeff Lebo had 17 assists in 1988 and Ed Cota matched the mark in 1999.

OTHER GAMES

West Virginia 78, Maryland 77 -- The Mountaineers (3-2) tied a school record with 13 three-point baskets, the final one by Kevin Pittsnogle late in overtime, that gave them the lead for good over the Terrapins (4-2) in the third-place game of the BB&T; Classic.

WOMEN

No. 8 Penn State 79, No. 2 Texas 59 -- The win extended the Nittany Lions’ home winning streak to 22 games and handed the Longhorns (7-1) their first loss.

The Nittany Lions (5-1) hadn’t beaten an opponent ranked as high since defeating second-ranked Iowa, 78-64, on March 5, 1993.

No. 3 Tennessee 85, No. 10 Louisiana Tech 65 -- The Lady Vols (3-0) took control midway through the first half and extended their lead to 17 points with 8:38 left at Knoxville, Tenn. Lady Techster (3-1) guard Aarica Ray-Boyd was injured with 1:05 left and taken away in an ambulance. She fell hard to the floor after trying to block a shot. Her condition was not known.

No. 7 Purdue 66, Houston 63 -- The Boilermakers (6-1) used a six-point run to erase a two-point deficit and move into the lead to stay with 5:35 left at Houston. Shereka Wright made two baskets in the final 1:48 to help seal the win.

No. 9 Minnesota 79, Missouri Kansas City 53 -- The Golden Gophers (7-0) led, 38-29, at halftime and scored the first seven points of the second half to take control at Kansas City.

Old Dominion 73, No. 13 North Carolina 68 -- Leah Metcalf made a three-point basket that pulled the Tar Heels (6-1) to within 68-66 with 50 seconds left at Norfolk, Va., but the Lady Monarchs (4-3) scored the next five points.

No. 16 Oklahoma 73, No. 19 Utah 65 -- After the Utes (5-2) closed to within five points with 3:50 left at Norman, Okla., Caton Hill made six consecutive free throws for the Sooners (6-0).

No. 23 Virginia Tech 68, Alabama 51 -- The Hokies (6-0) went on a 21-5 run to start the second half and take control at Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Crimson Tide (4-2) made only 26% of its shots in the second half, scoring 19 points.

No. 25 Auburn 85, Buffalo 32 -- The Tigers (6-2), who had 23 steals at Auburn, Ala., converted 30 turnovers into 43 points.