Indiana Ends No. 2 Wisconsin's Streak

Thursday, February 1st 2007, 5:49 am

By: News On 6

For Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, it was an unusual and welcome sight. A.J. Ratliff scored 18 of his season-high 20 points in the second half and the Hoosiers held off No. 2 Wisconsin 71-66 on Wednesday night, snapping the Badgers' 17-game winning streak.

After the victory, the Indiana faithful stormed onto the court to enjoy the win. Sampson, the former Oklahoma coach who took over at Indiana before this season, wasn't exactly comfortable.

``In the last five or six years, I was always on the other side of that,'' he said. ``We (Oklahoma) would lose and because we were so highly ranked the other fans would rush the court. I can't remember having fans (at home) rush the court like that.''

Sampson said he wasn't worried about the crush of fans as the game ended.

``I have security guys,'' he joked. ``I have a lot of confidence in my offensive line.''

In other Top 25 games, it was: No. 1 Florida 74, No. 24 Vanderbilt 64; No. 3 North Carolina 105, Miami 64; No. 4 Ohio State 78, Purdue 60; No. 10 Texas A&M 73, Iowa State 49; No. 11 Memphis 87, Central Florida 65; No. 13 Butler 71, Youngstown State 58; No. 15 Nevada 79, Louisiana Tech 71; N.C. State 70, No. 16 Virginia Tech 59; No. 19 Alabama 73, LSU 70 and Gonzaga 90, No. 23 Stanford 86, 2OT.

Ratliff had a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-1 run and another 3-pointer that gave the Hoosiers (16-5, 6-2 Big Ten) a 53-43 lead with under 10 minutes remaining.

A rebound basket by Alando Tucker, who led Wisconsin (21-2, 7-1) with 23 points, and two 3-pointers by Kammron Taylor helped the Badgers tie it at 59. But Ratliff scored six of Indiana's next eight points, including two free throws with a minute to go to for a 70-66 lead, and the Badgers never recovered.

``I felt somebody had to step up and make a play,'' Ratliff said. ``I felt like I was hitting all my shots and I was open, so I had all the confidence in the world.''

D.J. White added 16 points for the Hoosiers, who beat their highest-ranked opponent since an NCAA tourney upset of No. 1 Duke in 2002.

``This was a tremendous college basketball game,'' Sampson said. ``When you get down to a possession game, you've got to make baskets.''

No. 1 Florida 74, No. 24 Vanderbilt 64

At Gainesville, Fla., Lee Humphrey made three consecutive 3-pointers to key Florida's rally from a double-digit deficit.

The Gators (20-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and were down 41-30 at the break. But they looked much more like the defending national champions in the second half.

Florida extended its winning streak against Vanderbilt (15-7, 5-3) to seven.

No. 3 North Carolina 105, Miami 64

At Chapel Hill, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead North Carolina to the victory.

Wayne Ellington scored 14 points for the Tar Heels (20-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had no trouble winning their fifth straight game.

Anthony Harris scored 18 points for the Hurricanes (9-13, 2-6), who have lost five straight games.

No. 4 Ohio State 78, Purdue 60

At West Lafayette, Ind., Mike Conley scored 18 points and Jamar Butler added 16 to help Ohio State win their sixth straight game.

Daequan Cook had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Greg Oden added nine points and six rebounds for the Buckeyes (19-3, 7-1 Big Ten).

Carl Landry led Purdue (14-8, 3-5) with 16 points.

No. 10 Texas A&M 73, Iowa State 49

At College Station, Texas, Joseph Jones scored 21 points and Texas A&M's defense did the rest in the Aggies' win over Iowa State.

The Cyclones (11-10, 2-5 Big 12) were forced to play catch up all night after the Aggies (18-3, 6-1) jumped to a 11-0 lead and never slowed down.

No. 11 Memphis 87, Central Florida 65

At Orlando, Fla., Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 23 points and Joey Dorsey had 22 points and nine rebounds to help Memphis rout Central Florida.

Memphis (18-3, 8-0 Conference USA) led from the tip in its 10th straight win.

Josh Peppers led the Golden Knights (15-6, 4-3) with 20 points.

No. 13 Butler 71, Youngstown State 58

At Youngstown, Ohio, Mike Green scored a season-high 23 points, Pete Campbell added 20 and Butler won its seventh straight.

A.J. Graves scored 11 for Butler (21-2, 9-1 Horizon League).

Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts led Youngstown State (9-14, 4-7) with 17 points each.

No. 15 Nevada 79, Louisiana Tech 71

At Ruston, La., Nick Fazekas and Marcelus Kemp each scored 20 points to help Nevada beat Louisiana Tech.

Fazekas helped fuel a 12-6 surge at the start of the second half that extended Nevada's lead to 43-33.

Louisiana Tech (6-15, 4-5 Western Athletic Conference) trailed 68-65 with 2:30 left before Nevada (20-2, 8-1) closed the game with an 11-6 stretch.

North Carolina State 70, No. 16 Virginia Tech 59

At Blacksburg, Va., Gavin Grant scored all 16 of his points in the second half and Ben McCauley scored 20, leading North Carolina State over Virginia Tech.

The Wolfpack (12-8, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) knocked the surprising Hokies (16-6, 6-2) out of first place in the conference by taking it to them from the start.

No. 19 Alabama 73, LSU 70

At Baton Rouge, La., Jermareo Davidson scored a career-high 31 points for the Crimson Tide.

After Davidson's free throws put Alabama (16-5, 3-4 SEC) ahead 69-68 inside the final minute, Garrett Temple's pass was intercepted by Alonzo Gee, who was fouled driving to the hoop on a fast break and hit both free throws.

Chris Johnson's follow-up dunk with about 10 seconds left pulled the Tigers to 71-70, but LSU (13-8, 2-5) failed to foul Alabama before the clock ran out. The Tide got a last-second dunk from Davidson, who pumped his fist in triumph as the final buzzer sounded.

No. 22 Texas 76, Texas Tech 64

At Lubbock, Texas, Kevin Durant scored 37 points and grabbed a season-high 23 rebounds to lead Texas over Texas Tech.

Texas (16-5, 6-1 Big 12) steadily pulled away from the Red Raiders, in part by pounding the ball inside for 30 points.

The loss was only Tech's second at home this season and prevented the Red Raiders (15-7, 4-3) from getting their third-straight win over a Top 25 team in Lubbock.

Gonzaga 90, No. 23 Stanford 86, 2OT

At Stanford, Calif., Jeremy Pargo scored 11 of his 23 points in the second overtime and also had seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, lifting Gonzaga to a thrilling victory over Stanford.

Derek Raivio added six of his 21 points during the second OT after missing a tough shot at the end of the first extra period to win it. Anthony Goods swished a long 3 from about 26 feet out with 14 seconds left in the first OT to tie it at 67 and extend the game further.

The Zags (16-7) won their third straight and sixth in seven, spoiling the Cardinal's return to the rankings. Goods tried to keep Stanford close, hitting three straight 3s late in the second overtime on the way to 16 points.

But Stanford (14-6) missed too many key shots and free throws in the extra periods and had its three-game winning streak snapped only three nights after a thrilling 75-68 upset of No. 5 UCLA.