NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 69,
NO. 13 MARYLAND 55
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Aaron Henry made the most of his opportunity to play in place of injured starter Joshua Langford.
The freshman forward had a season-high 12 points, helping No. 6 Michigan State beat No. 13 Maryland 69-55 on Monday night with balanced offense and stifling defense.
"The Henry kid, he's really good," Terrapins Coach Mark Turgeon said. "Great defender, hard to box out. And, he makes shots. That was a key."
The Spartans (17-2, 8-0 Big Ten) have won 12 consecutive games this season and are in sole possession of first in the conference. They have won a school-record 20 consecutive Big Ten regular season games dating to last year. The run ties the fifth-longest winning streak in Big Ten history and is conference's longest since Illinois won 25 straight during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
"I don't think they give a trophy for it," Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said.
Cassius Winston and Kenny Goins each scored 14 points while Matt McQuaid and Xavier Tillman had 10 points apiece for the Spartans.
The Terrapins (16-4, 7-2) had a shot to move into first place in the conference but couldn't extend their seven-game winning streak.
"We couldn't guard them," Turgeon said. "We went a few possessions with zone, but that's not who we are. We let our offense affect our defense."
Maryland's leading scorer, Anthony Cowan, was held to a season-low seven points.
"That was huge," Henry said. "We looked at him on film and said, 'He's the guy we've got to lock down.' I felt we did that."
The Terrapins connected on 34.4 percent of their shots and matched their season low against the Spartans. They shot 58 percent in their previous game, a 14-point victory at Ohio State.
Bruno Fernando had 12 points and 13 rebounds, freshman Aaron Wiggins had a season-high 15 points and Darryl Morsell added 10 points.
NO. 11 NORTH CAROLINA 103,
NO. 10 VIRGINIA TECH 82
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Freshman Coby White scored 27 points and No. 11 North Carolina knocked down a season-high 16 three-pointers to beat No. 10 Virginia Tech.
Freshman Nassir Little added a season-high 23 points for the Tar Heels (15-4, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who struggled out of the gate to fall behind by nine.
The Tar Heels then went on a game-turning 20-0 run that pushed them to a 45-31 lead by halftime.
North Carolina made 15 of its last 22 three-pointers, finished shooting 54 percent and led by as many as 27 points.
Ahmed Hill scored 20 points for the Hokies (15-3, 4-2), who made 6 of 7 three-pointers in a fast start only to end the half by going nearly six minutes without a basket.
Sports on 01/22/2019