My Sports News Digest

COLUMBUS, Ohio – With two starters on the bench and the score tied late in Tuesday night’s game with Purdue, No. 3 Ohio State needed its most experienced player to take control. And that’s what William Buford did. Buford, the only senior on the roster, scored a career-high 29 points and capped his night with a pivotal dunk in the final minute to lead the Buckeyes past hot-shooting Purdue 87-84. “I just got good looks,” Buford said. “I was taking them and fortunate enough to knock them down. I wasn’t thinking about my shots, I was just shooting the ball [...]

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CH EL HILL, N.C. — Eric Montross knows exactly why he chose to play college basketball at North Carolina instead of rival Duke. It’s just not something he can put into words. “Sometimes you just have a pit-[in]-the-stomach-type feeling,” said the 7-foot center, who led the Tar Heels to the 1993 national championship and is now a radio analyst at his alma mater. “Something is either right or it’s not. That’s how I felt here. Most kids have a good idea of what they want and which is a better fit.” What Montross describes seems to suggest is that some [...]

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville senior guard Chris Smith emphatically answered a question meant for teammate Chane Behanan. After a resounding 80-59 victory over Connecticut on Monday night, the Cardinals are in sync on the court and off it. “We just had more fun than they did,” Smith declared. They outworked the Huskies, too. Gorgui Dieng returned from a sprained right ankle to score 15 points and Behanan added 12 rebounds to lead No. 24 Louisville to its fifth straight win. Louisville (19-5, 7-4) is quickly ascending the Big East standings after a rough start. While most of the 31 credential [...]

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Kentucky is on top of the Associated Press’ college basketball poll for a third straight week. The Wildcats, who were also No. 1 for two weeks earlier this season, received 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel. Syracuse, which got the other No. 1 votes, Ohio State, Missouri, North Carolina and Baylor held second through sixth from last week. Kansas moved up one spot to seventh, while Florida jumped four places to eighth. Murray State, the lone unbeaten in Division I, moved one spot to ninth and Duke dropped three places to 10th. Louisville, winners of four [...]

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PITTSBURGH – Travon Woodall scored a career-high 29 points and Ashton Gibbs added 25 to lead Pittsburgh to a 79-70 win over Villanova on Sunday, its fourth straight win. The Panthers (15-9, 4-7 Big East) led by as many as 18 in the second half, though the Wildcats (10-13, 3-8 Big East) were able to trim that lead to three on a pair of Jayvaughn Pinkston free throws with 22.3 seconds left. Villanova, losers of three straight, couldn’t get any closer. Woodall then snared a long pass and made the layup while Ty Johnson was called for an intentional foul. [...]

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CBSSports.com wire reportsFeb. 5, 2012 EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State’s Draymond Green made good on his guarantee against Michigan with the best game of his career in the series. Green had 14 points and 16 rebounds — as many as his hated rival could manage — to lead the ninth-ranked Spartans to a 64-54 win over the 23rd-ranked Wolverines on Sunday, ending a three-game losing streak in the rivalry. “You can’t say something and not back up your words,” he said. “I’d be less of a man to guarantee something, promise something and not come out here and do [...]

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MADISON, Wis. – Jared Sullinger wore out Wisconsin. Then William Buford put the Badgers away. No. 3 Ohio State wasn’t going to give No. 19 Wisconsin a shot at another comeback. Sullinger scored 24 points and Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping the Buckeyes beat the Badgers 58-52 on Saturday. Sullinger was shocked when he wasn’t double-teamed on defense to start the game, and he pounced immediately. “I don’t think I saw single coverage since first part of the season of my freshman year,” Sullinger said. “When I saw that, I got excited. I decided to go [...]

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MADISON, Wis. – Jared Sullinger wore out Wisconsin. Then William Buford put the Badgers away. No. 3 Ohio State wasn’t going to give No. 19 Wisconsin a shot at another comeback. Sullinger scored 24 points and Buford hit a critical 3-pointer down the stretch, helping the Buckeyes beat the Badgers 58-52 on Saturday. Sullinger was shocked when he wasn’t double-teamed on defense to start the game, and he pounced immediately. “I don’t think I saw single coverage since first part of the season of my freshman year,” Sullinger said. “When I saw that, I got excited. I decided to go [...]

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