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Ellington's 3-Pointer Gives North Carolina An Escape

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The Associated Press

Published: January 7, 2008

CLEMSON, S.C. - What a way for No. 1 North Carolina to start the Atlantic Coast Conference season.

Wayne Ellington's 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in overtime lifted the top-ranked Tar Heels to a 90-88 victory over 19th-ranked Clemson on Sunday night.

Ellington finished with a career-high 36 points, none more dramatic than his pullup jumper from the left side of the key with the clock winding down.

The Tar Heels leaped from the bench as Ellington pumped his fist in celebration.

Only moments earlier, Clemson freshman Demontez Stitt had hit two foul shots with 13.9 seconds to go that put the Tigers ahead, 88-87.

Ellington's basket sent the Tar Heels (15-0) out of Littlejohn Coliseum with their seventh straight win over Clemson - and their top ranking in tact.

Ellington scored seven of North Carolina's nine points in overtime. The sophomore surpassed his career high of 23 set earlier this season in a win over Ohio State.

K.C. Rivers led Clemson (12-2) with 24 points but failed to score in overtime.

DUKE 81, CORNELL 67: DeMarcus Nelson matched a season high with 23 points and No. 9 Duke shook off a slow start to beat Cornell.
Kyle Singler added 14 points for the Blue Devils (11-1), who eventually pulled away for their NCAA-best 58th straight nonconference home victory.

The victory gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 786th career victory, tying Lefty Driesell for sixth on the all-time wins list.

WEST VIRGINIA 79, MARQUETTE 64: Alex Ruoff and Joe Alexander combined for 38 points as the West Virginia routed No. 10 Marquette for Bob Huggins' 601st career win, and his most significant since returning to his alma mater this year.

Ruoff hit five 3-pointers on his way to 19 points, continually boosting West Virginia when it was threatened.

The win seemed improbable to most after the Mountaineers' consecutive losses to Oklahoma and Notre Dame. After starting 10-1, the losses seemed to give credence to Huggins claim that the hot start was "fool's gold."

No more. West Virginia opted for a seldom-used 1-3-1 zone for the majority of the game, surprising a Marquette squad expecting Huggins' physical man defense. The move forced 14 turnovers, including nine in the first nine minutes as West Virginia forged a 21-11 first half lead.

VILLANOVA 64, PITTSBURGH 63: Dante Cunningham made two free throws with 10 seconds left and No. 17 Villanova forced a big turnover for a victory over No. 13 Pittsburgh.

Freshman Malcolm Grant had a season-high 22 points for the Wildcats (11-2, 1-1 Big East), who took advantage of their depth to beat the short-handed Panthers (12-2, 0-1), who matched their season high with 22 turnovers, nine over their season average.

DeJuan Blair scored on a flip in the lane with 1:36 left to give Pittsburgh a 63-62 lead. Both teams failed to score on their next possessions. Grant took a wild shot for Villanova with 15 seconds left but the Wildcats retained possession when there was a held ball on the rebound.

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