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WVU Bounces Hoyas

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The Associated Press

Published: January 23, 2009

WASHINGTON - So West Virginia is the ninth-best team in the Big East? If so, that's going to be some tournament at Madison Square Garden in March.

Da'Sean Butler scored 27 points, a relentless defense forced 19 turnovers and the Mountaineers knocked hard on the door of the conference's eight ranked teams Thursday night with a 75-58 win over No. 12 Georgetown.

In a game in which nearly every basket was hard-earned - and steals were sometimes canceled out by quick counter-steals - Butler stood out by going 11-for-18 from the field. The Mountaineers shot 58 percent in the second half, while the No. 1 scoring defense in the Big East limited the Hoyas to 33 percent shooting after the break.

Georgetown went 2-for-16 from 3-point range for the game and again had trouble on the boards, allowing 16 second-chance points on West Virginia's 14 offensive rebounds.

Darryl Bryant added 13 points, and Alex Ruoff had nine assists and 10 points, including an eye-popping driving dunk that gave the Mountaineers a 59-48 lead with 5 1/2 minutes to play. His play came shortly after a 12-3 run that put the lead in double digits for the first time.

West Virginia (14-4, 3-2) has won eight of 10, with the only two losses coming to ranked Big East foes Connecticut and Marquette.

Chris Wright scored 13 points, DaJuan Summers had 12 and Greg Monroe added 11 for the Hoyas (12-5, 3-3).

NO. 13 UCLA 61,

WASHINGTON ST. 59

PULLMAN, Wash. - Nikola Dragovic scored a career-high 20 points and No. 13 UCLA hung on to beat Washington State for its 16th straight win in Pullman.

Dragovic made six of 10 3 pointers as UCLA (15-3, 5-1 Pac-10) rebounded from a loss to Arizona State.

Washington State (11-7, 3-3) had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Marcus Capers' long shot missed the rim.

It was UCLA's ninth straight win over the Cougars, and they have not lost in Pullman since 1993.

NO. 16 BUTLER 68,

WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 59

INDIANAPOLIS - Matt Howard scored 15 points and No. 16 Butler (17-1, 8-0 Horizon League) got its offense in sync in the second half, rallying to beat conference rival Wisconsin-Green Bay (14-6, 6-2).

NO. 18 PURDUE 70,

NO. 21 MINNESOTA 62

MINNEAPOLIS - JaJuan Johnson had 19 points and five blocks and No. 18 Purdue rode relentless defense to a victory against No. 21 Minnesota.

E'Twaun Moore added 16 points for Purdue (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten), which won its fourth straight conference game after an 0-2 start. The Boilermakers entered with the second-ranked field goal percentage defense in the country and made life miserable all evening for the Gophers (16-3, 4-3).

NO. 23 GONZAGA 83,

PEPPERDINE 69

MALIBU, Calif. - Josh Heytvelt scored a season-high 25 points and Matt Bouldin delivered a career-high 10 assists as No. 23 Gonzaga (12-4, 4-0) remained perfect in the West Coast Conference by beating Pepperdine (4-16, 1-3).

Georgia Tech Women Stun UNC

ATLANTA - Alex Montgomery had 17 points and 10 rebounds in Georgia Tech's 66-62 upset of No. 2 North Carolina, giving the Tar Heels consecutive losses for the first time since their final two games of the 2003-04 season.

Coming off an embarrassing 88-58 home loss Monday to No. 1 Connecticut, North Carolina blew a 15-point lead with 17:18 remaining.

NO. 6 AUBURN 84,

ALABAMA 66

AUBURN, Ala. - DeWanna Bonner scored 24 points to lead undefeated No. 6 Auburn (19-0, 4-0 SEC) past Alabama (12-8, 0-5).

NO. 10 TENNESSEE 76,

ARKANSAS 67

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Angie Bjorklund scored 18 points and Glory Johnson added 15 as No. 10 Tennessee (15-3, 4-1 SEC) held off Arkansas (11-8, 0-4).

GEORGIA 66,

NO.17 VANDERBILT 55

ATHENS, Ga. - Ashley Houts scored 18 points, Angel Robinson had 16 and Georgia (12-7, 2-2 SEC) beat a ranked opponent for the first time this season with a victory over No. 17 Vanderbilt (14-5, 1-3).

Porsha Phillips added 15 points, including five points in the final 2:31, for Georgia.

NO. 19 OHIO ST. 68,

ILLINOIS 51

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Big Ten scoring and rebounding leader Jantel Lavender had 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 19 Ohio State (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) past Illinois (4-16, 0-9).

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