College Basketball: No. 5 Texas romps; Clemson wins big

A.J. Abrams scored 27 points and Dexter Pittman added 19 to lead No. 5 Texas (9-1) past winless Texas Southern, 88-72, in a nonleague men's basketball game last night in Austin.

Texas led by only 35-34 at halftime.

Matthew Miller led Texas Southern (0-9) with 21 points.

Freshman Varez Ward had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Texas.

Clemson 76, North Florida 36 -

Trevor Booker had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots as the No. 25 Tigers (11-0) beat the winless Ospreys (0-8) in Clemson, S.C. The Tigers improved to 43-0 in games played before Dec. 22 over the last four seasons.

Vanderbilt 71, South Florida 52 -

Jermaine Beal and A.J. Ogilvy scored 20 points each and the Commodores (7-3) opened the Southeastern Conference/Big East Invitational by beating the Bulls (3-5) in Nashville to give coach Kevin Stallings his 300th career victory.

Karima Christmas scored 10 of her career-high 14 points in the second half and chased down the critical rebound that led eighth-ranked Duke past No. 3 Stanford, 56-52, in Durham, N.C.

Chante Black added 14 points for the undersized Blue Devils (7-1), who never trailed in the second half and used an effective full-court press to force Stanford into a season-high 23 turnovers, turning them into 18 points.

Jayne Appel had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford (7-2), which had its six-game winning streak snapped.

Baylor 73, Texas-Pan American 27 -

Danielle Wilson had 23 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots and the No. 7 Bears (10-1), playing without injured leading scorer Rachel Allison, rolled past the Broncs (5-5) in a nonleague game in Waco.

Pittsburgh 98, Wagner 41 -

Shavonte Zellous scored 26 points to lead the 16th-ranked Panthers (8-1) past the Seagulls (3-5) in a nonleague game in Pittsburgh.

Oklahoma State 52, Oral Roberts 48 -

Tegan Cunningham scored 16 points as the No. 22 Cowgirls (5-2) avoided an upset against the in-state rival Golden Eagles (5-5), in Stillwater.

La Salle 61, Lafayette 57 -

The Explorers (5-5) reached the .500 mark by topping the Leopards (4-6) in a nonleague game in the Tom Gola Arena.

Morgan Robertson had 15 points and Jenna Gilbert added 14 for La Salle, which shot 19 for 22 at the foul line.

Ohio State 68, Delaware State 35 -

Reigning Big Ten player of the year Jantel Lavender scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the No. 18 Buckeyes (8-2) past the Hornets (2-6) in a nonleague game in Columbus, Ohio.

University of the Sciences 53, St. Thomas Aquinas 50 -

Colleen Christian sank a 24-foot bank shot from the left side as the buzzer sounded to lead the Devils (4-5) past the Spartans (2-7) in Philadelphia.