Young keeps Pitt undefeated

Sam Young kept Pittsburgh unbeaten on a night in which the Panthers weren't making many shots.

The 6-6 senior forward scored 21 points, including two critical baskets in the final 1 minute, 51 seconds, and the third-ranked Panthers (12-0) overcame a woeful 33 percent shooting effort in a ragged 56-48 victory at Florida State.

Young's tip-in broke a 48-48 tie and he followed with a jump shot with a minute left that gave the Panthers a 52-48 advantage.

"That kind of put their heads down," Young said.

"The guy made great plays," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They made the plays they had to make in that minute stretch and we missed ours."

Pitt nearly wasted a 17-0 run keyed by two three-point shots by Jermaine Dixon that gave them a 43-34 lead with 8:53 left.

Toney Douglas scored 20 points to lead Florida State (11-2), which shot 29.8 percent; no other Florida State player had more than two field goals.

Dixon, who played for Tallahassee Community College the last 2 years, finished with 11 points and DeJuan Blair added 10 points and 12 rebounds, helping Pitt to a 42-36 advantage on the boards. It was Blair's eighth double-double this season.

In other games:

* At Miami, K.C. Rivers scored 28 points and No. 25 Clemson easily overcame an early 12-point deficit on the way to beating Miami 91-72 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Terrence Oglesby added 17 points for the Tigers (12-0), who kept pace with Pittsburgh for Division I's best record this season.

Jack McClinton scored 20 points for Miami (7-3), which doomed itself with a season-high 22 turnovers, 12 in the final 11 minutes of the first half, a stretch where the Hurricanes were outscored 29-9.

* At Penn State, Stanley Pringle scored 17 points and Jamelle Cornley had 16 to lead the Nittany Liuons (10-2) to an 83-55 victory over Lafayette (2-8). Talor Battle contributed 11 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

* At New York, A.D. Vassallo scored 24 points and Malcolm Delaney added 22 as Virginia Tech (8-4) beat St. John's (9-2) 81-67 to win the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden for the second straight year.

* At Army, Austin Kenon scored 19 points and Keith Gabriel added 16 as VMI (9-2) rallied past the Cadets, 62-55. Army (3-8) led 39-25 in the second half when VMI went on a 21-4 run, on seven three-pointers, to lead 46-43 with 7:30 to go. Kenon hit six of the Keydets' 13 triples, while Gabriel had five.

In women's games:

* Renee Montgomery shook off a shooting slump with seven three-pointers and 25 points to lead top-ranked Connecticut to an 83-71 over Florida State in the finale of the Caribbean Classic at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico. UConn (10-0) should retain the No. 1 ranking for the 113th week, tying Tennessee for the most in history . . . Ashley Paris had 20 points and 10 rebounds, one of three players with double-doubles for No. 6 Oklahoma (9-2) in a 94-42 rout of visiting Tulsa. Courtney Paris had 16 points and 10 rebounds, extending her NCAA-record streak of consecutive double-doubles to 103 games.

Shekinna Stricklen scored eight of her season-high 25 points in overtime and No. 11 Tennessee (9-2) upset visiting No. 3 Stanford (8-3), 79-69, in a rematch of last season's national championship game. Jayne Appel lead the Cardinal with 19 points and 14 rebounds . . . DeMauria Liles scored 20 points and No. 15 Maryland (9-2) held host Old Dominion without a field goal for the final 4 minutes in a 74-65 victory . . . Takia Starks scored 21 points to lead No. 4 Texas A & M (10-0) to a 64-50 victory over No. 24 TCU (8-4). *