James leads No. 2 Texas to win over No. 9 Spartans

Damion James had 23 points and 13 rebounds, leading No. 2 Texas past No. 9 Michigan State, 79-68, last night at Texas.

Like the victory over No. 10 North Carolina on Saturday, James led this one. He followed his 25 points and 15 rebounds against the Tar Heels with another big showing to rally the Longhorns (11-0) from an early deficit.

Chris Allen had 12 points for the Spartans (9-3).

In other games:

* At Florida, Tim Williams scored 21 points, DeAndre Hersey had a putback with 1.8 seconds remaining and South Alabama (9-4) stunned the No. 18 Gators, 67-66. Florida (8-3), which has lost three straight, was led by Alex Tyus' 16 points.

* At Alabama-Birmingham, Jamarr Sanders scored 18 points UAB (11-1) upset No. 20 Butler, 67-57. The Bulldogs (8-4) were led by Gordon Hayward's 12 points and 15 rebounds.

* At Kansas, Sherron Collins' 17 points led the No. 1 Jayhawks (11-0) over California, 84-69. Kansas's home winning streak is now at 49, longest in the nation.

* At Purdue, JaJuan Johnson had 16 points as the No. 4 Boilermakers (11-0) defeated SIU-Edwardsville, 90-63.

* At Syracuse, Brandon Triche had a season-high 27 points and the No. 5 Orange (12-0) beat Oakland, Mich., 92-60.

* At North Carolina, Ed Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 10 Tar Heels (9-3) past Marshall, 98-61.

* At Hartford, Conn., Jerome Dyson scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and No. 11 Connecticut (8-2) beat Maine, 71-54.

* At Ohio State, David Lighty scored 30 points, leading the No. 17 Buckeyes (10-2) past Cleveland State, 72-59.

* At Texas Tech, Mike Singletary scored 28 points to lift the No. 23 Red Raiders (10-1) over Stanford, 100-87.

* At Clemson, Trevor Booker scored a season-high 31 points and his brother Devin added 10 to lead the No. 24 Tigers (11-2) over Western Carolina, 79-57.

* At Notre Dame, Luke Harangody had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to lead the Fighting Irish (11-2) over Bucknell, 101-69. Bryson Johnson scored 17 points for the Bison (4-8), who lost their fifth straight.

* At Las Vegas, Jimmer Fredette scored 33 points to lead BYU (11-1) over Nevada, 110-104, in the third round of Las Vegas Classic. The Cougars will play in the championship game tonight against Nebraska (9-2), which got 12 points from Eshaunte Jones in 74-70 victory over Tulsa. The two losing teams will meet in the consolation game.

* At Michigan, Stu Douglass scored 20 points as the Wolverines (6-5) routed Coppin State, 76-46, for their 500th win at Crisler Arena. North Catholic product Lenny Young led the Eagles (5-5) with 22 points.

* At Lehigh, Marquis Hall scored 16 points to lead the Mountain Hawks (5-6) over Marist, 66-55.

In a women's game:

* At Delawere, freshman Elena Delle Donne tied the school record with 39 points to help the Blue Hens (7-3) beat Buffalo, 85-72. She matched the 29-year old record set by Lori Howard against Temple on Jan. 27, 1981. Buffalo coach Linda Hill-MacDonald was actually in charge of Temple when Howard set the mark.

* Though he said in a YouTube video last week that he was leaving Minnesota, freshman Royce White is still with the program, but remains suspended, coach Tubby Smith said.

White pleaded guilty this month to disorderly conduct and theft for a transgression at the Mall of America this fall. He also has been part of an investigation into an alleged laptop theft on campus, a case which has yet to lead to any arrests. White says he is innocent of any wrongdoing in that incident. *