Duncan Lifts Wake Forest Over Utah

College basketball

Tim Duncan, a 60 percent shooter coming in, missed seven of his first nine field-goal attempts Thursday night. But he made his last five to lead No. 12 Wake Forest to a 60-56 victory over 13th-ranked Utah in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Duncan wound up with 24 points on 10-for-19 shooting as Wake Forest (6-1) won for the 15th time in its last 17 non-conference games.

The Demon Deacons, who last year led the Atlantic Coast Conference in field-goal percentage defense, held the Utes (6-2) to a season-low 35 percent shooting and their lowest point total in three years.

(5) Memphis 74, Sam Houston 51

Mingo Johnson had 16 points - 13 in the first half - and six assists to lead Memphis to a victory over Sam Houston State at Memphis, Tenn.

The Tigers (6-0) substituted freely in the second half after building leads of 20-plus points. < (18) Georgia 95, Mercer 68

Terrell Bell scored 16 points to lead five double-figure scorers and Georgia beat visiting Mercer. It was the fifth straight victory for the Bulldogs.

(23) Virginia 80, Va. Comm. 65

Norman Nolan scored a career-high 21 points and Virginia held Virginia Commonwealth without a field goal for almost 9 minutes of the second half in rallying for a victory at Charlottesville, Va.

San Diego 81, UC Irvine 78

Brock Jacobsen’s 18 points keyed a second-half San Diego comeback in a win over visiting UC Irvine.

The Toreros (4-3) trailed by 16 with less than a minute left in the first. But they took the lead for good on Brian Miles’ 3-point shot with 1:10 left.