College Basketball Roundup

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Associated Press
The college basketball roundup …KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ó Tyler Smith had the first triple-double in school history, helping No. 10 Tennessee romp to an 87-69 win over UNC-Ashville on Wednesday night.
Smith finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, helping the Vols give coach Bruce Pearl career victory No. 400.
Smith, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, got his 10th assist on Scotty Hopson’s 3-pointer with 7:47 left. A minute later, Smith got a standing ovation when the feat was announced to the crowd.
Pearl, in his fourth season at Tennessee and 17th overall, joined some legendary company by winning his 400th after coaching 509 games. Only Adolph Rupp, Clair Bee, Jerry Tarkanian, Roy Williams and Henry Iba reached the 400-victory plateau in fewer games.
Tennessee (6-1) still had to shake off a sluggish start before its usual up-tempo offense and high-pressure defense provided some breathing room against the Bulldogs (3-4).
Reid Augst and John Williams finished with 14 points apiece for UNC-Asheville.
No. 3 Pittsburgh 78, Duquesne 51
PITTSBURGH ó Sam Young scored 23 points and DeJuan Blair had 14 points and 17 rebounds to help the Panthers overcome a sluggish start and beat their city rival.
Jermaine Dixon scored 12 points as the Panthers improved to 8-0 for the seventh consecutive season, using runs of 9-0 and 11-2 to begin pulling away after the Dukes (4-2) led 20-19 with seven minutes left in the first half.
No. 14 Xavier 81, Auburn 74
CINCINNATI ó B.J. Raymond scored a career-high 32 points and the Musketeers remained undefeated in Sean Miller’s 100th as coach.
Xavier (7-0) matched the third-best start in its history and the best since 1996-97, when it won its first 10 for the school record. Raymond and the rest of the Musketeers kept it going by firing away from outside against the Tigers (3-4).
Frankie Sullivan scored a career-high 23 points and helped Auburn cut a 22-point deficit to 60-51 with 6:55 left in the game. Raymond blunted the comeback by making back-to-back 3-pointers, giving him a career-high seven in nine attempts.
No. 16 Syracuse 88, Cornell 78
SYRACUSE, N.Y ó Jonny Flynn had 24 points, Paul Harris added 21 points and nine rebounds and the Orange rallied to their 31st straight win over the Big Red.
Cornell (4-4), playing its fifth straight road game, hasn’t beaten Syracuse in 40 years, but staged a game fight behind a career-high 33 points from Ryan Wittman.
Syracuse (8-0) has displayed a penchant for poor play at the start of nearly every game, having rallied twice from 13 down to win, and this night was no exception. The Orange trailed the entire first half, finally using a 12-0 run in the second half to take a 67-57 lead.
OTHERS
CATONSVILLE, Md. ó Former West Rowan star Junior Hairston scored 19 points and Towson (4-3) converted a school-record 14 3-pointers in an 82-65 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County on Wednesday night.
The 6-foot-8 Hairston was 3-for-4 on threes and had four of the team’s five blocks.