Associated Press
WINSTON-SALEM ó Coach Dino Gaudio sat Wake Forest’s sluggish starting five on the bench, giving them a clear view of what was turning into one of the biggest upsets of the season.
“There was nothing else to say to those first five guys,” Gaudio said, “so I just let them sit and watch.”
A few minutes later, he put them back in ó and just as quickly, they took care of pesky Radford.
Jeff Teague scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half, and No. 6 Wake Forest shrugged off a slow start to beat the Highlanders 83-61 on Tuesday night.
Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu added 18 points and 10 rebounds and James Johnson had 12 points and 12 boards for the Demon Deacons (12-0).
After the mass benching, they closed the game by outscoring Radford 36-13 over the final 14 minutes and shooting nearly 53 percent in the second half. That helped them match the 2000-01 team, which opened with 12 straight wins, and dodge the Highlanders’ upset bid.
Arkansas 96, Oklahoma 88
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ó Michael Washington had 24 points and 11 rebounds, holding his own against Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, and Arkansas (10-1) handed the fourth-ranked Sooners (12-1) their first loss of the season, 96-88.
Illinois 71, No. 9 Purdue 67, OT
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ó Mike Tisdale scored 18 points for Illinois in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The Fighting Illini (13-1) has its seventh straight.
No. 13 Syracuse 100, Seton Hall 76
SYRACUSE, N.Y. ó Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins both hit three 3-pointers in a six-minute span to key a stirring first-half surge by Syracuse (13-1) in the Big East opener for both teams
No. 20 Clemson 98, S. Carolina 87
COLUMBIA, S.C. ó Terrence Oglesby had six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 25 points and Clemson improved to 13-0 for the second time in three seasons.
Devan Downey had a career-high 37 points for the Gamecocks, who have lost five straight to their instate rival.
No. 25 Butler 72, UAB 68
INDIANAPOLIS ó Freshman Shelvin Mack made five 3-pointers in the first seven minutes of the second half and matched his career high of 22 points for Butler, which trailed by 11 points at halftime.
OTHERS
COLLEGE PARK, Md. ó A couple of weeks from now, when Maryland delves into the ACC portion of its schedule, the Terrapins might draw upon their performance against Elon to pull out a victory. Maryland went up by 17 in the second half, then let Elon back in the game before using a 21-2 blitz to cement a 76-50 win.
Ga. Tech 63, Tennessee State 58
ATLANTA ó Zachery Peacock scored a season-high 22 points and Gani Lawal had a career-best 16 rebounds as Georgia Tech overcame 21 turnovers to beat Tennessee State 63-58.
App. State 112, Milligan 47
BOONE ó Ryann Abraham and Donald Sims scored 17 points apiece to lead Appalachian State to a 112-47 rout of Milligan and a school record for margin of victory.
The Mountaineers (5-4), who jumped out to a 61-19 halftime lead, set a Holmes Center record for points, eclipsing the previous mark of 109.