Top 25 roundup: North Carolina wins fourth straight

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Forward Brice Johnson scored 19 points, and No. 15 North Carolina pulled away in the second half to defeat Wake Forest 87-71 Wednesday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

The Tar Heels (15-4, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their fourth game in a row as forward Justin Jackson had 17 points, forward Kennedy Meeks chipped in 16 points and guard Marcus Paige tallied 12 points.

Guard Codi Miller-McIntyre’s 20 points and forward Devin Thomas’ 12 points paced Wake Forest, which hadn’t played since Jan. 13. Guard Mitchell Wilbekin and forward Dinos Mitoglou had 10 points apiece.

North Carolina shot 60.3 percent from the field, while the Demon Deacons (9-10, 1-5) shot 40 percent.

The Tar Heels are 3-0 in ACC road outings for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

North Carolina led by just six points early in the second half, but opened up a 14-point lead with 10-2 run.

Utah 86, Washington State 64

SALT LAKE CITY – Guard Brandon Taylor scored 18 points and dished out seven assists while guard Delon Wright added 17 points and eight assists to lift 12th-ranked Utah to a Pac-12 win.

Forward Jordan Loveridge added 12 points for the Utes (15-3, 5-1 Pac-12), who won their 14th straight home game dating back to last season. Utah has won all four of its Pac-12 home contests by an average margin of 25.8 points.

DaVonte Lacy scored 15 points while Josh Hawkinson added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (9-9, 3-3 Pac-12), which won two straight Pac-12 road contests before falling to Utah.

Utah forced Washington State to commit 17 turnovers and scored 21 points off those miscues.

Wichita State 76, Missouri State 53

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Three-point shots and offensive rebounds helped No. 14 Wichita State blow open a close game and win its 25th straight Missouri Valley Conference game.

Guard Ron Baker and forward Rashard Kelly combined for three of the Shockers’ 10 3-pointers during a 95-second span of the second half. Baker, guard Tekele Cotton and point guard Fred VanVleet each scored 15 points for Wichita State (17-2, 7-0).

The Shockers canned 11 of 21 3-pointers, the sixth time this season they’ve hit 10 or more in a game. They also hauled in 17 offensive boards, outrebounding the Bears 40-24.

Guard Dorrian Williams and forward Chris Kendrix had 10 points each for Missouri State (8-11, 2-5), which lost its fourth straight.

Baylor 81, Huston-Tillotson 61

WACO, Texas — The 21st-ranked Baylor Bears took a little while to find their rhythm, but eventually shook off NAIA foe Huston-Tillotson.

Baylor (14-4) mounted a 23-5 run that spanned the late stages of the first half and the early part of the second to take control.

Huston-Tillotson had no answer for Baylor forward Rico Gathers, who finished with a career-high 25 points and a school- and Big 12-record 28 rebounds.

Shai Fields led Huston-Tillotson with 27 points and he helped Huston-Tillotson open up a nine-point lead in the early going. Baylor led by just one point at halftime.

Northern Iowa 66, Indiana State 60

Guard Matt Bohannon used 5-for-8 shooting on 3-point shots to score 17 points and help 20th-ranked Northern Iowa hold off Indiana State in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The Panthers (17-2, 6-1 Missouri Valley Conference) led by 12 points midway through the first half, but Indiana State (9-10, 5-2) jumped ahead by a point when guard Justin Gant, who scored 13 points, hit a layup with 6:42 remaining in the game.

Guard Jeremy Morgan put Northern Iowa back on top with two free throws with 4:35 remaining and held off the Sycamores from there.

Forward Seth Tuttle had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Panthers.