Alabi’s career night sparks Seminole rout
Solomon Alabi scored 16 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked six shots – all career highs – as Florida State routed Charleston Southern 71-48 Thursday night.
The Seminoles (11-1) outscored the Buccaneers 46-16 in the paint behind the dominant play of the 7-foot-1 Alabi and 6-11 fellow freshman Xavier Gibson, who finished with a career-high 11 points.
Jamarco Warren led Charleston Southern (5-5) with a game-high 21 points, but the Buccaneers managed just seven second-half field goals.
On the heels of its most lopsided victory of the season, Florida State has equaled its best 12-game start in program history heading into Sunday’s home game against No. 3 Pittsburgh.
Florida State led 36-26 at halftime and quickly extended its lead by attacking the basket. The Seminoles opened the second half with a 11-3 run to seize control.
North Florida 77, Furman 66: Eni Cuka scored 27 points to lead North Florida to its first victory of the season, a win over Furman.
Cortez Riley and Stan Januska each scored 15 for the Ospreys (1-8). North Florida shot 56.1 percent from the field (23-for-41), and 81.8 percent from the free-throw line (27-for-33).
The Paladins (1-7) were led by Jordan Miller, who finished with 26. Alex Opacic chipped in with 14.
North Carolina 91, Evansville 73: Top-ranked North Carolina waited for Tyler Hansbrough to make history, then cruised to its latest lopsided victory.
Hansbrough scored 20 points Thursday night to break the storied program’s career scoring record and help the Tar Heels remain unbeaten with a victory over Evansville.
The reigning national player of the year finished 7-for-14 from the field and had nine rebounds for North Carolina (10-0), which shook off a slow start and stretched the lead to double figures shortly after Hansbrough passed Phil Ford for the record midway through the first half. Ford, now an assistant coach to fellow Tar Heel alumnus Larry Brown with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, finished his career in 1978 with 2,290 points.
Troy 94, Florida Atlantic 87: Travis Lee and Michael Vogler scored 15 points apiece as Troy held off Florida Atlantic.
Paul Graham III, Carlos Monroe and Carderro Nowoji combined for 74 of Florida Atlantic’s points, with Graham scoring 28 and the other two players tallying 23 apiece.
Troy (4-6, 1-1 Sun Belt Conference) took a 46-41 lead into halftime, but the Owls pulled ahead 61-58 on one of Nwoji’s five three-pointers with 15:22 left. The Trojans regained the advantage at 65-63, then led by as many as 12 while holding the Owls scoreless from 14:09 to 8:49.
Cincinnati 75, Mississippi State 63: Deonta Vaughn led a crushing first-half run, and Cincinnati had one of its best days from behind the three-point arc, setting up a victory over Mississippi State in the first of two games matching Big East and Southeastern Conference teams.
Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury made the trip despite being hospitalized earlier in the week for a viral infection. He had a look of anguish on his face as the Bulldogs got shredded in the first half. Cincinnati (8-2) made a season-high 12 three-pointers, nine of them in the first half.