North Carolina Holds Off What’s Left of Clemson, 88-79

North Carolina spent the last 70 seconds on the power play, which is something at least one of the Tar Heels didn’t know was possible.

For Clemson, finishing its 88-79 loss to the No. 2 Tar Heels down a man was nothing more than a bizarre way to end one of the odder games in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

The Tigers (12-8, 3-5) committed an ACC-record 41 fouls Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C., and six of their players were disqualified, leaving Coach Rick Barnes confused and with little choice but to play the final 1:10 with only four players.

North Carolina (21-1, 7-1) made its last 15 free throws.

“The thing that has me baffled is I don’t know what we did different,” Barnes said. “I don’t understand it. I really don’t.”

North Carolina’s Vince Carter didn’t understand it either.

“I have never witnessed it, never been in a game like this. I didn’t even know that was possible. I didn’t know you could play four against five,” he said.

The Tigers committed 21 fouls in the first half and Barnes was called for a technical foul for arguing as the final foul was called at the halftime buzzer.

Barnes and North Carolina forward Ademola Okulaja exchanged heated words in a rivalry that has grown ugly at times since Barnes and former North Carolina coach Dean Smith went toe-to-toe at midcourt at the ACC tournament.

No. 5 Kansas 94, Baylor 47--Raef LaFrentz scored 21 points in his second game back after sitting out nine games because of a broken finger and Billy Thomas had 18 points for the Jayhawks (23-3, 7-1 in the Big 12), who turned up their defense and won for the 57th time in a row at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas went into a trapping defense halfway through the first half and forced Baylor (10-8, 5-3) into turnovers on eight consecutive possessions during a 21-2 run.

Georgia 70, No. 12 Mississippi 68--Reserve Larry Brown, a tight end on the Bulldogs’ football team, scored eight of his 14 points in the second half--including five in a row in a late surge--to lead the win at Athens, Ga.

Georgia (10-9, 2-5 in the Southeastern Conference) had lost its first five SEC games before beating Louisiana State on Saturday and then upending the Rebels (14-3, 5-2).

No. 13 South Carolina 74, Florida 72--Freshman Antonio Grant scored the last two of his personal-best 14 points on a tip-in with less than a second to go to give the Gamecocks (15-3, 6-2 in SEC) a win over the Gators (10-7, 3-4) at Columbia, S.C.

No. 15 Arkansas 85, Louisiana State 68--Pat Bradley was 11 for 18 from the field, including four of eight from three-point range, for the Razorbacks (17-3, 6-1 in SEC), scoring 26 points to lead them to a win over the Tigers (9-9, 2-6) at Baton Rouge, La.

Penn State 67, No. 16 Iowa 65--Joe Crispin had 23 points for the Nittany Lions (10-7, 4-3 in Big Ten), who won at home and dealt the Hawkeyes (15-5, 4-3) their third loss in a row.

No. 17 West Virginia 76, Pittsburgh 72--Jarrod West’s three-point basket with 2:46 to play put the Mountaineers (18-3, 8-3 in the Big East) ahead to stay, and Adrian Pledger’s two free throws finished off the Panthers (7-8, 2-6) at Pittsburgh.

No. 22 Michigan State 84, No. 25 Indiana 66--Charlie Bell had 17 points to lead five double-figures scorers for the Spartans (14-4, 7-1 in Big Ten), who stayed atop the league standings with a win over the Hoosiers (14-6, 5-3) at East Lansing, Mich.

OTHER GAMES

Tony Stanley made six of 11 three-point shots and scored 26 points to lead Dayton (14-6, 5-2 in Atlantic 10) to a 67-62 win over Temple (12-5, 5-2) at Dayton, Ohio. . . . Felipe Lopez had 24 points for St. John’s (16-6, 8-3 in Big East), which won its seventh in a row, a 76-58 victory over Rutgers (8-10, 2-8) in New York.