Hughes, Badgers produce
Wisconsin anticipated an up-and-down season from sophomore Trevon Hughes, an expectation that has held true.
The 13th-ranked and well-rounded Badgers are a difficult team to beat when their still-developing point guard is playing well. Hughes showed that Sunday with 20 points and 6 steals in a 63-47 victory over host Minnesota.
Marcus Landry and Brian Butch both added 11 points for the Badgers (18-3, 8-1 Big Ten), who controlled the game from the start.
They led 39-23 at halftime and survived an ugly second half in which the Gophers (13-7, 3-5) came no closer than 14 points.
"Defense is what gets us started," Hughes said. "If our shots aren't falling down, you can always go back and play good defense. You never hear anyone say, 'Ah, my defense wasn't falling down today.' You never hear it."
The Badgers came into the weekend allowing an average of 54.5 points per game, the second-fewest in Division I. They held No. 11 Indiana to a season-low 49 points on Thursday, and this was the worst offensive production of the season for Minnesota.
The Badgers stayed in step with Purdue for first place in the conference by beating the Gophers for the 12th time in their last 13 meetings.
"Our main thing is we have to stay cool and calm," Butch said.
Lawrence Westbrook led the Gophers with 11 points, and Damian Johnson had 10 points and 5 blocks.
North Carolina 84, Florida St. 73 (OT):ŒTyler Hansbrough had 22 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, and No. 4 North Carolina beat host Florida State in overtime.
Florida State's Ryan Reid hit a desperation shot from the corner -- the first 3-point attempt of his career -- with 8.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 67-67. North Carolina failed to get off a shot before the buzzer.
But Hansbrough, who was held without a field goal for the first 30 minutes of the game, had 8 points and 5 rebounds in the overtime. Danny Green added 19 points for North Carolina (21-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Jason Rich had 22 points for the Seminoles (13-10, 2-6).