ATLANTA (AP) — Thijs De Ridder scored 22 points, Malik Thomas added 17 and No. 14 Virginia won its seventh straight game and eighth in a row on the road, beating Georgia Tech 94-68 on Wednesday night. The Cavaliers (23-3, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) raced to a 42-9 lead in the opening 13:24. Virginia’s 59-27 advantage at the half was its largest in an ACC game since February 2001. Jaeden Mustaf led Georgia Tech (11-16, 2-12) with 18 points. Baye Ndongo had 13 points and eight rebounds. The Yellow Jackets have lost eight straight. Virginia was 36 of 79 from the field and 14 of 37 from 3-point range. Georgia Tech was 24 of 64 from the field and 4 of 19 on 3s.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Wake Forest beats Clemson 85-77 as it jumps out early and never lets the Tigers catch up. On Wednesday night, the Demon Deacons race to a big first-half lead and go into halftime up 45-32. Clemson makes a quick push after the break and briefly cuts it to five. Wake Forest responds and keeps control the rest of the way. Juke Harris leads Wake Forest with 20 points. Sebastian Akins scores 16. Myles Colvin hits four threes and scores all 14 in the first half. Jake Wahlin leads Clemson with 17 points.
UNDATED (AP) — Frustrated coaches in men's and women's college basketball haven't been holding back in publicly criticizing their teams in recent weeks. That notably includes Vic Schaefer of the fourth-ranked Texas women and now-fired Kansas State men's coach Jerome Tang. Schaefer had said his team had “no heart” after a recent loss at No. 5 Vanderbilt. But he praised the team's response in a win against Tennessee days later. It’s a delicate dance for coaches in finding the balance between tough-love motivation and a softer-touch inspiration. Florida State men's coach Luke Loucks said coaches have to “find ways to squeeze the orange."
UNDATED (AP) — Louisville freshman Mikel Brown Jr. is The Associated Press men's college basketball national player of the week. That comes after the 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard had two huge scoring performances in wins against N.C. State and Baylor. Brown went for an ACC single-game freshman-record 45 points with 10 3-pointers in a rout of the Wolfpack. He followed with 29 points in a win against Baylor. He also had eight steals in the two games. Wisconsin's Nick Boyd was runner-up after two big performances in back-to-back wins against top-10 teams Illinois and Michigan State.
UNDATED (AP) — The Associated Press national player of the week in women’s basketball for Week 15 is TCU's Olivia Miles. The graduate guard led No. 12 TCU to a pair of wins over top-20 teams last week, with victories over Baylor and West Virginia. Olivia Olson of No. 6 Michigan was the runner-up. The sophomore guard averaged 22 points, eight rebounds and 5.5 assists in a pair of wins while shooting 55% from the field and 92% from the free-throw line. Olivia Olson of No. 6 Michigan was the runner-up.
