North Carolina beats Wake Forest

North Carolina handled young Wake Forest with a steady showing that put the third-ranked Tar Heels atop the Atlantic Coast Conference. Now they get to rest.

Tyler Hansbrough had 29 points to continue his late-season surge while Wayne Ellington added 17 in the Tar Heels' 89-73 win over Wake Forest on Sunday night, helping them pull a half-game ahead of Duke.

Danny Green had 15 points for the Tar Heels (26-2, 11-2), who shot 56 percent to win their fourth straight in the series. It was a good, though unflashy, way to head into a nearly weeklong break before Saturday's trip to Boston College.

"It'll give us time to work on a lot of things that Coach is really stressing," Hansbrough said, "and also it'll help a lot of guys get healthy."

Most notably, point guard Ty Lawson, who has been out since spraining his left ankle Feb. 3 early in an overtime win at Florida State. Also, forward Deon Thompson (left knee) and swingman Marcus Ginyard (left big toe, right ankle) are playing through nagging injuries.

In other Top 25 games Sunday, it was No. 9 Stanford 79, California 69; No. 10 Xavier 57, Dayton 51; No. 11 Wisconsin 58, Ohio State 53; No. 18 Louisville 75, Pittsburgh 73; and No. 21 Notre Dame 94, Syracuse 87.

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said he doesn't know whether Lawson will play against BC. Thompson was limited to 14 ineffective minutes against the Demon Deacons (16-9, 6-6).

At least North Carolina had Hansbrough, who went 9-for-13 from the field and 11-for-14 from the line. It was his seventh straight game with at least 22 points, a streak that began when the Tar Heels lost Lawson. Hansbrough is averaging 28 points and 12.1 rebounds during that stretch.

Ellington hit three 3-pointers, the biggest just before halftime when he took a high inbound pass from Green and knocked down a contested 3 from the far left corner in front of the Wake Forest bench. That gave North Carolina a 50-41 lead at the break.

The Tar Heels kept attacking the Demon Deacons to get them in foul trouble. Wake Forest was whistled for six fouls in the first 4 minutes, while 7-foot center Chas McFarland — matched up with Hansbrough early — picked up his fourth foul 48 seconds into the second half.

North Carolina took advantage, hitting 26 of 34 free throws.

"It's not just the guys in the striped shirts because we're going to throw the ball inside, we're going to attack the basket, we're going to get fouled and we're going to put the other team in position to be in foul trouble," Williams said. "We have with every team I've ever coached and every team I ever will."

James Johnson scored 22 for the Demon Deacons, who were within two points late in the first half before the Tar Heels steadily pulled away.

"When you're preparing for these guys there's so much to prepare for," Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said. "You've got to get back on defense. They're the leading rebounding team in the league. Tyler's a handful inside. ... You have to do a lot of things well to beat them."

No. 9 Stanford 79, California 69

At Stanford, Calif., Anthony Goods scored 20 points and Brook Lopez added 15 to keep the Cardinal (22-4, 11-3) in the race for the Pac-10 title with their ninth win in 10 games. Robin Lopez and Mitch Johnson had 11 points apiece.

Ryan Anderson and Patrick Christopher had 15 points each for Cal (15-10, 6-8).

No. 10 Xavier 57, Dayton 51

At Dayton, Ohio, Josh Duncan scored 14 points, Drew Lavender made four free throws in the final 35 seconds and Xavier (24-4, 12-1) held on for its 10th straight win and ensured at least a share of the Atlantic 10 championship.

Brian Roberts led Dayton (17-9, 5-8) with 15 points.

No. 11 Wisconsin 58, Ohio St. 53

At Columbus, Ohio, Jason Bohannon came off the bench to score 16 points and Wisconsin (23-4, 13-2) remained a half-game ahead of Purdue and Indiana for the Big Ten lead.

Michael Flowers had 14 points and Marcus Landry 10 for the Badgers.

Jamar Butler led the Buckeyes (17-10, 8-6) with 14 points and Kosta Koufos had 10.

No. 18 Louisville 75, Pittsburgh 73

At Pittsburgh, David Padgett made three free throws in the final 32.1 seconds and Louisville (22-6, 12-3) moved back into a first-place tie in the Big East, holding on to beat Pittsburgh for its seventh consecutive victory.

Padgett finished with 21 points and reserve Edgar Sosa scored 18 for Louisville.

Sam Young and DeJuan Blair scored 20 points each for Pitt (19-8, 7-7).

No. 21 Notre Dame 94, Syracuse 87

At South Bend, Ind., Kyle McAlarney made a school-record nine 3-pointers to finish with 30 points and Notre Dame won its 36th straight home game, two shy of the school record.

Rob Kurz added 15 for the Irish (21-5, 11-3), and Tory Jackson and Ryan Ayers had 10 each.

Paul Harris led Syracuse (17-11, 7-8) with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Arinze Onuaku had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Jonny Flynn added 17 points and Kristof Ongenaet had 11.