WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Thanks to Chris Paul and Taron Downey, Wake Forest made the most of its only regular season meeting with North Carolina.

Paul dominated his point guard matchup with Raymond Felton, Downey had a season-high 18 points and the fourth-ranked Demon Deacons ran away from the third-ranked Tar Heels 95-82 Saturday.

Wake Forest (15-1, 4-0) set an Atlantic Coast Conference record by making all 32 free throws – falling two short of tying the NCAA mark – with Paul finishing 9-for-9. The 6-foot sophomore finished with 24 points, eight assists and six rebounds to overshadow Felton, who shot only 5-for-18 and had 16 points.

But Downey gave his team an unexpected boost. A senior whose playing time decreased with the emergence of Paul, he came in averaging only 7.6 points. He beat that total by making three consecutive 3-pointers during a 90-second stretch of the first half to give the Deacons their first lead at 14-13, and the score was tied only once after that.

No. 1 Illinois 78, Northwestern 66

EVANSTON, Ill. – Luther Head scored a season-high 26 points and No. 1 Illinois beat Northwestern 78-66 on Saturday to improve to 18-0 – the best start in school history.

The Illini had tied the school’s 1988-89 Final Four team on Wednesday with their 17th straight win. Now, the record’s all theirs.

The 6-foot-3 Head used his great leaping ability to score from the inside, hit four 3-pointers and played hustling defense for the Illini, who finally pulled away in the latter stages of the second half against the scrappy Wildcats (8-8, 1-3 Big Ten).

No. 2 Kansas 76, Colorado 61

BOULDER, Colo. – Wayne Simien had 23 points and 17 rebounds and Keith Langford hit a handful of big shots Saturday to help No. 2 Kansas to a 76-61 victory over surprisingly persistent Colorado.

Playing with a soft cast on his broken left thumb, Simien was a force underneath, and his solid play helped the Jayhawks (13-0, 3-0 Big 12) to a 17-point lead in the first half.

No. 6 Oklahoma St. 83, Iowa St. 73

STILLWATER, Okla. – Joey Graham and Ivan McFarlin each scored 20 points and Eddie Sutton moved into seventh place in career coaching wins as No. 6 Oklahoma State held off Iowa State for an 83-73 victory Saturday.

Sutton won his 768th game to pass Henry Iba, his mentor who coached him during his 36 years at Oklahoma State. After the game, school officials announced they would name the court at Gallagher-Iba Arena after Sutton.

No. 7 Syracuse 75, Providence 71

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Josh Pace coughed up the ball against the Providence press on consecutive plays. Then he made sure his turnovers didn’t cost Syracuse the game.

Pace hit the final two baskets and the seventh-ranked Orange held on to beat Providence 75-71 on Saturday after the Friars took advantage of his mistakes to erase most of a 14-point deficit.

No. 10 Texas 63, Nebraska 53

LINCOLN, Neb. – Daniel Gibson scored all 12 of his points in the final 14:32, and No. 10 Texas overcame its second straight dismal shooting performance to beat Nebraska 63-53 on Saturday.

The Longhorns (13-3, 2-1 Big 12) bounced back from a 74-63 road loss to Texas A&M on Wednesday, but it came at a price.

Freshman forward LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 10 points and eight rebounds, was injured with 6:57 left and watched the rest of the game from the bench with ice on his left knee.

No. 11 Mississippi St. 80, Arkansas 55

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Lawrence Roberts had 17 points and 10 rebounds and No. 11 Mississippi State rebounded from a rare road loss with an 80-55 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.

Marcus Campbell had 15 points and Ontario Harper added 12 for the Bulldogs (15-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference), who held the Razorbacks almost 24 points below their average to win their third straight in the series and ninth straight at home.

No. 12 Connecticut 78, Rutgers 64

HARTFORD, Conn. – Josh Boone had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 12 Connecticut to a 78-64 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.

Charlie Villanueva had 14 points, tied his career-high with 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Huskies (10-3, 2-1 Big East), who outscored Rutgers 58-28 in the paint.

Freshman Rudy Gay added 14 points, six blocks and eight rebounds for Connecticut, which scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed. The Huskies built a 14-4 lead early as Rutgers missed its first nine shots.

No. 16 Gonzaga 86, Pepperdine 62

SPOKANE, Wash. – Adam Morrison scored 26 points to help No. 16 Gonzaga rout Pepperdine 86-62 on Saturday night in West Coast Conference play.

Ronny Turiaf added 19 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season, for Gonzaga (13-3, 3-1 WCC), and freshman David Pendergraft added 14 points.

Gonzaga has won six in a row against Pepperdine since 2000.

No. 17 Arizona 76, UCLA 73

TUCSON, Ariz. – Salim Stoudamire capped a 24-point second half with a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to give No. 17 Arizona a 76-73 victory over UCLA on Saturday, snapping the Bruins’ four-game Pac-10 winning streak.

The left-handed senior, who finished with 32 points, scored 24 of the Wildcats’ final 29 points.

After his 3-pointer from the top of the key put the Wildcats up, Arizona’s Hassan Adams stole a UCLA pass and was fouled. Arizona was called for a technical foul, though, when two players rushed the court in celebration with 1.2 seconds left.

No. 19 Louisville 69, No. 18 Cincinnati 66

CINCINNATI – Larry O’Bannon got open under the basket for an uncontested reverse layup with 11 seconds to play, completing No. 19 Louisville’s furious comeback for a 69-66 victory over No. 18 Cincinnati on Saturday.

The Cardinals (14-3, 3-1 Conference USA) got shoved around and trailed by 17 points in the first half, rattled by Cincinnati’s unrelenting man-to-man coverage. Louisville asserted itself inside in the second half, and Taquan Dean found his mark from behind the arc.

No. 20 Pittsburgh 67, Seton Hall 63

PITTSBURGH – Chevon Troutman had 23 points as Pittsburgh survived a game of runs Saturday and beat Seton Hall 67-63, handing the Pirates’ their third straight loss.

The Panthers closed the game on an 11-3 run after making only one field goal for a stretch of almost 9 minutes. From the 13:39 mark of the second half until there was 4:45 to play, Seton Hall outscored Pitt 24-3, including a 15-0 run at one point.

Massachusetts 76, No. 21 George Wash. 74

WASHINGTON – With less than a second to play in overtime, Rashaun Freeman caught Anthony Anderson’s pass and laid it in the basket in one motion, giving Massachusetts a 76-74 victory over No. 21 George Washington on Saturday.

Freeman finished with season-highs of 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Minutemen (8-6, 2-2 Atlantic 10), who made it 2-0 this season against ranked opponents this season. They defeated Connecticut at home last month.

No. 24 Iowa 66, Minnesota 60

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Pierre Pierce scored 18 points and No. 24 Iowa beat Minnesota 66-60 on Saturday despite going the final 10:45 without a field goal.

On a day the school’s 1980 Final Four team was honored, the Hawkeyes (13-3, 1-2 Big Ten) righted themselves after going through long stretches of sloppy play in their first two conference games and ended Minnesota’s 10-game winning streak.

And while they hardly looked like a Final Four contender, the effort was good enough to beat a Minnesota team that couldn’t shoot straight.

The Gophers (12-4, 2-1) shot just 29 percent (9-for-31) in the first half and 33 percent for the game. They started poorly in both halves.

No. 25 Oklahoma 65, Baylor 61

WACO, Texas – Drew Lavender scored a season-high 20 points, including a 3-pointer and two free throws in the final 45 seconds, to lead No. 25 Oklahoma to a 65-61 victory over Baylor on Saturday night.

The surging Sooners (13-2, 2-0 Big 12) won their seventh straight game overall, and 21st in a row against Baylor.

But this game certainly wasn’t as easy as the ones in the past.