No. 12 Gonzaga Upsets No. 3 Oklahoma St.

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Posted 5:41AM on Wednesday, December 29, 2004

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - J.P. Batista was nearly perfect, and Gonzaga remained undefeated against third-ranked teams this season. With leading scorer Ronny Turiaf hampered by an ankle injury and foul trouble, Batista came off the bench and shot 8-of-9 from the floor for a career-high 18 points to help No. 12 Gonzaga beat No. 3 Oklahoma State 78-75 on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. It was the Bulldogs' second upset of a third-ranked team this season. Gonzaga (10-1) beat then-No. 3 Georgia Tech 85-73 on Dec. 18. Turiaf, who averaged 20 points per contest coming in, had 10 points in only 18 minutes as a reserve. Even without the full services of their top player, the Bulldogs held off Oklahoma State down the stretch before a raucous crowd. "In lieu of all the adversity we had tonight, it's up there with any regular-season win we've ever had," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. In other games involving ranked teams, it was: No. 4 North Carolina 96, North Carolina-Wilmington 75; No. 7 Syracuse 72, Albany 55; No. 9 Georgia Tech 92, Lafayette 58; No. 11 Connecticut 73, Sacred Heart 55; No. 14 Arizona 79, Eastern Washington 45; No. 16. Iowa 73, Air Force 63; No. 17 North Carolina State 94, Columbia 84; and No. 24 Maryland 112, Liberty 68. Batista, who had never scored more than 10 points in a game, hit his first eight shots to help Gonzaga build a 16-point lead. "I knew that Ronny was kind of doubtful for tonight and I had to prepare myself mentally to step up at the right times," Batista said. Oklahoma State (9-1) pushed its way back into the game with a 21-8 run that made it 65-62 with 9 1/2 minutes to play. After a 9-2 run by Gonzaga, the Cowboys drew to within a point twice but couldn't take the lead. Adam Morrison scored 19 for the Bulldogs. Reserve Stephen Graham scored 22 points to lead the Cowboys, and John Lucas III had 19. No. 4 North Carolina 96, N.C.-Wilmington 75 At Chapel Hill, N.C., Jawad Williams scored a season-high 25 points and Sean May added 16 for North Carolina, which made its first seven shots - including four 3-pointers - and led 19-3 after barely 5 1/2 minutes. Raymond Felton finished with 12 points and 10 assists as the Tar Heels (10-1) won their 10th straight. Ed Spencer had 19 points for N.C.-Wilmington (5-4), which played without leading scorer John Goldsberry. He injured his right shoulder in the previous game.