COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Josh Howard sat in front of his locker, sobbing with his head buried in a towel. Playing with a painful sprained left ankle, Howard had 18 points and 15 rebounds in 25 gritty minutes for No.20 Wake Forest on Sunday. But the junior forward also made a mistake that will haunt him.

        Juan Dixon made a technical foul shot with 1.3 seconds left after Howard called a timeout the Demon Deacons didn't have, giving No.2 Maryland a 90-89 comeback victory.

        Lonny Baxter scored 25 points and Dixon added 20 for the Terrapins (13-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). Maryland fell behind midway through the first half, trailed by 12 shortly after halftime and finally regained the lead in the final two minutes.

        “We were very fortunate to win that game,” Terrapins coach Gary Williams said.

        Howard's mistake was the same as Michigan's Chris Webber made in the 1993 NCAA championship game against North Carolina.

        “It was instinct. I could make a million excuses, but I just messed up,” Howard said. “A lot of people have done it. I'm just one of them. The worst thing is that I let down my team.”

        WAKE FOREST (18-10) — Lepore 3-6 0-0 8, Scott 1-2 2-2 4, Songaila 7-11 6-6 20, Downey 2-5 0-0 4, Dawson 10-13 0-1 27, Hicks 1-10 0-1 2, Howard 8-16 2-5 18, Danelius 2-8 2-2 6. Totals 34-71 12-17 89.

        MARYLAND (23-3) — Mouton 6-12 5-7 19, Wilcox 6-7 1-4 13, Baxter 11-13 3-5 25, Dixon 6-16 6-7 20, Blake 4-11 0-0 8, Nicholas 0-3 0-0 0, Randle 1-1 0-0 2, Holden 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 35-64 15-23 90.

        Halftime—Wake Forest 56-46. 3-Point goals—Wake Forest 9-25 (Dawson 7-9, Lepore 2-5, Downey 0-2, Hicks 0-4, Howard 0-5), Maryland 5-24 (Mouton 2-6, Dixon 2-9, Holden 1-1, Nicholas 0-3, Blake 0-5). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Wake Forest 39 (Howard 15), Maryland 39 (Wilcox 9). Assists—Wake Forest 15 (Songaila 6), Maryland 27 (Blake 13). Technicals—Wilcox, Howard. Total fouls—Wake Forest 18, Maryland 16. A—14,500.

No. 1 Kansas 88, Nebraska 87

               LINCOLN, Neb. — Freshman Keith Langford hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left and Kansas rallied to beat Nebraska and clinch the Big 12 regular season title for the first time in four years.

        The Jayhawks (14-0) won their 12th straight game despite trailing for nearly all of the final 15 minutes.

        “If you're going to be a really good team, you've got to withstand a lot of things,” Kansas coach Roy Williams said. “When you're down 12 on the opponent's court and the crowd's going crazy, you can't give in.”

        Kansas can become the first Big 12 team to go unbeaten in conference play with wins next week against Kansas State and Missouri.

        KANSAS (25-2) — Gooden 11-22 4-4 26, Collison 4-8 0-0 8, Hinrich 5-7 3-4 14, Miles 3-8 6-6 12, Boschee 4-12 3-4 14, Ballard 1-2 0-0 2, Langford 3-5 0-3 7, Nash 0-0 0-0 0, Carey 1-2 0-1 2, Simien 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 33-68 17-24 88.

        NEBRASKA (12-13) — Conklin 5-10 0-0 14, Turek 3-6 1-7 7, Robinson 7-21 2-3 22, Cochran 6-12 4-4 22, Muhleisen 5-14 3-4 13, Thomas 0-1 2-2 2, Simms 0-2 0-0 0, Buckendahl 0-0 0-0 0, Clemmons 2-5 1-2 7, Heimos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-71 13-22 87.

        Halftime—Kansas 41, Nebraska 41. 3-Point goals— Kansas 5-12 (Boschee 3-8, Hinrich 1-1, Langford 1-1, Miles 0-1, Ballard 0-1), Nebraska 18-37 (Robinson 6-11, Cochran 6-12, Conklin 4-6, Clemmons 2-3, Muhleisen 0-5). Fouled out—Hinrich. Rebounds—Kansas 49 (Gooden 14), Nebraska 40 (Turek 12). Assists—Kansas 20 (Miles 6), Nebraska 21 (Robinson 6). A—14,005.

No. 3 Duke 97, St. John's 55

               DURHAM, N.C. — Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer each had 12 points in Duke's 35-1 run to close the first half and the third-ranked Blue Devils handed St. John's its worst loss.

        Duke (25-2) missed eight of its first 10 shots to fall behind 20-13 midway through the first half, but scored 26 straight points and allowed just one free throw over the final 13 minutes to take a 48-21 halftime lead.

        Williams had one assist and is one short of becoming the third ACC player to reach 1,800 points and 600 assists in a career. North Carolina's Phil Ford and Travis Best of Georgia Tech were the others.

        ST. JOHN'S (18-9) — Glover 1-5 0-2 2, King 8-16 0-0 16, Emanuel 2-12 0-0 6, Hatten 4-15 4-6 14, Stanley 3-4 1-3 7, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Fordham 0-1 0-2 0, Scheiman 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 2-3 0-0 6, Cuffe 2-4 0-1 4, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 5-14 55.

        DUKE (25-2) — Jones 9-13 1-1 19, Dunleavy 2-9 2-2 6, Boozer 8-12 4-6 20, Duhon 3-8 1-1 7, Williams 10-17 3-4 26, Horvath 1-3 1-3 3, Ewing 2-4 0-0 5, Means 1-1 0-0 3, Buckner 1-2 0-0 2, Sanders 1-1 0-0 2, Christensen 1-2 0-0 2, Love 0-1 0-0 0, Causey 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 40-74 12-17 97.

        Halftime—Duke 48-21. 3-Point goals—St. John's 6-19 (Shaw 2-3, Hatten 2-6, Emanuel 2-9, Cuffe 0-1), Duke 5-18 (Williams 3-7, Means 1-1, Ewing 1-2, Jones 0-1, Horvath 0-1, Buckner 0-1, Dunleavy 0-2, Duhon 0-3). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—St. John's 35 (King 7), Duke 48 (Boozer 11). Assists—St. John's 11 (Hatten 6), Duke 16 (Duhon 7). Duke 20. A—9,314.

Michigan St 57, No. 23 Indiana 54
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Marcus Taylor scored 16 points, including eight over the final 3:21, and had eight assists for MSU.
               The Spartans (8-6 Big Ten) kept themselves in position for an NCAA tournament bid with their eighth win in the last 11 games and by improving their record against ranked teams to 5-5.

        The Hoosiers (10-4) can still win their first Big Ten title since 1993, but are tied with Ohio State.

        INDIANA (18-9) — Jeffries 5-13 1-2 11, Hornsby 2-8 0-0 6, Odle 2-6 0-0 4, Coverdale 4-10 1-2 11, Fife 4-7 0-0 10, Moye 0-1 2-4 2, Leach 0-1 0-0 0, Perry 1-1 0-0 2, Newton 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 22-54 4-8 54.

        MICHIGAN STATE (17-10) — Anagonye 3-9 1-2 7, Ballinger 5-8 1-2 13, Taylor 5-12 5-7 16, Hill 4-9 1-1 11, Anderson 3-7 2-2 8, Torbert 1-8 0-0 2, Bograkos 0-0 0-0 0, Andreas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 10-14 57.

        Halftime—Indiana 32-25. 3-point goals—Indiana 6-18 (Hornsby 2-3, Fife 2-3, Coverdale 2-8, Moye 0-1, Odle 0-1, Jeffries 0-2), Michigan State 5-9 (Ballinger 2-3, Hill 2-4, Taylor 1-2). Rebounds—Indiana 34 (Jeffries 10), Michigan State 37 (Anagonye, Ballinger, Anderson 7). Assists—Indiana 10 (Jeffries, Odle, Coverdale, Fife 2), Michigan State 13 (Taylor 8). Total fouls—Indiana 18, Michigan State 15. A—14,759.

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