WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hank Thorns screamed in jubilation as he came off a hostile court proudly holding out his Virginia Tech jersey. A hundred or so fans hung around the visitors' tunnel to chant coach Seth Greenberg's name.

Whoop it up, Hokies. You just knocked off No. 1 — again.

Malcolm Delaney scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held on to upset top-ranked Wake Forest, 78-71, last night for its second victory over a No. 1 team in three seasons.

The Hokies beat then-No. 1 North Carolina two seasons ago in Blacksburg, Va.

"Just coming onto their home court and doing it — that makes it feel a little more special," A.D. Vassallo said.

Vassallo and Jeff Allen added 16 points apiece for the Hokies (12-6, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who made all the big shots while lighting up the league's best defense — shooting 50 percent against a Wake Forest team that was allowing teams to shoot just 36 percent. None of the Demon Deacons' first 16 opponents shot better than 47 percent.

"We spread them out. We had a lot of movement. Coach told us that if we moved them, we'd get the shots that we want," Delaney said.

Jeff Teague scored 23 points and James Johnson added 18 points before fouling out with 1:17 remaining for Wake Forest (16-1, 3-1).

No. 3 Connecticut 89, No. 20 Villanova 83: A.J. Price scored 29 points and the Huskies (17-1, 6-1 Big East) used a 10-0 run to go up 66-59 with 13:24 remaining and the Wildcats (14-4, 2-3) got no closer than four points thereafter at Hartford, Conn.

No. 5 North Carolina 94, No. 10 Clemson 70: Wayne Ellington scored 25 points, Tyler Hansbrough added 20 points, and the Tar Heels (17-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled away in the second half to beat the Tigers (16-2, 2-2) for the 54th straight time at Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 6 Oklahoma 72, Nebraska 61: Blake Griffin had 27 points and 18 rebounds, and Austin Johnson hit a 3-pointer with 6:36 remaining to break a 53-all tie and trigger an 11-2 run as the Sooners (18-1, 4-0 Big 12) turned back the Cornhuskers (12-5, 2-2) at Norman, Okla.

Northwestern 70, No. 7 Michigan State 63: Kevin Coble scored 31 points and the Wildcats (10-6, 2-4 Big Ten) made eight free throws in the final 1:24 to end the Spartans' (15-3, 5-1) 28-game home-court winning streak at East Lansing, Mich.

No. 9 Louisville 78, Rutgers 59: Terrence Williams had 23 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and the visiting Cardinals (14-3, 5-0), trailing 7-5, scored the next 23 points and never looked back in coasting past the Scarlet Knights (9-10, 0-6) at Piscataway, N.J.

No. 15 Xavier 84, St. Bonaventure 64: C.J. Anderson scored 15 points and the visiting Musketeers (16-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10) finished the first half with an 18-2 run for a 41-22 lead in rolling past the Bonnies (11-7, 2-3) at Olean, N.J.

No. 17 Arizona State 53, Arizona 47: James Harden scored 21 points, Derek Glasser added 13, including four free throws in the final 11 seconds, to help the visiting Sun Devils (16-3, 5-2 Pac-10) beat the Wildcats (11-8, 2-5) to win consecutive games at McKale Center for the first time in 25 years.

No. 22 Memphis 80, Rice 52: Robert Dozier had 13 points and nine rebounds, Doneal Mack added 14 points, and the Tigers (15-3, 5-0 Conference USA) never trailed in beating the Owls (6-12, 1-3) at Memphis, Tenn., for their 47th straight conference victory.

South Carolina 70, No. 24 Florida 69: Zam Fredrick's layup as time expired capped a 10-2 game-ending rally as the host Gamecocks (13-4, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) ended the Gators' (16-3, 3-1) 10-game winning streak with the upset at Columbia, S.C.

RANKED WOMEN

No. 3 Oklahoma 72, Colorado 58: Courtney Paris had 19 points and 14 rebounds, her 109th consecutive double-double, and the visiting Sooners (15-2, 4-0 Big 12) opened the second half with a 17-0 run for a 45-28 lead in beating the Buffaloes (8-8, 0-4) at Boulder, Colo.

No. 5 Baylor 64, No. 9 Texas A&M 61: Danielle Wilson's 3-point play with 4.8 seconds left lifted the visiting Lady Bears (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) over the Aggies (14-3, 2-2) at College Station, Texas for their 10th straight win.

No. 16 Virginia 75, Virginia Tech 69: Lyndra Littles scored 28 points and hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to help the visiting Cavaliers (15-3, 22-1 ACC) hold off the Hokies (8-10, 0-5) at Blacksburg, Va.

No. 18 Kansas State 60, Texas Tech 48: Shalee Lehning had 16 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Wildcats 16-1, 3-1 Big 12) over the Lady Raiders (11-6, 2-2) at Lubbock, Texas.

San Diego State 57, No. 23 New Mexico 52: Jene Morris had a steal and a fast-break layup with 30 seconds remaining to help the Aztecs (12-4, 3-1 Mountain West Conference) hold off the Lobos (14-3, 3-1) at Albuquerque, N.M.