Last week in practice with Washington's scout team, Brandon Roy was pretending to be North Carolina State's Julius Hodge.
On Sunday, Roy defended Hodge on the decisive play, and got just enough of his finger on Hodge's final shot to help the Huskies win.
Will Conroy and Tre Simmons each scored 12 points, and Roy returned earlier than expected from arthroscopic knee surgery to add 10 points, leading No. 18 Washington to a 68-64 victory over No. 12 North Carolina State.
"This was obviously a huge game for us going in," Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said. "It was an even bigger game the way we won it. We didn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter and we didn't make foul shots, but we found a way to win."
It didn't hurt Washington (8-1) that Roy was back in uniform.
The Huskies led 66-64, and the clock was ticking down the final seconds when Hodge went up for a short jumper that would have tied it. He slipped past Washington's Nate Robinson, leaned into Roy and launched the shot.
"I knew he was going to shoot it," Roy said. "He went up and I just kind of tipped it. I got high enough, and then it went off his hands and slipped out of bounds. But I got a piece of it."
Simmons came away with the ball before it went out of play, drew a foul and made two free throws with 0.2 seconds to seal the victory. That left the Wolfpack (8-1) looking back on a questionable no-call.
"When I watch the film, I will be able to tell you," NC State coach Herb Sendek said.
No. 1 Illinois 93, Valparaiso 56
Univerity of Illinois basketball coach Bruce Weber is running out of challenges for his players.
"I told the guys today that we should win by 25 points or more if we played up to our potential," Weber said after the Illini beat Valparaiso 93-56. "I'm trying to find things to challenge them with."
Dee Brown scored 19 points to lead all five starters in double figures for the second straight game and the Illini (10-0) seemed to draw as many "oohs" and "aahs" as cheers from the sellout crowd as they built a 49-23 halftime lead and cruised through the second half.
"We just played Illinois basketball," Brown said.
No. 23 Maryland 90,
Florida State 88
It didn't take long for Maryland to find out that defending its Atlantic Coast Conference title won't be easy.
The 23rd-ranked Terrapins got all they could handle in their league opener Sunday night from Florida State, which had lost 24 straight ACC road games. After blowing a 13-point lead and trailing in overtime, Maryland pulled out a harrowing 90-88 victory.
"That's a sign of things to come in the ACC. You're down, but never out," said Maryland junior guard John Gilchrist, who made two free throws with 6.6 seconds left in overtime to cap a 21-point, 13-rebound performance.
Lamond Murray scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Toronto Raptors beat the New Jersey Nets 110-99 on Sunday, their first victory of the post-Vince Carter era.
Carter wasn't at the Air Canada Centre because Toronto's trade with New Jersey isn't expected to be finalized until noon Monday. The Raptors traded their biggest star on Friday to the Nets for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams, Alonzo Mourning and two first-round draft picks.
Murray, who could play more now that Carter is gone, recorded his highest scoring game with Toronto. He scored 12 points. Morris Peterson added 20 points.
Knicks 94, Jazz 93
In New York, Jamal Crawford scored 11 of his 24 points in the final five minutes, including a rare four-point play and a sweet crossover move that led to a key basket in New York's victory over Utah.
Marbury had 19 points and 12 assists, Michael Sweetney scored 13 points.
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