Vince Carter scored 27 points and Rashard Lewis added 24 including a huge 3-pointer with 28.4 seconds left as the Orlando Magic blew a 12-point lead in the final 5 minutes of regulation before beating the Miami Heat 108-102 in overtime Thursday. Jameer Nelson scored 15, Matt Barnes finished with 13 and Dwight Howard had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who've won 10 of their last 11 games. Dwyane Wade had 36 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which led 100-99 with 3:09 left in overtime, then went scoreless for nearly 2½ minutes. Jermaine O'Neal scored 14 and Carlos Arroyo added 11 for the Heat. Nuggets 93, Hornets 80: At Denver, Carmelo Anthony pulled down a career-best 18 rebounds to go with his 26 points to lead Denver past New Orleans. Anthony recorded his third straight double-double and his ninth of the season. Chris Andersen returned from two sprained ankles to help clog up the lanes and clean up the glass – he had 13 rebounds – as the Nuggets beat New Orleans for the second time in six nights. The Nuggets (47-22) moved a half-game ahead of Dallas for sole possession of second place in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Lakers. J.R. Smith scored 13 of his 17 points in the second quarter to help the Nuggets take control with a 62-37 lead at the half. His back-to-back fastbreak dunks, followed by a twisting layup capped a 13-0 run that gave Denver a 50-28 lead. Georgetown stunned, seeds thru Top seeds Kansas and Kentucky cruised into the second round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Thursday while Georgetown, third seed in the Midwest region, were upset by 14-ranked Ohio. East Region top seeds Kentucky routed East Tennessee State 100-71 while the Midwest's Kansas beat Lehigh 90-74. “The coach told me to play defense, and when I play defense it carries over to my offense,” Kentucky freshman Eric Bledsoe told reporters after scoring a game-high 29 points Kentucky will face Wake Forest next after the Demon Deacons edged Texas 81-80 in overtime thanks to a last-second shot by Ishmael Smith. Kansas will play Northern Iowa. In the day's biggest upset, Georgetown went down to Ohio after guard Armon Bassett scored 32 points and made five three-pointers. In the South bracket, No. 2 seed Villanova won a nailbiter against unheralded Robert Morris, rallying to a 73-70 win in overtime. In the second round it faces No. 10 St. Mary's, who upset seventh-seeded Richmond. Villanova trailed by eight with about four minutes left in the second half but Scottie Reynolds scored his team's next seven points, all on free throws, and it regrouped to force overtime. “For us to be down the way we were, to be able to come back from that and execute and do all the things that we did, it feels good,” Reynolds said. Notre Dame, the sixth seed in the South, was eliminated with a 51-50 loss to Old Dominion, which recorded its first tournament win since 1995. It next meets Baylor, which beat Sam Houston State. In the East, Quincy Pondexter's shot with less than two seconds left gave No. 11 Washington an 80-78 win over No. 6 Marquette 80-78. New Mexico will play Washington after it beat Montana 62-57. In the West, Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as time expired to give No. 13 Murray State a 66-65 win over fourth seed Vanderbilt.
