CLEMSON, S.C. — What a way for No. 1 North Carolina to start the Atlantic Coast Conference season.

Wayne Ellington's 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in overtime lifted the top-ranked Tar Heels to a 90-88 victory over 19th-ranked Clemson last night.

Ellington finished with a career-high 36 points, none more dramatic than his pull-up jumper from the left side of the key with the clock winding down.

"It felt really good," Ellington said. Defender James Mays was "flying at me and I knew if it had chance to get there it was going to go in."

The Tar Heels leaped from the bench as Ellington pumped his fist in celebration.

Only moments earlier, Clemson freshman Demontez Stitt had hit two foul shots with 13.9 seconds to go that put the Tigers ahead, 88-87.

Instead, Ellington's basket sent the Tar Heels (15-0) out of Littlejohn Coliseum with their seventh straight win over Clemson — and their top ranking intact.

Ellington scored seven of North Carolina's nine points in overtime. The sophomore surpassed his career high of 23 set earlier this season in a win over Ohio State.

"I didn't think he'd get 36," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "Thirty-three would've been fine."

K.C. Rivers led Clemson (12-2) with 24 points, but failed to score in overtime.

No. 9 Duke 81, Cornell 67: DeMarcus Nelson matched a season high with 23 points and the Blue Devils (11-1) shook off a slow start to beat the Big Red (6-5) at Durham, N.C.

Duke, which only briefly trailed late in the first half and took command early in the second with a 13-3 run. The victory gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 786th career victory, tying Lefty Driesell for sixth on the all-time wins list.

West Virginia 79, No. 10 Marquette 64: Alex Ruoff hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Mountaineers (11-3, 1-1 Big East) to a rout of the Golden Eagles (11-2, 1-1) at Morgantown, W.Va., giving coach Bob Huggins his 601st career win.

Joe Alexander added 19 points for West Virginia, which employed a seldom-used 1-3-1 zone defense most of the game that surprised Marquette and coach Tom Crean, who appeared to expect Huggins' trademark, man-to-man defense.

No. 17 Villanova 64, No. 13 Pittsburgh 63: Dante Cunningham made two free throws with 10 seconds left and the Wildcats (11-2, 1-1 Big East) then forced another turnover to secure a victory over the Panthers (12-2, 0-1) at Villanova, Pa.

Freshman Malcolm Grant had a season-high 22 points for Villanova. Pittsburgh matched its season high with 22 turnovers, nine over its season average.

TOP 25 WOMEN

USC 73, No. 2 Stanford 72: Camille LeNoir hit a jumper with 8.1 seconds remaining, giving the Trojans (9-6, 2-2 Pac-10) an upset victory over the Cardinal (12-3, 2-2) at Los Angeles.

LeNoir scored 21 points, including a career high-tying five 3-pointers, for the Trojans, who ended a 10-game losing streak to Stanford. Jayne Appel had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Cardinal.

Xavier 65, No. 7 Georgia 55: Amber Harris scored 19 points and Ta'Shia Phillips added 16 at Cincinnati, and Musketeers (10-5) handed the Lady Bulldogs (13-1) their first loss.

Georgia was one victory away from matching the best start in school history, but shot only 33 percent from the field, had 17 turnovers and got outrebounded 36-26.

No. 1 Connecticut 100, Purdue 50: Tina Charles had 17 points and 16 rebounds in the nationally televised game at West Lafayette, Ind., and the Huskies (13-0) handed the Boilermakers (6-8) their worst-ever defeat.

Purdue's worst loss had been by 46 points to Ohio State on Jan. 14, 1983.

No. 5 Maryland 110, Clemson 46: Laura Harper matched her career high with 27 points, Crystal Langhorne added 25 points and the Terps (18-1, 2-0 ACC) beat the Tigers (7-9, 0-1) at College Park, Md.

The 64-point margin of victory in their home league opener matched the Terps' most lopsided win in the ACC in 28 years, tying a 117-53 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 23, 1980, and their second largest margin of victory ever.

No. 10 California 73, UCLA 70: Natasha Vital scored 18 points, including two free throws in overtime, to lead the Bears (13-2, 4-0 Pac-10) over the Bruins (7-8, 2-2) at Los Angeles.

Pittsburgh 97, No. 15 DePaul 68: Shavonte Zellous scored 31 points to help the Panthers (11-3) upset the Blue Demons (11-3) at Chicago.

Old Dominion 79, Georgia St. 59: Jessica Canady scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Monarchs (10-3) over the Panthers (3-9) in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams at Atlanta.

No. 20 George Washington 98, Brown 22: Whitney Allen tied a career high with 16 points and Antelia Parrish added 15 for the Colonials (12-3) against the Bears (1-13) at Washington.

No. 21 Ohio State 73, Iowa 65: Ashlee Trebilcock scored 25 points to lead the Buckeyes (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten) over the Hawkeyes (9-6, 2-2) at Iowa City, Iowa.