COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Syracuse Ends Georgetown Home Streak in Big Way

Syracuse left the Capital Centre a winner for the first time Saturday.

The 11th-ranked Orangemen used 36 points from sophomore Billy Owens and a 43-37 rebounding edge to register a 95-76 victory over No. 3 Georgetown, their first in nine games at the Hoyas’ Big East home court in Landover, Md.

“Not very many people win here so it was nice for us,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “They won 27 in a row here and 111 of 122. We’ve come close a couple of times and today we played well throughout for 40 minutes.”

Owens made 11 for 17 shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds as he bettered his previous career high by three points.

Georgetown still leads the series between the schools, 19-9, and is the only conference team with a better than .500 record against the Orangemen.

Syracuse (14-3, 5-3 in the Big East), came into the game having lost two of three games, but this was its second game with guard Michael Edwards in the starting lineup, both victories. Derrick Coleman had 24 points and 13 rebounds.

“We won it playing defense,” Coleman said. “Sending everybody to the boards, even the guards, was a key.”

Alonzo Mourning had 22 points for Georgetown (15-2, 5-2), which started the season 14-0 but has lost two of three.

“You are concerned about everything after a loss, but we are 15-2,” Georgetown Coach John Thompson said.

OTHER TOP 25 TEAMS

No. 1 Missouri 104, Colorado 89--Anthony Peeler scored 26 points and Nathan Buntin added 25 for the top-ranked Tigers at Boulder, Colo.

Missouri (19-1, 5-0) helped itself by making 25 of 34 foul shots. The Tigers held the Buffaloes (9-9, 1-4) without a field goal for 6:35 and limited them to 33% shooting in the first half.

No. 2 Kansas 85, Kansas St. 57--Terry Brown scored 21 points and Rick Calloway added 16 in the Big Eight game at Manhattan, Kan., as the Jayhawks became the first Division I team to win 20 games this season.

Kansas (20-1, 3-1) took a 41-29 halftime lead and then made a 23-4 spurt in the second half as Kansas State (12-8, 2-2) sustained its worst home loss ever to its archrival.

DePaul 66, No. 4 Louisville 62--David Booth, a 6-7 sophomore, scored 37 points to lead the Blue Demons to an upset victory at the Rosemont (Ill.) Horizon.

Louisville (14-3) had its five-game winning streak broken. DePaul (11-9) has won eight of its last 10 games.

No. 6 Arkansas 109, Alabama Birmingham 95--Todd Day scored 25 points and Lee Mayberry added 23 as the Razorbacks took charge late in the game at Birmingham, Ala.

Alabama Birmingham (14-6) had the lead five times in the second half before Ron Huery hit a layup to tie the score, 77-77, with 8:51 remaining. Mayberry hit a three-point shot to break the tie with 7:37 left, and the Razorbacks (17-2) never trailed thereafter.

No. 7 Michigan 65, Michigan State 63--Rumeal Robinson showed again in Ann Arbor, Mich., why he’s considered one of the best clutch players in college basketball.

His overtime free throws against Seton Hall in Seattle won the NCAA championship for Michigan last spring. This time, Robinson’s basket at the buzzer lifted the Wolverines to a Big Ten win over the Spartans, stretching their home winning streak to 10 games.

The win pulled Michigan (15-3, 5-2) into a second-place tie with Michigan State (16-4, 5-2) in the Big Ten standings.

No. 9 Oklahoma 109, Oklahoma State 92--The Cowboys were within 48-46 after scoring the first four points of the second half, but the Sooners (14-2, 3-1) scored 37 points in the next 11 minutes and rolled to a Big Eight victory at Norman, Okla.

William Davis had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Skeeter Henry added 22 points as Oklahoma won its 40th in a row at home. Oklahoma State fell to 11-7 and 2-4.

No. 10 Illinois 92, Ohio St. 81--Kendall Gill scored 20 points and sparked a 19-0 run at the start of the second half at Champaign, Ill., as the Illini rallied to defeat the Buckeyes in a Big Ten game.

Ohio State shot 65% in the first half and led, 45-42. But the Buckeyes (8-9, 3-5) did not score again until Mark Baker made two foul shots after 8:45 of the second half.

Andy Kaufmann’s two free throws began Illinois’ rally. Gill scored eight points and Stephen Bardo added five as the Illini (15-3, 5-3) made it 61-45.

No. 13 Purdue 80, Iowa 59--The Boilermakers shot almost 75% for the game and the Hawkeyes missed 11 of their first 12 shots in the second half at Lafayette, Ind. The Boilermakers are off to their best start in the Big Ten since 1936.

Woody Austin made four three-point baskets and had 14 points to lead Purdue, which pulled away as Iowa went the first 6:23 of the second half without a field goal and managed just one in over 11 minutes.

The Boilermakers (15-2, 7-0), leading the Big Ten in shooting, made 17 of 21 shots in the second half. Iowa (9-8, 1-6) made just five of 27 shots in the second half and shot 34.5% for the game.

No. 20 Connecticut 72, No. 15 St. John’s 58--Reserves Dan Cyrulik and John Gwynn combined for 24 second-half points to spark the Huskies to a Big East victory in the first game ever at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn., before a sellout crowd of 8,241.

Connecticut’s seventh consecutive win left the Huskies (17-3, 6-2) and the Redmen (17-3, 6-2) tied for first in the Big East. Malik Sealy led St. John’s with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

No. 16 Louisiana State 70, Florida 52--It took a while for Chris Jackson and the Tigers to get their timing at Baton Rouge, La., but once they picked up the pace, they coasted to a Southeastern Conference victory.

Jackson, who did not shoot for the first 14 minutes of the second half, led a 21-2 game-ending surge.

LSU (13-4, 5-3) broke a two-game losing streak. Florida (6-9, 2-6) was playing without star center Dwayne Schintzius, who quit the team last week.

No. 18 La Salle 98, Fordham 72--Lionel Simmons scored 16 of his 30 points in a 34-8 run to start the second half in New York as the Explorers crushed Fordham in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game for their seventh consecutive victory.

Randy Woods added 19 points for the Explorers (15-1, 6-0). Fordam is 12-6 and 6-3.

No. 24 Alabama 78, Auburn 59--Melvin Cheatum scored 23 points and David Benoit added 17 as the Crimson Tide won at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama (14-5, 5-3) earned a share of first place in the SEC, while Auburn dropped to 6-12, 3-5. The Crimson Tide won its 23rd game in its last 24 at home.

No. 25 Xavier (Ohio) 81, Butler 57--The Musketeers had to work hard for 10 minutes at Cincinnati, but that’s all. Derek Strong scored 15 points and led a 23-5 surge in the final 10 minutes of the first half that carried them to a Midwestern Collegiate Conference victory.

Xavier (15-2, 5-1) used a tight man-to-man defense to hold Butler (3-15, 0-6) without a field goal in the final nine minutes of the first half.

OTHER GAMES

EAST

Seton Hall 66, Villanova 61--Michael Cooper scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Anthony Avent hit a three-point shot with a minute to go in East Rutherford, N.J., to lift the Pirates to a Big East Conference victory.

It was the second win in a row for the Pirates (10-7, 3-4). Villanova (10-11, 3-5), made just 16 of 61 shots.

Providence 74, Boston College 62--Carlton Screen scored 19 points and backcourt partner Eric Murdock added 16 as the Friars (12-5, 5-3) pulled away in the second half in Newton, Mass., handing the Eagles (6-12, 0-8) an eighth consecutive defeat in the Big East.

SOUTH

North Carolina 83, Clemson 60--Scott Williams scored 14 points, and Rick Fox and Kevin Madden had 12 each as the Tar Heels used long-range shooting to streak to an Atlantic Coast Conference victory.

The Tar Heels (15-6, 5-1) broke Clemson’s eight-game winning streak and maintained North Carolina’s dominance over the Tigers in Chapel Hill, where Clemson (15-4, 4-2) has an 0-35 record.

The victory also tied North Carolina with Duke for first place in the ACC.

North Carolina State 81, Maryland 61--Chris Corchiani 15 of his 21 points at the free throw line as the Wolfpack (14-5, 3-3) ran away in the second half of an ACC game at Raleigh, N.C.

Georgia 85, Tennessee 77--Alec Kessler scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds in Athens, Ga., as the Bulldogs survived a late rally and climbed into a share of the SEC lead.

Georgia (12-5, 5-3) led, 79-66, on a pair of free throws by Rod Cole with 2:03 remaining. Kessler’s three-point play with 11 seconds left clinched the victory for the Bulldogs, coming after Cole blocked Houston’s shot and fed Kessler for the layup. Tennessee is 10-7, 5-3.

Kentucky 98, Mississippi 79--Deron Feldhaus scored four of his 21 points during an 11-0 run midway through the second half that carried the Wildcats (9-9, 5-4) to an SEC victory at Lexington, Ky.

Vanderbilt 81, Mississippi St. 68--Scott Draud scored 23 points and Todd Milholland had eight of his 13 points in the final five minutes in Nashville, Tenn., as the Commodores (12-5, 5-3) claimed an SEC victory.

FAR WEST

Brigham Young 67, Colorado St. 52--Reserve center Todd Crow scored five points during a 12-0 run at Provo, Utah, to lead the Cougars (16-3, 7-1) in a Western Athletic Conference game. Colorado State is 15-4, 5-2.