College Basketball Roundup : Kentucky, Minus Chapman, Still Wins

Kentucky’s Eric Manuel, a freshman forward starting in place of injured Rex Chapman, scored seven of Kentucky’s final eight points as the 12th-ranked Wildcats came from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat the 10th-ranked Syracuse Orangemen, 62-58, Sunday in a nonconference game at Lexington, Ky.

“I knew I had to come in and establish myself,” said Manuel, who finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. “I had to do the things I’m capable of doing.”

Chapman, Kentucky’s leading scorer, cracked a bone in his back last Wednesday.

Coach Eddie Sutton said of Manuel: “He is a seasoned player. He plays like a senior.”

Syracuse began to slip when senior Rony Seikaly picked up his fourth foul with 8:31 to go and the Orangemen leading 49-40. He returned two minutes later, but the momentum had shifted to Kentucky, which took seven points off the margin.

Seikaly scored 21 points to lead the Orangemen (21-7). Kentucky (20-5) ran its record against Syracuse to 5-0.

Winston Bennett led Kentucky with 15 points, and Ed Davender added 14.

Georgia Tech 91, Duke 87--Tom Hammonds scored 29 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and held Duke star Danny Ferry to 6 points in the second half as the 20th-ranked Yellow Jackets downed the fifth-ranked Blue Devils in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Atlanta.

“He put on a show,” Georgia Tech Bobby Cremins said of Hammonds. “He was unbelievable. What a performance that kid put on. He never quits. He’s something special.”

Hammonds carried most of the offensive load throughout the game and Brian Oliver hit three crucial free throws in the final 45 seconds to preserve Tech’s lead.

Hammonds said he thought the defense on Ferry was the key to the victory. “He’s a three-dimensional player,” Hammonds said. “I knew I had to come out and do a good job on him. The first 10 minutes was some of the best basketball we’ve played this year, but we got a little lackadaisical and you can’t do that against a team like Duke.”

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: “We played most of the game well enough to win, especially offensively. We’re not playing as good defensively in the last two games as we have the rest of the season.”

It was the seventh victory in a row for the Yellow Jackets, 21-6 overall and 8-4 in the ACC, and the second straight loss for the Blue Devils (20-5 and 8-4).

Tech took the lead for good with just under two minutes remaining on Anthony Sherrod’s 18-foot jumper that broke an 85-85 tie.

Ferry led the Blue Devils with 24 points and Robert Brickey and Kevin Strickland each scored 15. Freshman Dennis Scott added 18 for Tech.

Temple 78, West Virginia 69--Freshman Mark Macon scored 27 points and center Ramon Rivas turned in another solid effort to help the No. 1-ranked Owls defeat the Mountaineers in an Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Rivas scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds, 11 on offense.

“The coaches told me to stay down low,” Rivas said. “I wanted to stay low and get as many rebounds as I could. I was happy with the way I played. We were working the ball good underneath. Coach just keeps telling me to stay low. That’s where he wants me to play.”

Macon has now scored in double figures in all but one of Temple’s games this season.

Mike Vreeswyk added 21 as the Owls improved to 25-1 overall and 17-0 in Atlantic 10 games. Tyrone Shaw scored 21 points for West Virginia (16-12 and 11-6).

The victory gave Temple its fifth straight 25-win season and was the Owls’ 48th victory in its last 50 games at McGonigle Hall. West Virginia posted one of those victories with a 64-61 decision last year.

Wisconsin 81, Minnesota 70--Trent Jackson scored 30 points and Danny Jones added 28 to help the Badgers, who had lost 6 straight, beat the Gophers in a Big Ten game at Madison, Wis.

Minnesota, trailing 37-36 at halftime, went over five minutes without scoring at the start of the second half as Wisconsin grabbed a 46-36 advantage.

The Badgers are now 10-14 and 4-10, while the Gophers fell to 9-15 and 3-11. The Gophers won the teams’ first meeting, 71-62, at Minneapolis.

San Jose St. 96, Utah St. 95--Rodney Scott hit a jump shot with four seconds left in overtime and Ricky Berry tied his season high by scoring 32 points as the Spartans ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Aggies in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at San Jose.

San Jose is now 11-14 and 6-10.

Utah State (16-9, 11-5) lost its third straight game despite overcoming a five-point deficit in the final 20 seconds of regulation. Kevin Nixon’s layup at the buzzer sent the game into overtime.

Danny Conway’s basket with 33 seconds left in overtime gave the Aggies a 95-94 lead. In the final seconds, San Jose tried to get the ball to Berry, but Scott took a pass, cut down the lane and shot from six feet.

San Jose’s Gerald Thomas scored a career-high 18 points, while Danny Conway led Utah State with 25 points.