College Basketball Roundup : Villanova Shocks Syracuse, 75-73

Villanova, after struggling through its first 12 games, has made an about-face.

The Wildcats slowed things down in the second half Monday night and upset fourth-ranked Syracuse, 75-73, in a Big East Conference game at Philadelphia.

“The key to the game was TNT: tempo negates turnovers,” Coach Rollie Massimino said after Villanova handed the Orangemen (14-2 overall, 1-2 in the Big East) their second loss in a week. “That’s how Big East games are played.”

Villanova (9-6, 3-0) had a 10-point lead in the first half, but a 3-point shot at the buzzer by Sherman Douglas gave Syracuse a 38-36 halftime lead.

Matt Roe’s 3-pointer gave Syracuse a 55-54 lead with 8:22 left, but Doug West countered with a 3-pointer for Villanova and the Orangemen never caught up.

Gary Massey’s dunk at 2:16 finished a 6-point run and gave Villanova a 68-59 lead as the Wildcats held Syracuse scoreless nearly 5 minutes before Roe’s basket at 2:06. Douglas made it close with 4 baskets, including a 3-pointer, in the final minute.

Kenny Wilson scored 20 points,and West added 14 for Villanova.

Douglas had 27 points for Syracuse and Roe added 16, but Villanova held Stephen Thompson, averaging 19.4, to 2 points.

Oklahoma 89, Nebraska 81--Terrence Mullins scored 27 points and the third-ranked Sooners made 4 free throws down the stretch to beat the Cornhuskers in a Big Eight opener at Lincoln, Neb.

Stacey King added 21 points, including a 3-point play that put Oklahoma (13-1) ahead for good, 80-78, with 2:40 left.

Louisville 82, Virginia Tech 73--Pervis Ellison scored 18 points and Kenny Payne had 13 as the ninth-ranked Cardinals downed the Hokies in a Metro Conference opener at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech (6-6) was within 71-69 with 2 minutes left, but Louisville (10-2) wrapped up the victory with an 8-2 run.

Kansas 90, Southern Methodist 82--Kevin Pritchard scored 8 of his 16 points in overtime, including consecutive 3-point baskets, and the No. 16 Jayhawks fought off the Mustangs at Lawrence, Kan.

SMU (5-5) sent the game into overtime when Glenn Puddy’s basket tied the score, 78-78, with 1:07 left.

Kato Armstrong had 34 points for SMU, and Mark Randall scored 21 for Kansas (13-1).

Ohio State 108, Radford 61--Jay Burson scored 29 points and the No. 18 Buckeyes trounced the Highlanders at Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes (11-3) were leading, 16-11, before making 12 of their next 14 shots to open a 42-18 lead.

Indiana 74, Purdue 73--Joe Hillman scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and the Hoosiers held off the Boilermakers in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

The Hoosiers (12-4, 2-0) gave Coach Bob Knight a conference record 214th victory, breaking the record set by Ward (Piggy) Lambert of Purdue.

Jay Edwards, who scored 22 points for Indiana, made 4 free throws in the final 27 seconds to thwart a rally by Purdue (7-7, 1-1) from 10 points down in the last 10 minutes.

Norte Dame 80, Portland 58--Keith Robinson came off the bench to score 20 points to lead the Irish over the Pilots at Portland, extending the nation’s longest major-college basketball losing streak to 20 games.

Notre Dame (6-1) led only 38-36 at halftime, and the Pilots still were within 40-38 in the early minutes of the second half.

But Notre Dame scored 14 straight points, 6 by Robinson, to take a 54-38 lead. The Pilots (0-13) went 9 minutes 17 seconds without scoring.