COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : UMass Survives Temple’s Onslaught

Four times in the last 14 seconds, Temple had a chance to make the play that would knock off top-ranked Massachusetts. Four times, the Minutemen survived with determined defense.

They overcame shaky second-half offense and escaped with a 59-58 Atlantic 10 victory Saturday at Amherst, Mass., their third one-point victory over Temple in two seasons.

“We figure out ways to win,” UMass Coach John Calipari said. “I hope people aren’t getting spoiled, expecting us to win every game by 40.”

“UMass is a great ballclub, perhaps the best in the country,” Temple Coach John Chaney said. “They know how to win.”

The Minutemen, who had won nine games by at least 16 points, saw a 55-45 lead drop to 59-58. Then Edgar Padilla missed a three-pointer for UMass (13-1, 5-0) with 18 seconds left. Temple (7-4, 3-3) got the ball and called time out with 14 seconds to play.

“We take pride in our defense and, in the end, it was Marcus Camby’s block that won the game for us,” Calipari said.

It was the first of the four big defensive plays.

After Camby’s rejection of Levan Alston’s shot, Rick Brunson inbounded the ball under his basket, but UMass knocked it out of bounds with 1.5 seconds to play. Brunson tried again, but Mike Williams, guarding him, deflected the lob pass out of bounds with six-tenths of a second to go.

Brunson finally managed to get it into Alston, but his desperation three-pointer while surrounded by Minutemen missed badly as the buzzer sounded.

*

No. 2 Connecticut 86, Seton Hall 81--Donny Marshall scored 24 points and teamed with Travis Knight in a stretch run in a Big East game at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Huskies remained the only unbeaten Division I team.

UConn (14-0, 7-0) will play No. 6 Syracuse at home Monday night for first place in the conference, with each team on a 14-game winning streak.

The Huskies tied the score, 68-68, with 6:24 to play on a three-pointer by Ray Allen. Thirteen of Connecticut’s next 15 points came from either Knight, who finished with a career-high 17 points and 14 rebounds, or Marshall.

Knight’s dunk with 4:59 to play gave the Huskies the lead for good, 72-70, but Seton Hall (12-5, 3-4) was within 81-79 with 1:09 left when Adrian Griffin stole an inbounds pass for a layup.

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No. 3 North Carolina 87, Virginia Tech 76--Jerry Stackhouse recovered from the worst shooting game of his career, scoring 21 points and sparking the Tar Heels (14-1) down the stretch against the Hokies (13-4) at Greensboro, N.C.

Stackhouse, two for 13 with a season-low eight points in a victory Wednesday against Virginia, was seven for 10 against Virginia Tech.

The Tar Heels won despite being outrebounded, 25-7, on offensively and committing 17 turnovers.

*

No. 5 Kentucky 81, Vanderbilt 68--Tony Delk scored 24 points and his three-point shot triggered a 20-0 run in the second half as the Wildcats (12-2, 6-0) won their sixth consecutive game, downing the Commodores (7-6, 1-4) in Southeastern Conference play at Lexington, Ky.

It was Kentucky’s 1,600th victory, second only to North Carolina.

*

No. 6 Syracuse 60, Providence 59--Michael Lloyd made a 23-footer with 2.2 seconds left to give the Orangemen (14-1, 7-0) a Big East victory over the Friars (10-5, 2-5) at Providence, R.I.

Syracuse led by as many as 13 points with 9:16 left before a technical foul gave Providence a six-point play and the Friars tied the score, 57-57, with 1:45 to play.

*

No. 7 Kansas 91, Colorado 77--Sean Pearson scored 26 points and spearheaded a 13-point second-half run that helped the Jayhawks (13-2, 3-1) defeat the Buffaloes (10-4, 1-2) in a Big Eight game at Boulder, Colo.

Pearson made one of his six three-point baskets during the run that began after Colorado had closed to 55-53 with 14:26 left. Jerod Haase, who finished with 10 points, had five during the two-minute spurt.

*

No. 9 Arkansas 88, South Carolina 73--Corliss Williamson, held to six points in the first half, finished with 22 points and eight rebounds as the Razorbacks (15-3, 4-2) defeated the Gamecocks (3-11, 0-6) in an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

It was the seventh consecutive loss for the Gamecocks and the first SEC road victory for Arkansas, which had lost at Ole Miss and Auburn.

Williamson practically carried Arkansas in the second half, scoring 16 points, grabbing five rebounds and fueling a 19-3 run.

The Gamecocks, who led, 50-49, with 15:23 left, were held without a field goal for the next seven minutes.

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No. 14 Iowa State 79, Kansas State 73--Fred Hoiberg was roundly jeered after opening the game with an airball, but he blitzed the Wildcats (10-7, 1-4) with three three-point baskets at the end of the half in leading the Cyclones (15-2, 2-1) to a Big Eight victory at Manhattan, Kan.

Iowa State was leading by seven points when Elliott Hatcher made a three-point shot for Kansas State and Belvis Noland stole an inbounds pass and fed to Demond Davis for a layup, making it 75-73 with 47 seconds left.

*

No. 15 Wake Forest 69, Clemson 60--Tony Rutland (12 points) rescued the Demon Deacons (10-3, 3-2) in the second half, scoring eight consecutive points in an ACC victory over the Tigers (10-4, 1-4) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Rutland, a freshman, entered with the Demon Deacons trailing, 44-36, with 13:22 to play. He made three-pointers on successive possessions and added two free throws on a three-shot foul. Those eight points highlighted an 11-0 run that lifted the Demon Deacons to a 47-44 edge.

The victory was the 100th for Coach Dave Odom at Wake Forest.

*

Nevada 74, No. 19 New Mexico State 67--Shawn Pughsley had six three-pointers and a season-high 20 points and the Wolf Pack (10-6, 6-2) played strong defense in upsetting New Mexico State in a Big West game at Reno.

Nevada led by as many as 17 points late in the second half before the Aggies (13-4, 4-2) rallied to make it closer.

Rodney Walker had 23 points for New Mexico State (13-4, 4-2).

*

Minnesota 77, No. 20 Illinois 66--Townsend Orr made six three-point baskets and Minnesota (13-5, 4-2) went 17 for 23 from the field in the second half of a Big Ten victory over the Illini (13-5, 4-2) at Minneapolis.

Minnesota’s 59.2% shooting--including 10 of 16 from three-point range--was its best of the season.

Orr led four Gophers in double figures with 18 points.

The loss kept Coach Lou Henson from his 400th victory with Illinois.

*

No. 23 Cincinnati 92, DePaul 82--Darnell Burton, scoreless in the first half, had 14 points in the opening minutes of the second half to rally the Bearcars (14-5, 4-0) in a Great Midwest Conference game at home.

Tom Kleinschmidt had scored 21 points for DePaul (7-6, 0-4) in the first half, 15 of them in the last seven minutes, to forge a 39-34 lead.

*

St. Joseph’s 92, No. 25 Pennsylvania 82--Mark Bass sent the game into overtime with a three-point basket and scored eight points in the extra period as the Hawks (9-5) won the 15th of their last 16 games against the Quakers (9-3).

Bernard Blunt made a basket with 2:36 remaining in overtime to give the Hawks a 78-76 lead. Bass followed with four points and Blunt added three in a row to stretch the lead to 85-76.

Blunt led St. Joseph’s with a season-high 27 points. Penn’s Jerome Allen led all scorers with 28 points.

OTHER GAMES

Curt Ranta scored a career-high 26 points, 15 in the second half, as Portland (13-3, 4-0) was a 72-49 winner over Santa Clara (12-4, 4-1) in a West Coast Conference game at Portland. . . . Bob Sura scored 23 points, but it was his final basket followed by a steal to set up another score that helped Florida State (9-5, 3-3) to a 78-75 victory over Duke (9-8, 0-6) in ACC play at Tallahassee, Fla. It was the Blue Devils’ sixth consecutive loss--the school’s longest winless streak in 56 years. . . . Jamal Faulkner scored 15 points and Alabama (12-4, 3-2) withstood a late rally by Mississippi State (10-4, 3-2) to win, 68-64, in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Rayshard Allen scored 25 points, including eight in the last five minutes, as Tulane (14-3, 2-0) came back to beat Louisville (9-7, 1-4), 76-73, in a Metro game at New Orleans. . . . Cuonzo Martin scored 23 points and Matt Waddell added 14 more to lead Purdue (12-5, 3-2) to a 92-66 rout of Ohio State (4-11, 0-5) in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind. . . . A close game between Missouri Valley Conference leaders never materialized as Tulsa (10-4, 7-1) scored the game’s first 14 points on its way to a 73-53 victory over Bradley (12-4, 6-2) at Peoria, Ill. . . . Louis Rowe had 31 points, five rebounds, four assists and four blocks to power James Madison (9-5, 4-0) to its fifth consecutive victory, 85-75, in a Colonial Athletic Assn. game over Richmond (4-11, 0-4) at Harrisonburg, Va. . . . Ryan Minor and Ernie Abercrombie led the way at both ends of the floor as Oklahoma (14-3) overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to beat cold-shooting Texas (9-4), 100-75, at Norman, Okla. . . . Gary Trent scored 25 points, including 15 from the free-throw line, as Ohio (14-4, 5-1) downed Akron (7-7, 3-3), 81-61, in Mid-American Conference play at Athens, Ohio. . . . Jason Williams scored 13 of his career-high 19 points in the first half as Notre Dame (11-6) overcame foul problems to defeat Xavier (12-3), 84-73, at South Bend, Ind. . . . Patrick Savoy scored 18 points and Reggie Manuel added 17 and grabbed eight rebounds as Nevada Las Vegas (5-7, 2-4) was a 69-63 Big West winner over Utah State (12-3, 6-1) at Logan, Utah. . . . Davon Satterwhite scored 17 points to help Fresno State (6-9, 1-6) to its first WAC victory, at San Diego State (7-9, 2-6).