Camby Keeps Massachusetts Unbeaten--Barely

The last time top-ranked Massachusetts faced Rhode Island, the Minutemen were nearly upset, hanging on to win by six. The reason was the absence of Massachusetts center Marcus Camby, who was out because of a still-unexplained fainting spell.

The two schools met against Tuesday night at Providence, R.I., and, again, the Minutemen had to hang on, this time winning, 74-69.

Camby was again the difference, this time by his presence. Camby, a junior, had 25 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Camby’s blocks put him at 298 for his career--two shy of the milestone that only three players in NCAA history have reached by their junior year.

Tyrone Weeks scored 16, getting a tip-in with under a minute left and then sinking a free throw with 18 seconds to go to give UMass, 26-0 overall and 14-0 in the Atlantic 10, a 70-66 lead in the final minute.

Antonio Reynolds had 18 points and 13 rebounds for Rhode Island (15-9, 7-6).

No. 2 Kentucky 84, Alabama 65--Tony Delk scored seven points during a 26-6 run at Lexington, Ky., that carried the Wildcats to their 38th Southeastern Conference title.

Kentucky (23-1, 13-0), seeking to become the first team since Alabama in 1956 to go unbeaten in league play, won its 22nd consecutive game.

Alabama (14-9, 7-6) tried to overcome Kentucky’s superiority in the first half by taking 14 of 30 shots from three-point range but managed to make only three.

Kentucky scored 15 points off nine turnovers.

No. 7 Purdue 74, Illinois 71--Roy Hairston scored 23 points at Champaign, Ill., to help the Boilermakers (22-4, 12-2) hold off the Illini (16-9, 5-8) and avenge a loss to Illinois last month.

No. 9 Texas Tech 75, SMU 54--The victory at Lubbock, Texas, gave the Red Raiders a share of the Southwest Conference title.

Jason Sasser scored 24 points for Texas Tech (23-1, 12-0).

Jay Poerner led SMU (6-17, 2-9) with 19 points.

It was the Red Raiders’ seventh consecutive victory over the Mustangs and their 29th victory in a row at home.

Seton Hall 80, No. 15 Syracuse 79--Adrian Griffin and Levell Sanders each scored 17 points in the Big East game at East Rutherford, N.J., to help the Pirates hold off several challenges from the Orangemen and end a six-game losing streak.

Seton Hall (11-13, 6-10) ended a five-game winning streak by the Orangemen (19-7, 9-6).

Jason Cipolla had a career-high 24 points for the Orangemen.

No. 19 Memphis 91, Southern Mississippi 66--Mingo Johnson scored 17 points at Memphis to lead the Tigers (18-5, 9-2) to their 31st consecutive victory at home, the second-longest such streak in the nation.

Kelly McCarty had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (10-13, 4-7) in the Conference USA game.

OTHER GAMES

Steve Rich scored 43 points as Miami (12-11, 6-9) overcame a 12-point deficit and held on for a 96-91 double-overtime victory at Miami in a Big East game against St. John’s (10-13, 4-11). . . . Reggie Freeman and Lamont Hill had 22 points apiece to lead Texas (17-6, 10-2) to an 80-72 victory over Baylor (8-15, 3-8) in an SWC game at Waco, Texas. . . . Gary Lumpkin had 27 points at Cincinnati to lead Xavier of Ohio (10-12, 6-6) to a 102-95 Atlantic 10 victory over Dayton (12-12, 3-9).