Duncan Gets Best of Van Horn

Tim Duncan scored 23 points, out-dueling fellow All-American Keith Van Horn, as No. 2 Wake Forest pulled away late to defeat seventh-ranked Utah, 70-59, on Tuesday at Salt Lake City.

Duncan, marking his 18th straight double-double game, also had 16 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (9-0).

Van Horn tallied 24 points for Utah (8-2), but made only 10 of 25 shots. Duncan was nine for 11. The Utes’ star, back after missing last Saturday’s 77-50 Utah victory over UC Irvine, managed only four rebounds.

Down by three points at the break, Jerry Braswell’s three-pointer--one of three on the night--to begin the second half knotted the contest, 30-30. Duncan’s move inside at the 13:08 mark put the Deacons in the lead, 38-36. Steve Goolsby’s three-point basket from the top of the key pushed Wake’s advantage to 45-40, and finally the dam that had been Utah’s defense began to break.

No. 3 Kentucky 74, No. 14 Louisville 54--Derek Anderson scored five of his 19 points during a 12-0 run that spurred the Wildcats (11-1) at Louisville, Ky. Kentucky, winning its 11th straight game, turned the ball over 18 times and shot only 44% (23 for 52) in claiming its sixth victory in the last seven meetings between the intrastate rivals.

The Wildcats overcame lackluster offensive play with a strong defensive effort that led to Louisville (10-1) shooting a season-low 35% (19 for 55) and committing a season-high 25 turnovers. Kentucky also held DeJuan Wheat to eight points.

No. 6 Cincinnati 84, Nebraska 73--Darnell Burton scored 24 points and Ruben Patterson and Danny Fortson had 19 each as the Wildcats won at the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic at San Juan.

Cincinnati (7-2) built a double-figure lead in the first half and didn’t allow Nebraska (7-3) to get closer than seven points in the second half.

No. 15 Minnesota 94, Mercer 53--Eric Harris led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as the Gophers won at Minneapolis for the sixth consecutive time.

The Gophers (11-1) are off to their best start since the 1976-77 team went 16-1 and finished 24-3, the best record in Minnesota history. Sam Jacobson added 14 points for Minnesota, which had four players in double figures against Mercer (1-7).

Providence 74, No. 18 Texas 66--Derrick Brown scored 19 points and Austin Croshere added 18 as the Friars won their fourth in a row at Providence, R.I.

Providence (9-3) made 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:33 after Texas (6-3) was within 66-62, and the cold-shooting Longhorns were unable to make any outside shots as they tried to close the gap.

OTHER GAMES

Jerald Honeycutt had 23 points to lead Tulane (7-5) to an 88-74 victory over Tulsa (8-4) at New Orleans. . . . Matt Aune scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead UC San Diego (8-5) to a 59-52 victory over Gustavus Adolphus College at San Diego. . . . Jacobi Thompson deflected an in-bounds pass, then converted on three consecutive free throws in overtime to lead San Diego State (8-2) to an 89-86 victory over Brigham Young (1-9) at Provo, Utah. . . . Two free throws by Tyron Washington with 10 seconds remaining gave Mississippi State (6-6) a 62-60 victory over stumbling Fresno State (6-6) in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic at San Juan. . . . Kevin Morris made two three-point shots and Matt Harpring made another in early in the second half to help Georgia Tech (6-4) pull away to a 65-40 victory over North Carolina Greensboro (3-8) at Atlanta. . . . Aaron Hutchins scored 18 points to lead Marquette (8-2) to a 59-52 victory over cold-shooting Wisconsin (7-2), which was held without a field goal in the last 7:50 of the game.

Notes

Purdue Coach Gene Keady and assistant Frank Kendrick committed an “inadvertent violation” of NCAA rules by making telephone calls to the home of a prospective recruit, the university said.

In a statement released by Athletic Director Morgan J. Burke, the department acknowledged Keady and Kendrick had returned 15 telephone calls to the home of a high school prospect.

Purdue has informed the NCAA and will take “appropriate steps” to prevent future violations. NCAA rules prohibit coaches from calling prospects before July 1 after the athletes’ junior year. The calls in question were made between November 1995 and February 1996.

Kenny Pratt was reinstated to the Iowa State team after appealing his suspension to a university committee. Pratt, suspended from the basketball team following a weekend tussle with police, will be eligible to play Saturday at Missouri.