Alford Finally Beats Knight

This is one victory Steve Alford won’t savor.

Alford got his first win over former coach and mentor Bob Knight with No. 17 Iowa’s 83-53 rout of Texas Tech on Tuesday night at Chicago, and it was just as strange as Alford imagined.

“Coaches have many, many players, but players only have one college coach,” said Alford, now 1-3 against Knight. “So I’m happy for the team, I’m happy for the players. But it’s a little bittersweet for me. I still much more enjoy being on Coach Knight’s side than going against him.”

Iowa (10-1) handed the Red Raiders (5-3) their worst loss since March 9, 2002, when they lost, 90-50, to then-No. 1 Kansas in the Big 12 tournament. The 53 points were their fewest since Jan. 11, 2003, when they lost, 68-44, to Kansas State.

Iowa had a double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the game and didn’t let up, harassing the Red Raiders on both ends. Texas Tech shot less than 36% and had 21 turnovers, 16 in the first half alone.

Adam Haluska matched his career-high with 21 points, and Erek Hansen had six of Iowa’s 10 blocked shots, one shy of the school record. It was the seventh victory in a row for the Hawkeyes, who won despite an off night from leading scorer Jeff Horner, who finished with a season-low seven points on three-for-14 shooting.

“Steve’s team, I think they’ve done a really good job with it,” said Knight, who shook hands with his former player after the game.

They also smiled and laughed as they shook hands and talked before the game.

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No. 3 Oklahoma State 92, Northwestern Oklahoma 35 -- John Lucas and Joey Graham scored 21 points apiece, and the Cowboys (9-0) set a school record with 15 three-point baskets at Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys scored their first 21 points of the second half on three-pointers. JamesOn Curry scored eight consecutive points in a 12-0 run that put Oklahoma State ahead, 87-27. The Cowboys were 15 of 23 on three-pointers, including 10 of 15 in the second half.

Tramain Davis scored 12 points to lead the Rangers (5-4), an NAIA school.

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No. 4 North Carolina 93, Vermont 65 -- Sean May scored 20 points, and Rashad McCants bounced back from a brief benching to score 19 at Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Tar Heels (9-1), who have won nine in a row since an opening loss at Santa Clara.

McCants was benched at the start by Coach Roy Williams for arriving late. He checked in about 4 1/2 minutes into the game.

Taylor Coppenrath had 13 points for the Catamounts (3-3).

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No. 13 Gonzaga 83, Eastern Washington 70 -- Adam Morrison scored 25 points at Spokane, Wash., and the Bulldogs (9-1) beat the Eagles (2-8) for the 19th consecutive time. Gonzaga also won its sixth in a row.

Marc Axton led Eastern Washington with 33 points, including a school record-tying seven three-pointers.

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No. 14 Arizona 105, Manhattan 75 -- Salim Stoudamire matched his career best with seven three-point baskets and had 23 points for the Wildcats (8-2) at Tucson.

Stoudamire was suspended for Saturday’s victory at Marquette because of his pouting in the previous game against Utah, when he was held scoreless.

Freshman C.J. Anderson had 22 points on seven-for-nine shooting for Manhattan (4-3).

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No. 16 North Carolina State 72, Brigham Young 61 -- Julius Hodge scored 22 points at Provo, Utah, as the Wolfpack (9-1) bounced back from their first loss of the season Sunday at Washington. Mike Hall had 18 points for BYU (2-8).

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No. 18 Louisville 80, Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis 60 -- Freshman Juan Palacios had career highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cardinals (7-2) at Louisville, Ky. Akeem Clark made seven three-pointers and had 23 points for IUPUI (4-5).