College Basketball Roundup : Syracuse Gets Message From Villanova, 82-70

Villanova got its message across: There’s more to the Big East than Georgetown, Syracuse and St. John’s.

The Wildcats made a bid for national recognition Wednesday night with an 82-70 upset of fifth-ranked Syracuse in a Big East opener at Philadelphia.

“This is one of many games,” Villanova Coach Rollie Massimino said. “Our league has three of the top teams in the United States, but I think we’ll be competitive.”

Forward Dwayne McClain scored 21 points and Gary McLain added 18 for the Wildcats (8-1). Rafael Addison scored 21 for Syracuse (8-1), but fouled out with four minutes left, and Dwayne Washington scored only 17 points.

Villanova sank 24 of 28 free throws, while the Orangemen got to the line for just eight free throws, making six.

“We’ve got to get to the foul line more than eight times if we want to win here,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “They’re a good basketball team. They shot the ball very well, and they got it inside. They got a lot of offensive rebounds at crucial stages.”

Syracuse (8-1) took its last lead of the game, 60-58, on Wendell Alexis’ layup with 10:22 left. The Wildcats blew the game open with a 12-2 surge, taking a 70-62 lead with 4:51 left on McLain’s two free throws.

Georgetown 73, Seton Hall 56--Coach John Thompson stayed home with the flu, but the top-ranked Hoyas had little trouble with the Pirates in a Big East opener at Landover, Md.

With assistant coach Craig Esherick in charge, David Wingate scored 17 points as Georgetown (12-0) stretched its winning streak to 23 games. All-American Patrick Ewing had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Andre McCloud scored 20 points for Seton Hall (9-3).

St. John’s 57, Connecticut 51--Bill Wennington scored 18 points and Walter Berry added 15 points and 12 rebounds to rally the fourth-ranked Redmen past the Huskies at Hartford, Conn.

Connecticut (4-5) built a 27-22 halftime lead as the Redmen (9-1) hit only 36% of their shots and All-American Chris Mullen was held to two of his 12 points. Berry had 13 points and nine rebounds as St. John’s came from behind in the second half.

LSU 79, Georgia 74--Nikita Wilson scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Tigers past the Bulldogs in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

The lead changed hands repeatedly during the second half, but LSU (9-1, 3-0) went ahead for good, 69-68, on a layup by Jerry Reynolds with less than three minutes to play.

Donald Hartry scored 17 points for Georgia (8-2).

Kentucky 68, Auburn 61--Kenny Walker outplayed Chuck Person and the Wildcats knocked off the Tigers in an SEC opener at Lexington, Ky.

Walker scored 24 points, including 15 straight in the first half as Kentucky (5-4) took control en route to their 53rd victory in 64 games with Auburn. Person has just 14 points on 6 of 14 shooting, but added 11 rebounds and six assists for the Tigers (8-2).

Maryland 58, N.C. State 56--Keith Gatlin put the Terrapins (11-2, 1-0) ahead with a nine-foot jumper with one minute left and added a free throw with 35 seconds left to turn back the Wolfpack (7-3, 0-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

Arkansas 70, Texas A&M; 67--Charles Balentine hit two free throws with three seconds remaining and the Razorbacks (9-3) held off the Aggies (6-4) in a Southwest Conference opener at College Station, Tex. Winston Crite scored 27 points for A&M; and Joe Kleine had 18 for Arkansas.

SMU 66, Rice 57--Jon Koncak scored 19 points and the Mustangs (10-1) beat the Owls (6-4) in an SWC opener at Dallas.

Indiana 87, Michigan 62--Uwe Blab scored 31 points and held Ray Tarpley to 12 as the Hoosiers (9-2) won their Big Ten opener in a rout of the Wolverines (8-2) at Ann Arbor.

Memphis State 73, Delta State 61--All-American Keith Lee scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Tigers (9-0) beat the Statesmen (5-4) at Memphis.

Virginia 67, Virginia Tech 59--Dan Merrifield’s layup with 2:55 gave the Cavaliers (7-4) the lead for good and Olden Polynice scored 21 points in a victory over the Hokies (8-3) at Norfolk, Va.

Texas San Antonio 101, Baylor 91--Derrick Gervin, younger brother of the San Antonio Spurs’ George Gervin, set a school record with 51 points and the Roadrunners (7-2) beat the Bears (7-4) at San Antonio for their third victory over SWC teams this season. Gervin made 22 of 32 field goal attempts and 7 of 8 free throws in addition to grabbing 18 rebounds.