College Basketball Roundup : St. John’s Beats Villanova for Sixth Win in Row, 76-71

Chris Mullin snapped out of his shooting slump with 20 points, and Bill Wennington keyed a second-half rally to give St. John’s a 76-71 Big East Conference basketball victory over Villanova Monday night at Jamaica, N.Y.

The victory was the sixth in a row for the Redmen, raising their record to 11-1 and 3-0 in the conference. Villanova, which scored two one-point victories over St. John’s last season, dropped to 9-2 and 2-1.

Mullin, who had been in a slump the past six games, connected on 9 of 18 field-goal attempts.

Wennington, a 7-foot center, was benched midway through the first half after picking up two personal fouls. But in the second half, with St. John’s trailing, 51-47, the Redmen scored 13 straight points, seven by Wennington, for a 60-51 advantage.

Wennington scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half. Walter Berry also had 15 and reserve Ron Rowan 10.

Kentucky 75, Vanderbilt 58--Kenny Walker, the 6-8 junior forward, led the Wildcats to a Southeastern Conference win at Lexington, Ky., scoring 22 points in his fourth straight 20-plus game.

The Wildcats improved to 7-4 overall and 2-0 in the league, while Vandy fell to 8-3 and 1-1.

Rice 73, Notre Dame 70--Tony Barnett scored 22 points and Ivan Petitt hit 12 pressure free throws in the final 2:41 to lead the Owls to an upset over the Fighting Irish at Houston.

Five Notre Dame players, including starters Jim Dolan and Ken Barlow, fouled out of the game and Petitt.

Guard David Rivers led the Irish (6-3) with 23 points and Barlow added 14 points. Tracy Steele scored 10 points for the Owls (8-4).

Oral Roberts 90, Evansville 75--Mark Acres scored 24 points and his brother Jeff scored 23 as Oral Roberts won a Midwest City Conference basketball game at Tulsa, Okla.

The Titans, now 5-7 overall and 2-0 in the conference, never trailed in the game. Evansville dropped to 8-4 and 1-1.

Alcorn St. 136, Dillard 91--Coach Davey Whitney hit the 400- win mark with the Braves’ romp at Lorman, Miss. Whitney, who is in his 21st year of college coaching, joins a list of only 20 other Division I active coaches to win at least 400 games. The 54-year-old Kentucky native, has now compiled a record of 344 victories against 116 losses in 16 years at Alcorn.

The Braves improved to 7-4, while the Blue Devils fell to 6-10.