College Basketball Roundup : St. John’s Second-Half Spree Beats Seton Hall

There was quite a difference in St. John’s play in the second half against Seton Hall and All-American guard Chris Mullin said it was transition.

Mullin scored 26 points and Walter Berry added 21 as No. 1 St. John’s overcame a 14-point, second-half deficit and defeated Seton Hall, 87-76, in a Big East college basketball game Monday night at South Orange, N.J.

The victory stretched St. John’s winning streak to 13, raised its record to 18-1 and left the Redmen undefeated in the Big East Conference with a 10-0 record. The loss was the 10th straight for Seton Hall, all in conference games.

“We wanted to get it down to six with 10 minutes left in the half,” Mullin said. “We did it a little quicker than that.”

Trailing 48-34 early in the second half, the Redmen ran off a 20-2 spurt as Mullin scored eight points. They tied the game at 48 when Berry hit a layup with 12:56 remaining and took their first lead since late in the first half when Mike Moses hit a layup with 12:28 left.

“Seton Hall dominated the first half, but in the second half we kept them to one shot,” Mullin said. “That was the difference. It allowed us to get into our running game and play some pressure defense.”

Andre McCloud topped Seton Hall with 18 points and Mark Bryant added 14.

Louisiana Tech 73, NE Louisiana 63--Karl Malone scored 20 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and made four steals in leading the Bulldogs to victory over the Indians in a Southland Conference game at Monroe, La.

The victory gave the Bulldogs a 17-2 overall record and, with a 5-1 mark in conference standings. The Indians fell to 14-6 overall and 3-3 in conference. Despite Malone’s statistics, the game was decided at the foul line, where Tech held a 23-5 advantage over Northeast.

Maryland 87, Old Dominion 75--Len Bias scored 24 points as the Terrapins reeled off 16 straight points in the first half en route to victory over the Monarchs at College Park, Md.

Adrian Branch added 15 points and Tom Jones 14 for the Terrapins, 18-6. Kenny Gattison led Old Dominion with 19 points.

Kansas 88, Colorado 69--Junior Calvin Thompson and freshman Milton Newton each scored 12 points to lead a balanced offensive effort as the Jayhawks rolled to victory over the Buffaloes in a Big Eight game at Lawrence, Kan.

It was the third straight win for the Jayhawks (6-1 in conference, 18-4 overall). Colorado is 1-6, 13-7.

Florida 86, Florida State 79--Andrew Moten scored 25 points and Vernon Maxwell added 17 as the Gators defeated the Seminoles in a non-conference game at Gainesville, Fla.

The Gators (15-4) led by 14 points at halftime, 38-24, but Alton Lee Gipson helped the Seminoles rally in the second half by scoring all of his team-high 25 points. The Seminoles are 7-12.

Mississippi 60, Vanderbilt 55--Eric Laird scored 14 points and Joe Ayers added 12 as the Rebels shut down the Commodores in the second half for a 60-55 victory at Oxford, Miss.

Phil Cox, Vandy’s leading scorer, took just one shot in the first half and finished with 10 points. Ole Miss led, 35-23, at the half.

Ole Miss is 2-9 in SEC play and 8-11 overall. Vanderbilt is 1-9 and 8-11.

Virginia Tech 96, Southern Mississippi 80--Perry Young scored 21 points and Dell Curry added 20 to help the Hokies defeat the Golden Eagles at Blacksburg, Va.

The Hokies, who led at halftime, 42-27, built a 30-point lead midway through the second half. Two free throws by Fisher trimmed Tech’s lead to 84-70 with 4:05 left.

Virginia Tech is 15-5 overall and 6-2 in conference. Southern Mississippi is 6-15 and 2-4.

San Jose St. 76, Pacific 46--Senior center Matt Fleming scored 18 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Spartans to victory over the Tigers in Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at San Jose.

San Jose opened the game with seven consecutive points and was never headed. The Spartans held the Tigers to just 23% shooting en route to a 32-12 halftime lead.

Freshman forward Domingo Rosario led Pacific with 15 points.

San Jose’s record is 5-6 in conference and 10-10 overall. Pacific is 3-7 and 7-12.