College Basketball Roundup : Villanova Can’t Quite Stop Heart of St. John’s, 70-68

Take away Chris Mullin, and you take the heart out of top-ranked St. John’s.

Villanova kept Mullin in check most of the game, but he broke loose in the final six minutes to lead the Redmen to a 70-68 win in a Big East Conference game Saturday at Philadelphia.

“I was covered so closely I couldn’t get a shot off. . . . “ Mullin said. “Villanova’s defense opened up a little more in the second half.”

Villanova (15-6, 6-4) had a 54-52 lead with 6:14 left, but Mullin scored nine straight points to send St. John’s (19-1, 11-0) to its 14th straight victory.

The Wildcats closed to 68-66 on a basket by Dwight Wilbur, but Mike Moses made two free throws for St. John’s with two seconds left. That made Mark Plansky’s basket at the buzzer meaningless.

Mullin said he doesn’t have to make the big plays for the Redmen to win.

“It’s not up to me,” he said. “If I’m looking to do too much, the team might get out of sync. I just look for opportunities.”

Mullin, who finished with 21 points, credited Villanova’s defense with preventing him from getting good shots in the first half, when he had only four shots and six points, but made five assists.

His streak, which started with 6:14 left, brought the Redmen from a 54-52 deficit to a 61-57 lead.

Mullin scored as he was falling to tie it, 54-54, and then followed with a dunk after a steal.

Villanova went ahead, 57-56, on a three-point play by Ed Pinckney, but Mullin followed with two free throws and the Redmen never trailed again.

Pinckney rebounded a St. John’s miss, but Mullin stole the ball, retrieved it after Pinckney blocked his shot and scored a basket as he was fouled by Pinckney. Mullin’s free throw made it 61-57 at 3:28.

Wilbur’s corner jumper brought Villanova within 61-59, but Mullin stole a pass by Harold Pressley and fed Bill Wennington for a basket. Then Mullin scored on a rebound to give St. John’s a 65-59 lead with 1:22 left, and the Redmen held on.

Walter Berry had 18 points for the Redmen and Wennington added 14. Dwayne McClain had 24 for Villanova and Pinckney 17.

Villanova led, 37-33, at the half and scored two quick baskets in the second half before St. John’s narrowed its deficit to 43-42 on a three-point play by Mullin.

Villanova had a 50-45 lead, but a basket by Wennington and two free throws by Berry tied it, 52-52.

Then Mullin took over.

Kansas 75, Memphis State 71--Ron Kellogg scored 34 points and the Jayhawks upset the third-ranked Tigers at Lawrence, Kan.

Kellogg scored in 12 points as the Jayhawks built a 34-28 halftime lead, then made 8 of 9 shots to start the second half as Kansas (20-4) appeared to be cruising to victory.

Keith Lee, who scored 22 points, and Willie Becton, who had 22, led a rally in which Memphis State (17-2) narrowed a 16-point deficit to 71-69 with 53 seconds left.

Tad Boyle of Kansas made four free throws in the final 33 seconds to clinch the victory.

Georgetown 78, Boston College 68--David Wingate and Bill Martin combined for nine consecutive points in the final 3:07 and the second-ranked Hoyas pulled away from the Eagles for a Big East victory at Boston.

Boston College (16-6, 5-6) closed an 11-point deficit to 67-66 on a shot by Michael Adams, who had 21 points, with 3:55 left.

Martin hit four free throws to start the rally to put Georgetown (21-2, 8-2) ahead, 71-66, with 1:51 left. Wingate, who scored 18 points, connected on a three-point play with 52 seconds left and ended the run with two more free throws with 36 seconds remaining.

North Carolina State 82, SMU 78--Terry Gannon scored 19 points, including two free throws to send the game into overtime, and the Wolfpack rallied to upset the No. 4 Mustangs at Raleigh, N.C.

Spud Webb and Gannon then hit the first two baskets of the extra period, and SMU couldn’t catch up.

Gannon had 10 points in the final 13 minutes of regulation to help bring the Wolfpack (14-7) back from a 63-51 deficit to a 71-71 tie.

The Wolfpack held the Mustangs (18-4) scoreless for the final 8:14 of regulation. Seven-foot SMU center Jon Koncak, who averages 18 points a game, didn’t score in the second half and finished with five.

Duke 70, Maryland 62--Mark Alarie scored 21 points and Johnny Dawkins added 20 as the fifth-ranked Blue Devils beat the Terrapins in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C., denying Coach Lefty Driesell his 500th victory.

Maryland (19-7, 5-3) took the lead, 43-42, on Jeff Adkins’ jumper with 10:34 to go. The Blue Devils (17-4, 6-4) regained the lead on Kevin Strickland’s jumper and gradually pulled away when Alarie scored nine points and Dawkins hit four in a 2 1/2-minute span.

Adkins brought Maryland to within 61-57 with 1:12 left, but Len Bias was called for a technical foul and Driesell got another for giving an official the choke sign.

“I was just straightening my tie,” Driesell said.

Dawkins hit all four free throws to give Duke a 65-57 lead, and Maryland never threatened again.

Michigan 57, Illinois 45--Roy Tarpley had 17 points and seven rebounds as the Wolverines (18-3, 9-2) passed idle Iowa for the Big Ten lead by rallying to beat the Illini (18-7, 6-4) at Ann Arbor, Mich.

TCU 72, Arkansas 66--Dennis Nutt and Jamie Dixon combined for seven free throws in the final minute of overtime to give the Horned Frogs (13-9, 5-6) a Southwest Conference upset of the Razorbacks (16-9, 7-4) despite 37 points by Joe Kleine at Fort Worth.

Auburn 75, Tennessee 60--Chuck Person scored 31 points as the Tigers (14-7, 6-6) knocked off the Volunteers (15-9, 6-6) in a Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

Syracuse 65, Notre Dame 62--Dwayne (Pearl) Washington scored 20 points and Rafael Addison added 17 as the Orangemen (16-4) hit 9 of 12 free throws in the final minutes to outlast the Irish (13-6) at South Bend, Ind.

Tulsa 87, Wichita State 75--Herbert Johnson had 32 points and 15 rebounds as the Hurricane (18-4, 9-2) pulled into a tie with the Shockers (13-9, 9-2) for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a victory at Wichita, Kan. Xavier McDaniel had 31 points and 20 rebounds for Wichita State.

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Loyola Chicago 127, Detroit 100--Alfredrick Hughes became the ninth leading scorer in college basketball history with a school-record 47 points, giving him a career mark of 2,606, as the Ramblers (16-5, 9-1) outpointed the Titans (12-9, 6-4) in a Midwestern City Conference game at Chicago.

Oklahoma 81, Kansas State 75--All-American Wayman Tisdale scored 27 points--17 in the second half--as the Sooners (19-4, 8-0) won a Big Eight Conference game from the Wildcats (10-11, 1-7) at Manhattan, Kan.

Georgia 79, Mississippi State 74--Donald Hartry scored 17 points at Athens, Ga., as the Bulldogs (16-5, 8-4) retained a share of the Southeastern Conference lead while dropping the Maroons (11-10, 7-5) out of a four-way tie for the top spot.

Florida 78, Vanderbilt 66--Eugene McDowell had 25 points and nine rebounds at Gainesville, Fla., as the Gators (16-5, 8-4) remained tied with Georgia and Kentucky for the SEC lead by handing the Commodores (8-13, 1-11) their 11th straight defeat.

Kentucky 67, Mississippi 52--Kenny Walker scored 26 of his 33 points in the second half at Lexington, Ky., as the Wildcats (13-8, 8-4) retained a share of the SEC lead by downing the Rebels (9-12, 3-10).

Texas El Paso 97, BYU 86--Donnell Allen scored seven points in the third overtime and the Miners (18-6, 10-2) held first place in the Western Athletic Conference by holding off the Cougars (13-10, 7-5) at El Paso, Tex.