College Basketball Roundup : Loyola Wins the Battle of Chicago, 78-71

Alfredrick Hughes scored 28 points Tuesday night to lead Loyola of Chicago to a 78-71 upset victory over slumping DePaul at Rosemont, Ill.

Hughes, one of the nation’s leading scorers with a 26.7 average, said the victory, Loyola’s ninth straight, was important, but not as important as an earlier triumph over Illinois.

“Illinois was ranked higher and we wanted some national attention,” said Hughes, who believes the victory over DePaul clinches an NCAA Tournament berth for the Ramblers.

“I don’t think they can keep us out if we keep winning and keep our mouths shut,” said Hughes, who boosted his career total to 2,634 points to go into seventh place on the all-time NCAA list ahead of Michael Brooks of LaSalle, who had 2,628 points.

“I heard that,” said Coach Gene Sullivan about Hughes’ remark. “I want equal time.”

Loyola has been denied postseason bids in recent years and Sullivan has berated officials of both the NCAA and the NIT tournaments.

Loyola improved its record 17-5 while DePaul, losing for a fourth time in the last six games, slipped to 15-7.

Andre Battle added 23 points to Loyola’s total, while Tyrone Corbin led DePaul with 15 points and Dallas Comegys and Ken Patterson had 14 points each.

Hughes’ basket late in the contest opened a 69-60 lead and that was the game.

St. John’s 68, Columbia 49--Chris Mullin and Walter Berry led a second-half surge that helped the top-ranked Redmen extend their winning streak to 15 games, the longest in Division I.

St. John’s shot out to a 26-8 lead with Mullin and Berry totaling 14 points between them, but the Lions outscored the Redmen 14-4 over the last 7:18 and only trailed by eight points at intermission.

The Lions, however, could get no closer than six points the rest of the way. St. John’s led, 40-31, with less than 13 minutes to play, but then Berry and Mullin combined for four points apiece in an 8-2 spurt for a 48-33 advantage, virtually sewing up the game.

Missouri 62, Kansas 55--The Tigers scored their fifth straight Big Eight Conference victory by defeating the 10th-ranked Jayhawks at Columbia, Mo.

Derrick Chievous and Malcolm Thomas combined for 29 points for Missouri, while Jeff Strong and Dan Bingenheimer helped preserve the victory with clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch.

The Tigers are 15-9 overall and 5-4 in Big Eight play.

Boston College 101, Seton Hall 83--Michael Adams scored 21 points and had nine assists to lead the Eagles (17-6, 6-6) to the Big East victory at South Orange, N.J.

The Pirates (9-14, 0-12) lost their 12th straight despite receiving a career-high 36 points from Andre McCloud, who made 13-of-19 shots and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Syracuse 82, Providence 76--Rafael Addison scored 31 points to help the eighth-ranked Orangemen hold off the Friars in a Big East Conference game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse (17-4, 7-4) made 10 consecutive free throws in the final minutes to thwart Providence (9-16, 2-10), which drew to within four points with four minutes to go.

The Friars were led by Brian Waller’s 18 points, while Dwayne Washington scored 15 points and Michael Brown added 12 for Syracuse.

Iona 80, Holy Cross 58--Bob Coleman scored 16 points as the Gaels (20-3, 8-2) reached the 20-win mark for the fourth straight season with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory as New Rochelle, N.Y.