College Basketball Roundup : Alford Leads Indiana Past Purdue in Overtime

Steve Alford scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half and hit the lone field goal of overtime with 1:54 left Thursday night to give Indiana a 71-70 Big Ten victory over No. 15-ranked Purdue at Bloomington, Ind.

The loss dropped the Boilermakers (16-4 overall, 5-2 in the conference) out of a first-place tie with idle Michigan.

Purdue’s Mack Gadis missed a shot with six seconds remaining, and Steve Eyl pulled down the rebound for Indiana (12-4, 4-2).

The Boilermakers had a 69-64 lead with four minutes left on a jumper by Doug Lee, but Indiana scored the last five points in regulation, three on free throws by Alford. Neither team scored in the final 2:37, Alford missing a shot at the buzzer.

Purdue’s Jeff Arnold broke the 69-69 tie by making a free throw 37 seconds into overtime, but that was the Boilermakers’ only point in the final nine minutes of the game.

Illinois 67, Ohio State 65--Ken Norman and Bruce Douglas each sank two free throws in the final 23 seconds, and the Illini held on to beat the Buckeyes in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

The Illini (13-5, 4-3) watched a 37-24 halftime advantage turn into a six-point deficit late in the game but scored six of the game’s final eight points to pull out the victory.

Ohio State (9-7, 3-3), which has lost six of its last nine games, took advantage of eight Illini turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half to get back into the game with a 14-2 burst.

Iowa 76, Northwestern 43--Jeff Moe scored 10 of his 12 points during a 16-0 run that carried the Hawkeyes past the Wildcats in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

The Hawkeyes (14-5, 4-2) scored the first seven points and never trailed, building an 80-37 lead.

Shon Morris had 17 points for the Wildcats (6-10, 0-5).

Minnesota 67, Wisconsin 65--Todd Alexander grabbed his own rebound and hit the winning shot with one second left to give the Gophers a Big Ten victory over the Badgers at Madison, Wis.

The Badgers (9-7, 1-5) rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the second half and led, 61-56, on Rod Ripley’s tip-in with 5:19 left. Ripley’s basket capped a 22-5 streak by the Badgers after they trailed, 51-39, with 14:12 to play,

Marc Wilson made three straight baskets to give Minnesota (13-6, 3-3) a 65-63 lead, but the Badgers tied it again on Mike Heineman’s two free throws with 1:03 left.

Kansas 81, Missouri 77--Ron Kellogg, who scored 27 points, made two free throws with eight seconds left to ensure the seventh-ranked Jayhawks’ Big Eight victory over the Tigers at Columbia, Mo.

Missouri (16-6, 3-2) trailed, 73-62, with six minutes left but closed within 79-77 on baskets by Derrick Chievous and Dan Bingenheimer in the final minute.

Kellogg’s shots helped Kansas (18-2, 4-0) cement its hold on the Big Eight lead.

Chievous had 31 points, and Jeff Strong added 20 for Missouri.

Kentucky 74, Georgia 69--The 11th-ranked Wildcats lost most of a 24-point lead in the last 15 1/2 minutes but hung on to beat the Bulldogs in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats (15-2, 6-1) built a 55-31 margin on Paul Andrews’ base-line jumper with 15:35 left.

Georgia (10-6, 3-4), behind the shooting of forward Willie Anderson, narrowed the score to 59-50 with 8:53 to play. Anderson hit four baskets during the 19-4 spurt.

Winston Bennett banked in a 10-footer, and Ed Davender hit two free throws to widen Kentucky’s margin to 63-50 with 7:06 left. Georgia made a run at the finish by scoring the final eight points.

Alabama Birmingham 81, North Carolina Charlotte 63--Steve Mitchell scored 19 points, and James Ponder added 14 as the 18th-ranked Blazers turned back the 49ers in a Sun Belt Conference game at Birmingham, Ala.

Alabama Birmingham (18-4, 6-1) held only a 35-32 halftime lead before overpowering the 49ers (5-11, 0-6) in the second half to build a 75-53 lead with 8:44 left.

North Carolina State 67, Maryland 55--Charles Shackleford scored 20 points, and the Wolfpack had a 9-0 streak late in the game to turn back the Terrapins in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

The Wolfpack (12-5, 4-2) led by as many as nine points in the first half before Maryland (10-7, 0-5) rallied to tie the score three times after halftime, the last at 47-47.

Chris Washburn, who scored 16 points, hit a field goal to put North Carolina State ahead and touched off the deciding spurt that made it 56-47. Maryland hit just one field goal in the last 7 1/2 minutes.

Bradley 67, Illinois State 63--Mike Williams scored 30 points, and the 17th-ranked Braves survived in overtime of a Missouri Valley Conference game at Peoria, Ill.

The Redbirds (9-8, 4-2) had a 55-52 lead before sophomore Hersey Hawkins tied the score for Bradley (19-1, 6-0) on a three-point play with 49 seconds left in regulation. Todd Starks sank two free throws to give Illinois State a 57-55 lead with eight seconds left, but Jim Les scored for Bradley with one second left to send the game into overtime.

Bradley scored the first five points in overtime to wrap up its 10th straight victory. Les had 13 points and 10 assists, while Starks scored 17 for the Redbirds.

Richmond 67, Navy 61--Peter Woolfolk and John Davis fueled a second-half rally that erased a 12-point deficit and sent the Spiders into sole possession of the Colonial Athletic Assn. lead with a victory over the Midshipmen at Richmond, Va.

Kylor Whitaker gave the Midshipmen (14-4, 5-1) a 37-25 lead on two free throws with 2:01 left in the first half.

The Spiders (15-1, 6-0) turned the game around after intermission. Woolfolk scored 10 of his 16 points then, and Davis had six of his eight points and five steals.