College Basketball Roundup : Kentucky Turns Back Florida, 80-69, Wins Its 36th SEC Crown

They change coaches now and then at Kentucky, but some things remain the same.

Kenny Walker had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists Wednesday night, and the eighth-ranked Wildcats clinched a tie for their 36th Southeastern Conference championship by beating Florida, 80-69, at Lexington, Ky.

Coach Eddie Sutton, who replaced Joe B. Hall this season, wasn’t taking any of the credit. He reserved that for Walker.

“He ought to be Player of the Year,” Sutton said said. “I just hope the people that vote for Player of the Year feel the same way. No one in America takes as much of a beating as Kenny Walker does.”

Kentucky (23-3 overall, 14-1 in the SEC) had a 55-39 lead, but Florida (14-10, 8-7) rallied to come within 63-56 with 7:27 remaining.

Reserve center Rob Lock’s basket and two free throws at 6:39 gave Kentucky a 67-56 margin, and the Gators were finished.

Nebraska 66, Oklahoma 64--Brian Carr scored 18 points, including a 10-foot jumper with four seconds left, to give the Cornhuskers an upset victory over the 10th-ranked Sooners in a Big Eight game at Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska (16-8, 6-5) led, 43-33, early in the second half, but the Sooners rallied. Harvey Marshall’s basket gave Nebraska a 64-61 lead with 2:29 left, but three points by Oklahoma’s Darryl Kennedy tied the score with 28 seconds left.

Kennedy had 22 points for the Sooners (23-4, 8-4).

Virginia 69, North Carolina State 60--Olden Polynice scored 27 points and led a second-half rally that gave the Cavaliers an Atlantic Coast Conference victory over the No. 20-ranked Wolfpack at Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers (17-7, 6-5) scored only one point in the first eight minutes of the second half, enabling N.C. State (17-9, 6-6) to open a 50-43 advantage.

But Virginia hit 6 of 7 shots and scored 11 straight points to regain control.

Auburn 87, Georgia 86--Michael Jones sank a long jumper with one second left in overtime to give the Tigers an SEC victory over the Bulldogs at Athens, Ga.

Chuck Person scored 24 points, and Frank Ford added 22 for Auburn (16-9, 10-5). Donald Hartry had 22 points, and Joe Ward added 21 for Georgia (14-10, 7-8).

Georgia Tech 59, Wake Forest 49--Duane Ferrell scored 14 points, John Salley had 13 and Mark Price added 12 at Winston-Salem, N.C., as the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets handed the Demon Deacons their 13th ACC defeat without a victory.

Georgia Tech (20-4, 8-3) held a 28-23 halftime lead before Price, held to two points in the first half, made four straight shots from outside to increase the lead to 36-27.

Rod Watson had 22 points for Wake Forest (7-10, 0-13).

Duke 104, Miami (Fla.) 82--Mark Alarie scored 18 points as the second-ranked Blue Devils beat the the Hurricanes at Durham, N.C.

Johnny Dawkins and David Henderson added 16 points each for Duke (26-2). Dennis Burns had 29 for Miami (12-12).

Kansas 79, Colorado 74--Danny Manning scored 25 points, 17 in the second half, as the third-ranked Jayhawks turned back the Buffaloes in a Big Eight game at Boulder, Colo.

Colorado (8-16, 0-11) had a 12-point deficit in the first half and held a 72-71 lead on a jumper by freshman Matt Bullard with 59 seconds left.

Ron Kellog sank four free throws for Kansas (25-3, 10-1) in the final 45 seconds and finished the scoring with a dunk in the closing seconds.

Michael Lee had 22 points for the Buffaloes.

Louisville 89, Florida State 67--Milt Wagner scored 26 points, and freshman center Pervis Ellison added 16 points and 14 rebounds as the No. 16-ranked Cardinals trounced the Seminoles in a Metro Conference game at Louisville.

The victory by the Cardinals (20-7, 8-2) gave Coach Denny Crum his 14th 20-win season in 15 seasons at Louisville.

It was the 21st straight road loss for the Seminoles, who got 18 points from Peewee Barber.

Texas 58, SMU 57--Karl Willock’s free throw with 25 seconds left pushed the Longhorns past the Mustangs at Austin, Tex., and into sole possession of first place in the Southwest Conference.

Patrick Fairs had 18 points and 7 rebounds as the Longhorns (17-8, 12-2) moved ahead of idle TCU. Butch Moore had 14 points for SMU (16-8, 8-5).

Notre Dame 102, Manhattan 47--Ken Barlow scored 24 points, and David Rivers added 15 as the No. 14-ranked Irish routed the Jaspers at New York.

The Irish (18-5) dealt the Jaspers (2-25) their sixth straight loss.