College Basketball Roundup : A Royal Night as Irish Top DePaul

For Notre Dame’s Donald Royal, practice indeed made for perfect.

“In high school, I was a terrible free-throw shooter, but I’ve improved a lot,” he said Tuesday night after hitting 16 for 16 from the foul line against DePaul.

Sparked by Royal’s 26 points, the No. 12 Irish defeated the Blue Demons, 70-59, in a nonconference game at South Bend, Ind.

“(Assistant coach) Gary Brokaw has taught me different techniques, and I practice before and after practice each day,” Royal said. “I work on the same rhythm every time.”

DePaul Coach Joey Meyer said the Blue Demons’ offense stagnated in the second half and lacked the aggression that keyed their upset victory Saturday over St. John’s.

But then, there was Royal, too, Meyer admits. “He takes it right to you and draws the fouls,” he said.

While Royal was setting a Notre Dame individual record for consecutive free throws, David Rivers added 14 points.

Kevin Holmes and Dallas Comegys led the Blue Demons (15-11) with 15 each.

Notre Dame (20-5), the nation’s third-leading free-throw shooting team at 78%, made 30 of 35 attempts from the foul line.

With six minutes left, the Blue Demons moved to within 56-51 before the Irish outscored DePaul, 14-8, the rest of the way.

Notre Dame hit 15 of 17 from the free-throw line in the first half, including 9 of 9 from Royal, to take a 37-30 halftime lead.

Ken Barlow, the Notre Dame’s leading foul shooter and scorer, was benched seven minutes into the half with three fouls and finished the game with two points.

DePaul held the lead during the first 10 minutes, thanks to Tony Jackson’s shooting, before Notre Dame came back with six unanswered points and sparked a two-minute streak in which the lead changed hands four times.

The Irish then scored 10 straight points, including six from Royal, to take the lead for good.

Iowa State 76, Oklahoma St. 61--Sophomore Jeff Grayer poured in 25 points as the Cyclones cruised to a victory at Ames, Iowa, that clinched a second-place finish in the Big Eight. The win was Iowa State’s 17th straight over two seasons at home, giving the Cyclones their first unbeaten home season in school history.

Ron Virgil, one of three seniors playing their final home game for Coach Johnny Orr, added 12 points while reserve Tom Schafer added 10.

Terry Faggins led the Cowboys with 22 points, and Alan Bannister added 12.

Iowa State improved its record to 9-4 in the conference and 18-8 overall while the Cowboys dropped to 5-8 and 14-12.

Navy 85, Richmond 72--Vernon Butler scored 27 points and Kylor Whitaker added 24 at Annapolis, Md., as 19th-ranked Navy won the regular-season championship of the Colonial Athletic Assn.

It was the 16th straight home-court victory for Navy, which earned the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Navy, 24-4 overall, ended with a 13-1 conference record.

Richmond, led by Peter Woolfolk’s 24 points, is 22-5 overall and finished 12-2 in conference.

After cutting a 15-point deficit to 71-66 with five mintues left, Richmond committed turnovers on consecutive possessions. Navy converted both opportunities and turned back Richmond from there.

Villanova 85, Monmouth 52--Harold Jensen scored a game-high 16 points and had 6 assists to lead the Wildcats to an easy victory over error-prone Monmouth in a nonconference game at Villanova, Pa.

The victory improved Villanova’s record to 20-12, marking the eighth season in the last nine that Coach Rollie Massimino has led Villanova to at least 20 victories.

Monmouth committed 35 turnovers, which Villanova converted to 28 points. The Wildcats also capitalized on superior height, with the front line accounting for 52 points.

The Wildcats never trailed in the game, accumulating six points before Monmouth even scored and ending the half with a 38-27 lead.

All 13 players on the Villanova roster scored. Ken Henry led Monmouth with 15 points.

Xavier 93, Dayton 78--Sophomore guard Byron Larkin scored 25 points and Walt McBride added 23 to lead the Musketeers over the Flyers in a nonconference game at Cincinnati.

The victory ended the season for Xavier (23-4), which earlier clinched the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Dayton (16-11) was paced by forward Ed Young with 27 points and Damon Goodwin with 21.