College Basketball Roundup : Hoosiers Sneak Past N.C. Wilmington, 73-72

Dean Garrett, removed from the starting lineup by Coach Bob Knight, played the hero’s role as No. 2-ranked Indiana overcame a tournament-record 35-point performance by Brian Rowsom to edge North Carolina Wilmington, 73-72, Friday night in the opening game of the Indiana tournament at Bloomington, Ind.

The Hoosiers (4-1), undefeated in the 13-year-history of the tournament, tonight will face East Carolina, which beat Southern Illinois, 89-71. East Carolina was led by Marchell Henry, who matched Rowsom’s record of 35 points. He scored 28 in the second half.

In the first game, a rebound basket by Garrett off a Steve Alford miss with 1:32 left provided the winning margin for Indiana. Garrett then made his seventh block of the game to knock the potential winning shot out of bounds.

Garrett, who prepped in San Clemente, transferred to Indiana from City College of San Francisco. He scored 12 of his season-high 17 points in the second half to help the Hoosiers hold off a second-half rally by the Seahawks (2-2). He also had 16 rebounds.

Knight removed Garrett from the starting unit after a Wednesday loss to Vanderbilt. Knight was not available to the press after Friday’s game. He left immediately for a high school game involving his son and sent assistant coach Jody Wright to the postgame news conference.

“I thought Garrett played his best game tonight; he was very active defensively, and his block was crucial at the end,” Wright said.

Alford had 9 of his 20 points in the first half as the Hoosiers scored 14 consecutive points to start a streak that gave them an 18-point lead, 43-25, shortly before halftime.

The Seahawks got back into the game by scoring the final four points of the first half and the first six points of the second half. Adam Porter, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, pulled the Seahawks within one with 7:54 to go.

Rowsom and Henry broke the tournament record of 33 points set by Mike Woodson of Indiana against Xavier (Ohio) in 1980.

“Rowsom presents the best inside player we’ve seen all year,” said Wright of the 6-9 center who had a game-high 18 rebounds.

Illinois 92, Baylor 68--Ken Norman scored 24 points as the sixth-rated Illini (6-0) took command from the start against the Bears (3-4) in the Illini tournament at Champaign, Ill.

Doug Altenberger had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, and Glynn Blackwell added 16 points for the Illini who shot 68% for the game.

Said Baylor Coach Gene Iba: “Altenberger is a great player, and Norman is a great player,” Iba said. “The thing that impresses me was that they could go deep on their bench with very good players.”

Darryl Middleton led Baylor with 19 points and Mike Williams added 15.

In tonight’s final, Illinois will meet Princeton (3-1), a 71-60 winner over Illinois Chicago (2-2). Dave Orlandini led Princeton with 21 points.

SMU 93, Prairie View 45--The winning margin by the Mustangs at Dallas was the third largest in the school’s history.

SMU (5-1) was led by Carlton McKinney with 21 points, followed by Scott Johnson and Johnny Fuller with 18 apiece.