College Basketball Roundup : Freshman Chapman Leads Kentucky Rout at Louisville, 85-51

Kentucky basketball Coach Eddie Sutton adopted a son Saturday.

Freshman guard Rex Chapman hit 5 of 8 three-point goals on his way to his third 26-point performance of the season to lead the 18th-ranked Wildcats to an 85-51 rout over defending NCAA champion Louisville at Louisville.

“He’s my son,” Sutton said as he hugged Chapman during a postgame interview. “I’ve got three others, but I just adopted him. He was wonderful.

“God not only gave him great tools, but a great mind,” Sutton said of the 19-year-old from Owensboro, Ky. “And he was blessed with having a coach as a father. I think he is the best freshman in the country.”

It was the first time either team had won a regular-season game on their opponent’s home court since the series resumed in 1983 after a 24-year layoff. Ed Davender scored 16 points, James Blackmon added 11 and Richard Madison grabbed 17 rebounds to help the Wildcats improve to 6-1.

Louisville (4-6) was led by Tony Kimbro and Felton Spencer, with 10 points each. Pervis Ellison, who had averaged 18.3 points per game, was held to 4 points. Ellison didn’t have a point or rebound in the second half.

The Wildcats made 11 of 17 three-point attempts as they had four 5-0 spurts in the game. They led at halftime, 38-28.

Said Sutton: “We’re not 34 points better than Louisville. It was just a game where everything fell into place.”

Said Louisville Coach Denny Crum: “They did just about everything right. They beat us every way you can beat a team. Even when we did a good job--had a hand in somebody’s face--they still made it.

“We’re not going to go to sleep because we got beat. We’re going to go out and try to get better. I don’t know if we’re getting better, but they’re trying hard.”

It was the biggest loss ever by a Louisville team in Freedom Hall and Crum’s biggest setback in his 16 seasons with the Cardinals.

Virginia Tech beat Louisville, 81-61, Jan. 30, 1985 at Freedom Hall. Crum’s worst loss was 86-64 to North Carolina Dec. 29, 1980 in the Winston Tire tournament in Los Angeles.

Late in the game, Louisville fans, disgusted with what they were witnessing, began cheering for the Wildcats.

Loyola (Chicago) 83, Illinois 82--Bernard Jackson scored 18 of his 31 points in the second half for the Ramblers (5-3), who stunned the ninth-ranked Illini (8-2) at Chicago.

Loyola, trailing, 45-41, at halftime, came back to take a 10-point lead with 7:39 left and then held on at the end as Jackson hit three key free throws. Keith Carter added 18 points and Andre Moore had 17 for the Ramblers.

Lowell Hamilton led Illinois with 21 points, followed by Ken Norman with 20.

Tampa 67, North Carolina State 62--John Jones scored 30 points, including 4 in the final 33 seconds, as the Division II Spartans upset the No. 11 Wolfpack at Tampa, Fla.

North Carolina State (8-2), playing without Coach Jim Valvano, who didn’t make the trip because of a viral infection, committed 23 turnovers and shot only 27% in the second half, when it blew a 10-point lead.

Tampa, which lost games on the road to Louisville and Purdue last week, improved to 9-2.

TCU 95, Oklahoma 82--Jamie Dixon scored 28 points for the unranked Horned Frogs (9-3) in their upset of the sixth-ranked Sooners (7-2) in the final of the All College tournament at Oklahoma City.

Five TCU players reached double figures, including Carl Lott with 22 and Carven Holcombe with 19.

Tim McCalister led Oklahoma with 23 points, including five 5 three-pointers, and Darryl Kennedy scored 20 points, 16 of them in the second half.

Dixon, a product of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Arizona 70, St. Bonaventure 64--Sean Elliott scored 21 points for the Wildcats, including a pair of free throws that put the game out of reach, in the semifinals of the Fiesta Bowl tournament at Tucson.

In Monday night’s final, Arizona (4-3) will face Texas Tech (4-5). The Red Raiders defeated North Carolina Charlotte, 71-70, on a tip-in by Mike Nelson at the buzzer.

Wisconsin Green Bay 61, Northwestern 49--Steve Cottrell and Richard Sims had 17 points apiece for the winners, who held the Wildcats to their lowest total of the season at Green Bay, Wis.

Green Bay (2-5) jumped to an 11-0 lead and led at halftime, 31-19.

Northwestern (5-4) was led by Shon Morris with 17 points.

North Carolina 81, Kansas State 62--Kenny Smith scored 19 points and Joe Wolf added 16, and the fourth-ranked Tar Heels (8-1) overpowered the Wildcats (8-3) at Kansas City, Mo.

North Carolina built a 43-33 halftime lead, then put it away with a 24-8 run after intermission.

Indiana 82, Illinois State 58--Steve Alford, named the most valuable player, had 21 points and 7 assists and Rick Calloway added 19 points for the eighth-ranked Hoosiers in the championship game of the Hoosier tournament at Indianapolis.

Indiana hit Illinois State with 8-0 and 10-0 blitzes in the first half and led at halftime, 41-19.

Indiana Coach Bob Knight said of Alford: “Over the 80 minutes of the tournament, he played the best he has since he came to Indiana. We need him to do other things than score.”

Indiana is 9-1, Illinois State 5-4.

St. John’s 64, Virginia 58--Matt Brust, a 6-5 transfer from North Carolina, came off the bench to spark a 16-0 spurt as the 15th-ranked Redmen overcame a 34-27 deficit in the semifinals of the Holiday Tournament at New York.

Brust scored 12 points, and Mark Jackson led the Redmen with 17 points. Virginia (5-2) was led by Mel Kennedy with 17 points.

St. John’s (8-0) will face Georgia Tech (6-2) in Monday’s championship game. The Yellow Jackets beat Rutgers, 79-61, as Duane Ferrell scored 22 points.

California 83, Florida 80--Guard Kevin Johnson scored 28 points, including the winning free throws in the last 33 seconds, as the Bears upset the 20th-ranked Gators in the Rainbow tournament at Honolulu .

Free throws proved to be the difference, as the Bears connected on 23 of 25 attempts form the line, while the Gators made only 12 of 23. Nineteen of California’s free throws came on 21 attempts by Leonard Taylor.

Louisiana Tech 88, Washington 87--Byron Newton hit an 18-foot jump shot at the buzzer to lift Louisiana Tech over the Huskies in the opening round of the Far West tournament at Portland, Ore.

Newton’s three-pointer with eight seconds to play cut the Huskies’ lead to 87-86. After Washington threw the ball away with two seconds left, Newton took a pass in the right corner and scored the game-winner.

The Bulldogs (6-4), advanced to tonight’s semifinals against Oregon State, 79-58 winners over Idaho. San Jose State faces Oregon in the other semifinal.

Nevada Las Vegas 103, Old Dominion 83--Forward Armon Gilliam scored a career-high 35 points, leading the top-ranked Rebels over Old Dominion in the Holiday tournament at Las Vegas.

The Rebels (10-0) advanced to Monday night’s championship game, where they will meet 11th-ranked Navy. The Midshipmen, behind 28 points by senior center David Robinson, beat Idaho State, 78-56, in another opening-round game.