College Basketball Roundup : LSU Hands Kentucky Its Worst Home Loss in 60 Years, 76-41

Kentucky’s Eddie Sutton was red-faced and humiliated.

“I’ve coached 30 years and this is the most embarrassing loss I’ve ever been associated with,” Sutton said after Louisiana State crushed his Wildcats, 76-41, in a nationally televised Southeastern Conference game Sunday at Lexington, Ky.

“I want to apologize to all the great fans of Kentucky basketball,” he added. “We struggled all afternoon offensively. We turned the ball over more times than we have all season long.”

Sutton didn’t bring any players into the post-game interview room “because none of them deserved to come.”

He also scheduled a practice for Sunday evening.

It was the worst defeat inflicted on a Kentucky team since an 89-50 loss to City College of New York in the 1950 National Invitation Tournament. It also marked the biggest margin at home since a 48-10 loss to Cincinnati on Dec. 18, 1926.

Center Nikita Wilson scored 12 points in a 19-2 spurt midway through the second half that sparked LSU to its lopsided victory in Rupp Arena.

“It’s a great feeling to come in here and play together like we did,” Wilson said.

“You can’t predict anything like that,” LSU Coach Dale Brown said. “It was really a gratifying win.”

LSU, snapping a three-game losing streak, improved to 10-8 overall and 2-5 in the SEC. Kentucky dropped to 9-5 and 3-4.

Kentucky hit only 12 of 48 shots for 25% and turned the ball over 27 times.

LSU’s biggest advantage was 74-38 with 1:21 to play.

Anthony Wilson led LSU with 28 points, followed by Nikita Wilson with 16 and Oliver Brown with 12. The Tigers made 30 of 57 shots for 53%.

James Blackmon paced Kentucky with 14 points, the only Wildcat to score in double figures.

Michigan 91, Syracuse 88--At Ann Arbor, Mich., Gary Grant scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half as Michigan held off a late Syracuse charge and upset the previously unbeaten and fifth-ranked Orangemen.

Garde Thompson’s three-point basket with 2:26 remaining gave the Wolverines an 86-77 advantage, but the Orangemen scored six points in 29 seconds to cut the lead to 86-83 with 1:57 remaining.

Syracuse countered two layups by Michigan’s Loy Vaught with a pair of three-point baskets by guards Greg Monroe and Sherman Douglas. The Michigan lead was 90-86 with 1:26 remaining after Vaught’s second basket.

A pair of free throws by Rony Seikaly with 1:15 to go cut the Wolverines’ lead to two points, but the Orangemen could draw no closer despite two Michigan turnovers in the game’s final 1:02.

Seikaly, who finished with 25 points to lead all scorers, missed a short jumper with three seconds remaining. Grant was fouled on the rebound and made one of two free throws to ice it for Michigan.

The victory raised Michigan’s record to 11-6, while Syracuse slipped to 15-1.

North Carolina 96, North Carolina St. 78--Freshman J.R. Reid scored a season-high 31 points as third-ranked North Carolina took advantage of its height in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The 6-foot-9 Reid tied the Tar Heels’ record for most points by a freshman in a game, set by Mike O’Koren in the semifinals of the 1977 NCAA tournament against Nevada Las Vegas. Reid hit 13 of 14 shots from the field and added 13 rebounds.

No. 17-ranked N.C. State was without 6-10 center Charles Shackleford, who sprained an ankle last Thursday. Without him, Reid and 6-10 Joe Wolf helped the Tar Heels take control on the boards at both ends.

Teviin Binns, a 6-10 senior starting in place of Shackleford, scored on a follow shot with 11:06 remaining to give the Wolfpack a 25-23 edge, but Reid scored on an alley-oop and tied the score again.

The Wolfpack hit only one of its next 12 shots as the Tar Heels gained the lead for good.

Kenny Smith scored 22 points and Wolf added 20 for the Tar Heels, who won their 13th straight game and climbed to 15-1, 4-0 in the ACC.

Bennie Bolton scored 22 points and Kenny Drummond scored 20 for the Wolfpack (11-4, 3-2).

Arizona St. 80, Washington St. 64--At Pullman, Wash., Steve Beck scored 25 points and Arthur Thomas added 15 to lead the Sun Devils to their first Pac-10 victory of the season.

Arizona State, which led 35-30 at halftime, outscored Washington State, 12-0, during a second-half run to move from 45-42 with 13:28 to play to 57-42. WSU got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Brian Wright had 23 points for Washington State, which dropped its fourth straight to fall to 6-8 and 2-4. Arizona State is now 5-9 and 1-5.

Purdue 88, Louisville 73--Doug Lee scored 23 points, including 4 of 6 three-pointers, at West Lafayette, Ind., as No. 6 Purdue raised its record to 14-1, its best start in 49 years.

Purdue’s only loss this season was to No. 3 North Carolina.

Todd Mitchell added 22 points for the Boilermakers. Herbert Crook led Louisville (8-8) with 16 points.

Pervis Ellison, Louisville’s leading scorer, was sent to the bench after committing his fourth foul just 1:40 into the second half.

Temple 70, St. Joseph’s 69--Tim Perry and Mike Vreeswyk each had 18 points at Philadelphia as 11th-ranked Temple held off St. Joseph’s in the closing minutes of an Atlantic 10 game.

Temple (16-2, 6-0) took a 70-62 lead on a jump shot by Nate Blackwell with 5:58 to play and didn’t score again as the Hawks scored six straight points and trailed by 70-68 on a jumper by Rodney Blake with 3:18 to play.

Blake was fouled with 3 seconds to go and made the first. But he missed the second, and the Owls’ Derrick Brantley pulled down the rebound as the game ended.

St. Joseph’s held a 53-48 lead with 16:32 remaining before Temple went on a 16-2 run, including 8 straight points by Blackwell, to take a 64-55 lead with 10:32 left. During that span, Temple’s defense caused six Hawk turnovers and held St. Joseph’s without a point for 6:01.

Of Temple, St. Joseph’s Coach Jim Boyle said: “They are a great team and certainly deserve to be ranked. Perry really played well. And Vreeswyk hurt us at the start of the second half.”

Vreeswyk scored 10 of Temple’s first 12 points in the second half. A three-pointer by Vreeswyk with 16:12 left cut St. Joseph’s six-point halftime lead to 53-51.

Blackwell scored 15 points for the Owls. Wayne Williams had 20 for St. Joseph’s (8-4, 4-2).

Baylor 80, Rice 64--Darryl Middleton scored 18 of Baylor’s team-high 24 points in the second half and pulled down 12 rebounds in a Southwest Conference game at Houston.

After leading by one point, 39-38, with 13 minutes left, Baylor scored 10 of the next 13 points for a 49-41 advantage. The Owls cut the deficit to 6 with eight minutes left, but Baylor (8-7, 3-2) dominated the final minutes of play.

Rice (6-10, 0-5) was led by Greg Hines with a game-high 26 points. Andy Gilchrist added a season-high 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Owls.