College Basketball Roundup : Indiana Cuts It Close Again--but Wins, 72-70

Indiana escaped again Thursday night with a narrow victory over a team from the lower echelon of the Big Ten.

The second-ranked Hoosiers (22-2 overall, 13-1 in the Big Ten) used a big defensive play by Steve Eyl and the clutch free throw shooting of Dean Garrett to beat Minnesota, 72-70, at Bloomington, Ind.

The victory was Indiana’s eighth straight, including three in a row of two points or less over the conference’s bottom three teams.

Eyl, a 6-6 junior forward who did not score, blocked a shot by Kim Zurcher of Minnesota (9-14, 2-11) in the waning seconds, leading to Garrett’s game-winning free throws with three seconds left.

Garrett, who hit the game-winning shot in Indiana’s 86-85 triple-overtime victory Monday night over Wisconsin, made seven straight free throws in the final four minutes and had 17 points.

“It’s good to have game like this, but not against teams like this,” said Daryl Thomas, who scored 24 points for Indiana.

Kansas 84, Kansas State 67--Danny Manning scored 33 points at Lawrence, Kan., to lift the 15th-ranked Jayhawks to their 48th consecutive home victory and into sole possession of first place in the Big Eight.

Kansas (20-7, 9-3), in its final home game of the season, tied Oklahoma’s conference record for consecutive home victories.

The 6-11 Manning, last year’s Big Eight Player of the Year as a sophomore, scored six of his team’s first 12 points as the Jayhawks took control early on the way to a 40-28 halftime lead.

After Norris Coleman and Mitch Richmond triggered a 12-0 Kansas State run early in the second half, Manning reasserted control, scoring Kansas’ next six points to help the Jayhawks to a 67-41 lead.

Kansas State (17-8, 7-5), losing to its state rival for the 10th consecutive time, got 25 points from Mitch Richmond.

Syracuse 90, Providence 81--Sherman Douglas scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the ninth-ranked Orangemen to a Big East victory at Syracuse.

The sophomore point guard triggered a five-point play with 11:37 left to give the Orangemen (22-4, 10-3) a 67-64 lead. Douglass hit a 20-foot jumper for three points, and Derrick Coleman converted two free throws.

Coleman, a freshman, made 7 of 9 shots, scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Providence (18-6, 8-5), which has never beaten Syracuse in 15 Big East meetings since the conference’s inception in 1980, led by as many as 12 points in the first half and was ahead at halftime, 44-41.

Temple 77, St. Bonaventure 56--Howard Evans scored 20 points at Philadelphia as the fifth-ranked Owls, extending the nation’s longest current winning streak to 14 games, clinched the Atlantic 10 regular season championship.

Temple (27-2, 16-0), playing without center Ramon Rivas, who sat out the game with an infected heel, increased its 34-32 halftime lead to 49-39 with 13:29 left.

St. Bonaventure (5-20, 3-13) got 15 points from Rob Lanier.

Duke 66, North Carolina State 50--The 17th-ranked Blue Devils broke away from the slumping Wolfpack in the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

North Carolina State (14-13, 4-7) lost for the 10th time in 13 games.

After Charles Shackleford’s dunk gave North Carolina State a 22-19 lead with 6:26 left in the half, Duke (21-5, 8-3) outscored the Wolfpack, 15-1, to open a 34-23 halftime lead.

John Smith scored 13 points for Duke, and Shackleford, who did not score in the second half, had 13 for North Carolina State.

Wyoming 85, San Diego State 73--Fennis Dembo scored 29 points, and Eric Leckner, formerly of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, added 19 points and 12 rebounds at Lyramie, Wyo., as the Cowboys (19-6, 11-2) won their 10th straight game to remain in first place in the Western Athletic Conference.

San Diego State (2-23, 0-13) lost its 17th straight.