College Basketball Roundup : Seikaly Scores 33 to Lead Syracuse Past Michigan

Rony Seikaly said Michigan was playing right into his hands with its man-to-man defense.

Seikaly equaled his career-high 33 points Sunday to lead 17th-ranked Syracuse to an 89-71 victory over the eighth-ranked Wolverines at Syracuse, N.Y.

“I wasn’t surprised because they play man a lot in the Big Ten,” Seikaly said. “But I was happy. When you’re playing against a man-to-man, it makes the game a lot more fun.

“Playing against a man-to-man, I got my confidence up. I wanted the ball and I worked harder to get open, and the people on my team got me the ball. Against a zone, you have to stand around and hope for the ball.”

Seikaly also scored 33 points in a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. playoff game against Florida last season.

Syracuse (15-5) built a 39-34 halftime lead as Seikaly scored 18 points, and he added 6 more as the Orangemen started the second half with a 14-6 run to make it 53-40.

“We couldn’t contain Seikaly and we tried everything, fronting him, playing behind him and doubling him,” Michigan Coach Bill Frieder said.

Michigan (17-3) closed the gap to 61-58 with 10:42 left, as Gary Grant scored 9 of his 22 points in that span. But Syracuse responded with 11 straight points and turned the game into a rout.

Michigan, which got 21 points from Terry Mills, built a 17-9 lead in the first 6 1/2 minutes, outscoring Syracuse, 11-2, over a 2 1/2-minute stretch. Syracuse still trailed, 24-16, midway through the first half before taking control by scoring 21 of the next 31 points.

Temple 77, Rhode Island 70--Tim Perry scored a career-high 27 points, and the sixth-ranked Owls survived a late rally by the Rams to score an Atlantic 10 Conference victory at Kingston, R.I.

The loss snapped Rhode Island’s 10-game winning streak. The Rams have never beaten Temple in 22 meetings.

The Owls (16-1, 10-0) built a 62-47 lead with 12:28 left but scored only one field goal in the next eight minutes. Rhode Island (17-3, 7-2) outscored Temple, 16-4, and cut the lead to 66-63 with 5:07 remaining.

Howard Evans’ three-pointer gave Temple a 69-63 lead, but Tom Garrick’s basket cut the margin to 69-65 with 3:36 left. Perry made 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute to clinch the victory.

Kenny Green scored 18 points for Rhode Island, and Garrick added 17.

Kentucky 78, Notre Dame 69--Rex Chapman’s three-point play with 1:18 left lifted the ninth-ranked Wildcats to a victory over the Irish at Louisville, Ky.

Notre Dame (12-5), which trailed by 10 points at one point in the second half, pulled within 67-65 on David Rivers’ three-point shot with 1:51 left.

After Chapman’s big play gave Kentucky (14-3) a five-point lead, the Irish could get no closer than 72-69 on Rivers’ two free throws with 24 seconds remaining.

Ed Davender scored 23 points for Kentucky, followed by Chapman and LeRon Ellis, a freshman making his first start, with 14 apiece. Rivers scored 21 for Notre Dame, and Gary Voce added 18.

North Carolina State 71, DePaul 66--Chucky Brown scored 10 points in the final nine minutes to lead the Wolfpack past the Blue Demons at Raleigh, N.C.

Brown sparked a rally, which helped the Wolfpack (12-4) erase a five-point deficit, and his three-point play with 1:25 remaining broke a 64-64 tie.

Brown scored 22 points. Rod Strickland had 30 for DePaul (12-5).