College Basketball Roundup : One Half Good Enough for N.C. State, 116-68

North Carolina State Coach Jim Valvano liked what he saw during 20 minutes of basketball Monday night against Baptist University, but half a game was good enough for the 16th-ranked Wolfpack to easily beat Baptist University, 116-68, at Raleigh, N.C.

“I told the kids that we played well in the first 10 minutes and we played well in the last 10 minutes,” Valvano said. “The 20 minutes in between weren’t very good.

“We really wanted to play well in the first 10 minutes, and we got that. We’ve had some big games, and coming off the win at Duke (Saturday) I think there’s a tendency to let down, so I was happy to see us come out playing hard.”

N.C. State (14-4), which depended on Vinny Del Negro in the final minutes against Duke, got the contributions early this time from the senior guard. With Del Negro scoring 17 of his 23 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, the Wolfpack rolled to a 49-29 lead.

Avie Lester added 17 points for N.C. State and Chucky Brown had 16. Heder Ambroise scored 24 and Oliver Johnson added 21 for Baptist (12-9), which had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Georgia Tech 96, Maryland 83--Freshman Dennis Scott scored 29 points and sophomore Brian Oliver added 25 to lead the Yellow Jackets in the Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

With dozens of friends and family members in the sellout crowd of 14,500, Scott, from nearby Hagerstown, Md., sank 5 of 7 three-point attempts. The Yellow Jackets (16-6 overall, 3-4 in the ACC) combined to shoot 60% from the field, including 9 of 12 three-pointers.

“I can’t explain how good it feels right now to come home and play well in front of my friends and family,” said Scott, who considered going to Maryland before choosing Georgia Tech.

For the second time in six days, Georgia Tech guard Craig Neal had 14 assists, matching the school record he shares with Mark Price.

Maryland (12-7, 3-4) played without starting center Brian Williams, who has a sprained left ankle. Keith Gatlin scored 22 points and Derrick Lewis added 21 for the Terrapins, who have lost eight straight to Georgia Tech.

Boston College 80, St. John’s 76--The Redmen, No. 20 in the country a week ago, lost for the third straight time and dropped to .500 in the Big East as Dana Barros scored 22 points and Jamie Benton added 21 to lead the Eagles at New York.

Boston College (13-9, 4-7) led, 41-34, at halftime, rallied from a five-point deficit, 73-68, in the final three minutes.

St. John’s (14-6, 5-5) got 20 points from Boo Harvey. The Redmen last lost three straight in 1983-84, falling to Villanova, DePaul and Providence.

Minnesota 71, Wisconsin 62--Reserve guard Ray Gaffney scored 22 points, including four three-point shots in the first half, as the Gophers won the Big Ten game at Minneapolis.

Gaffney, with a previous high of 16 points this season, made 9 of 11 shots to lift the Gophers (8-11, 2-7) into a ninth-place tie with Northwestern.

Wisconsin (9-10, 3-6) were led by guard Trent Jackson, with 27 points. Forward Danny Jones scored 12 points in the first half before injuring his left ankle with 18:27 left in the second half. Jones was the Badgers’ second-leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game. Jackson and Jones scored 22 of their team’s 26 points in the first half.

Bradley 83, St. Louis 67--Hersey Hawkins scored 24 points, a dozen below his nation-leading average, and Trevor Trimpe added 18, all on three-point baskets, as the 15th-ranked Braves won at Peoria, Ill.

Bradley, which never trailed, is 15-3. St. Louis is 10-10.