College Basketball Roundup : Louisville Rolls Over Kentucky

Cornelius Holden knew Louisville fans were looking for a big victory over Kentucky Saturday. He and his teammates were more than happy to deliver.

“People didn’t just want us to beat them,” Holden said. “They wanted us to blow them out.”

It might not have been a blowout, but the No. 14-ranked Cardinals used a balanced scoring attack and their superior depth to score a decisive 97-75 victory at Louisville’s Freedom Hall.

Louisville had not beaten Kentucky since a 71-64 victory in Freedom Hall Dec. 15, 1984. The Wildcats, who had won the last 3 meetings, still hold a 14-6 series advantage.

“The victory is a step in the right direction because we finished December undefeated,” said Pervis Ellison, who led Louisville with 20 points.

Louisville’s reserves, paced by Everick Sullivan with 15 points, outscored Kentucky’s reserves, 31-3, as the Cardinals (7-2) won their seventh straight game.

Louisville Coach Denny Crum said his ability to send in fresh players at will forced Kentucky (5-7) into an up-tempo game.

“The most important thing we wanted them to do was to run and shoot in an up-tempo game,” Crum said. “We took advantage of our depth and got good play off our bench.”

Consecutive 3-point shots by Derrick Miller pulled Kentucky to within 54-43 with 1:43 left, but Louisville scored 11 of the next 14 points to put the game out of reach, 65-46, at the 11:20 mark. Kentucky never got closer than 12.

Miller led Kentucky with 34 points, including 5 3-pointers. Freshman scored 13 points for the Wildcats.

Missouri 96, Morgan State 66--Lee Coward scored 7 points and Gary Leonard added 4 during a 20-2 run that gave the Tigers a 36-13 lead with 5:18 remaining in the first half, and No. 11 Missouri went on to rout the Bears at Columbia, Mo.

Leonard, a senior center whose previous career high was 17 points, led the Tigers (12-3) with 23. Morgan State’s James McCoy led all scorers with 27 points.

Morgan State (4-5) was outrebounded, 44-28.

Arkansas Little Rock 89, Marshall 79--Johnnie Bell scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Trojans past the Thundering Herd in the championship game of the Arkansas Little Rock tournament at Little Rock, Ark.

The Trojans were ahead, 66-50, with 11 minutes left when Marshall mounted a comeback to pull within 82-76 with 1:29 to play.

Oregon State 72, Clemson 58--The victory at Portland late Friday night gave the Beavers their second straight Far West tournament title. It was their 17th title in the tournament’s 33-year history.

The championship also was the seventh for Ralph Miller in his 19 seasons at Oregon State. Miller, 69, is retiring at the end of this season.

Oregon State (7-3) took the lead for good at 44-41 with 15:40 to play on one of Gary Payton’s 4 3-point shots. The basket started an 18-9 run that gave the Beavers a 59-50 lead on another Payton 3-pointer with 7:26 left.

Payton, a junior guard, scored 18 points, had 7 assists and was named the tournament MVP.

The Tigers are 7-2.

Illinois 96, Hawaii 87--Senior guard Kenny Battle scored a career-high 29 points and Nick Anderson added 26 as the No. 4 Illini remained unbeaten at 12-0 by winning the Rainbow tournament late Friday night at Honolulu.

With 14:06 remaining in the game, Chris Gaines gave Hawaii a 60-58 lead when he scored on a fast-break layup. Anderson, who scored 18 of his points in the second half, then made a 3-point play with 13:48 to go, giving Illinois a lead it never relinquished.

Hawaii (7-4), which lost its first home game, was led by Reggie Cross with 24 points.

No. 17 Georgia Tech beat Purdue, 72-69, for third place.