College Basketball Roundup : Horton Leads Iowa Over Illinois, 86-82

After all these years, Iowa’s Ed Horton still gets a kick out of playing the Big Ten Conference team from his home state.

Facing Illinois for the seventh time in his college career on Sunday, the 6-feet-8 senior from Springfield, Ill., scored 26 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead No. 9 Iowa to an 86-82 victory over the No. 2 Illini at Iowa City.

“All of those guys out there are my friends,” Horton said of the Illinois players. “It gets me going.”

Horton, getting 20 or more points for the 10th time in the past 11 games, made 10 of 17 shots, including two consecutive baskets midway through the second half after Illinois had pulled into a 57-57 tie.

Iowa’s B.J. Armstrong scored 24 points, and Roy Marble had 18.

Iowa also got a big lift from 6-10 forward Matt Bullard, who played for the first time since tearing ligaments in his left knee on Dec. 12. Bullard had eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, and six rebounds as the Hawkeyes, 17-4 overall, pulled into a second-place tie in the Big Ten with Illinois and Michigan at 5-3.

Illinois (18-3, 5-3) lost for the third time in four games since starting guard Kendall Gill was sidelined by a broken bone in his left foot.

Arizona 85, Washington 68--Anthony Cook scored 23 points and Sean Elliott had 21 points as the No. 4 Wildcats finished with a flurry to beat the Huskies in a Pacific 10 game at Seattle.

Arizona (17-1, 11-1) led just 72-66 with 1:14 left before going on a 13-2 burst to close the game.

Eldridge Recasner scored 18 points for the Huskies (9-11, 5-6).

Georgetown 69, Villanova 55--Jaren Jackson scored 27 points, but it was a stifling man-to-man defense that lifted the No. 6-ranked Hoyas (17-2, 7-1) over the Wildcats (12-10, 3-6) in a Big East game at Philadelphia.

Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown’s 6-10 freshman who leads the nation in blocked shots with a 5.5 average, blocked eight.

Villanova made only 23 of 69 from the field (33.3%). Georgetown shot 24 for 50 (48%).

Duke 102, Notre Dame 80--Danny Ferry scored 28 points, 11 during a key second-half surge, as the No. 12 Blue Devils routed the Irish at South Bend, Ind.

Duke led by four points before going on a 20-2 burst that made it 78-56.

The Blue Devils, who had lost four of their last five games, are now 15-4. Notre Dame is 12-4.

West Virginia 60, Rutgers 58--The No. 18 Mountaineers held the Scarlets Knights scoreless for the final 4:22 to win an Atlantic 10 game at Piscataway, N.J., and extend their winning streak to 16, longest in the nation.

The Mountaineers are now 17-2 and 11-0.

Backup center Wade Smith scored what proved to be the winning basket, banking in a five-foot shot with 2:44 to play for the game’s final points.

Rutgers (8-11, 6-4) had four chances to tie the game, but Tom Savage missed a three-point attempt, turned the ball over and then had a shot blocked with 1:05 to play. Rutgers missed its final chance when Craig Carter’s driving 10-foot bank shot bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Georgia 84, Kentucky 72--Alec Kessler scored 22 points as the Bulldogs (13-8, 5-6) beat the Wildcats in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga.

Kentucky, which could have gained a share of the SEC lead with No. 19 LSU, fell to 11-11 and 6-4.

Chris Mills led Kentucky with 19 points.

Southern Methodist 68, UNC Charlotte 66--Center Glenn Puddy hit two free throws with :01 left to give the Mustangs the nonconference win at Dallas.

Puddy, who led SMU (9-10) with 20 points and 18 rebounds was fouled while attempting to rebound teammate Todd Alexander’s jump shot from the baseline.

Henry Williams led the 49ers (12-8) with 17 points and Cedric Ball added 16.