College Basketball Roundup : Michigan, Iowa Find Life on Road Tough

Anyone who thinks winning on the road in the Big Ten isn’t difficult should try persuading Bill Frieder, the coach of 10th-ranked Michigan, and Tom Davis, the coach of eighth-ranked Iowa.

Both teams were upset Saturday, as the Wolverines were beaten by Minnesota, 88-80, and the Hawkeyes lost to Wisconsin, 65-54.

Minnesota’s Williams Arena is becoming a tough place to play for ranked teams.

Minnesota won its fourth consecutive home game against a ranked team when it beat Michigan. The Gophers have defeated Illinois (then No. 1), Iowa (No. 5), Ohio State (No. 15) and Michigan in their last four games in Williams Arena.

Minnesota, 6-5 in the Big Ten, has been the conference’s surprise team.

“If this ballclub doesn’t win another game, it’s surpassed all my expectations,” Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said. “We’re 14-7. We’re going to be a .500 ballclub even if we lose our last seven games. You can’t take that away from us.”

Willie Burton scored five of his 27 points during a 33-second span late in the game to put Minnesota ahead for good.

“We play hard at home and we win,” Burton said. “I’m happy about it. But we’re better than a .500 team.”

Frieder thinks Minnesota is better than that.

“Minnesota really played a great game,” he said. “They certainly didn’t surprise us. That’s the way they played against Iowa and Illinois and some of the rest of them up here.”

Michigan is 18-5 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten.

At Madison, Wis., the Badgers not only upset the Hawkeyes, but limited them to their lowest point output of the season.

Iowa (17-6, 5-5) never got closer than five in the second half in losing its second straight. The Hawkeyes entered the game averaging 91 points and had not been held below 67.

“They were the aggressors at both ends and they never let us get running,” Davis said. “It looked for a while like we would but then all of a sudden we didn’t score in a while. With the tempo of the game, we couldn’t get into the flow with our running game.”

The Hawkeyes moved to within eight points with 3:42 left on B.J. Armstrong’s basket, but Trent Jackson and Tom Molaski made four free throws each and the Badgers increased their lead to 58-43 with 1:52 to play.

Jackson led all scorers with 24 points. Wisconsin (13-7, 5-6) ended a six-game losing streak to Iowa, including a 78-70 loss earlier this season.

Missouri 93, Kansas 80--Senior guard Byron Irvin scored 22 points, including several key baskets in the second half, to help the No. 3 Tigers win the Big Eight game at Columbia, Mo., and give assistant coach Rich Daly his first victory in relief of the hospitalized Norm Stewart.

Missouri, 21-4 overall and 7-1 in the Big Eight, won as Stewart watched from a hospital bed for the second consecutive game. He was stricken with a bleeding ulcer Thursday on Missouri’s flight to Oklahoma, one day after the suspension of top assistant Bob Sundvold.

It was the fifth consecutive loss for Kansas (16-8, 3-6).

Illinois 86, Northwestern 69--The No. 7 Illini broke the game open in the second half, going on a 23-4 run to build a 60-35 advantage with 13 minutes remaining in the Big Ten game at Champaign, Ill.

Lowell Hamilton sparked the surge with two quick baskets and Nick Anderson added a free throw before the Wildcats could score their first basket. Kenny Battle then added two free throws and a basket and Marcus Liberty made two more baskets, including a three-pointer, before the Wildcats scored again.

Illinois, 20-3 and 7-3, reached the 20-victory mark for the seventh straight season. Northwestern, led by Walker Lambiotte’s 24 points, is 8-13 and 1-10.

Syracuse 92, St. John’s 69--The No. 9 Orangemen used their fast break to run away from the Redmen in the Big East game at Syracuse.

Syracuse, which avenged a 65-63 loss to St. John’s earlier this season, improved to 21-4 and 7-4 in the Big East. St. John’s is 13-8 and 5-6.

Syracuse began the second half with a 12-2 run and went on to lead by 33 points.

Seton Hall 83, Villanova 77--The No. 11 Pirates, who had lost eight straight to the Wildcats, and had not won on Villanova’s home court in 15 years, came from behind to win the Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

Seton Hall, helped by three-point shots by Gerald Greene and Morton, took its first lead three minutes into the second half and was ahead the rest of the way. Kenny Wilson’s two free throws brought Villanova within 67-63 with 4:39 remaining, but Seton Hall then went on a 9-1 spurt.

John Morton scored 23 points for Seton Hall, 21-4 overall and 8-4 in the Big East. Villanova is 13-11 and 4-6.

Oregon State 76, Marquette 73--Eric Knox scored 28 points, including 18 on three-point baskets, and Gary Payton added 24 at Milwaukee as the Beavers gave Coach Ralph Miller his 668th career victory, making him sixth on the all-time list.

Knox made his fifth three-point goal to give the Beavers (16-5) a 66-63 lead. Tony Smith pulled Marquette to within 66-65 with 4:48 left. Knox scored the next five points.

Smith got Marquette (9-10) to within 73-71 on a jam off a steal, but the Warriors could get no closer. A Knox basket and three free throws by Payton accounted for the Beavers’ final points.

Duke 86, Maryland 60--A 16-0 run that covered five minutes during the first half helped the No. 14 Blue Devils in the Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Durham, N.C.

All five starters contributed to the run that helped Duke take a 22-8 lead. The Blue Devils, who shot 57.9% for the game, are 17-4 overall and 6-4 in the ACC.

Maryland is 8-14 and 1-8.

Ohio State 81, Michigan St. 75--Jerry Francis scored a career-high 27 points and led a late surge that helped the No. 16 Buckeyes in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State, unbeaten in nine home games, improved to 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

Michigan State, which lost its third straight game, is 12-8 and 3-7.

West Virginia 100, Penn State 67--Steve Berger scored 22 points, Chris Brooks had 20 and Herbie Brooks added 19 as the No. 15 Mountaineers extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 games.

West Virginia, 18-2 overall, 12-0 in the Atlantic 10, has won the last eight games against Penn State played in Morgantown, W.Va., and 12 of the last 14 games in the series. The Nittany Lions are 13-10 and 8-5.

Georgia Tech 75, Wake Forest 70--Dennis Scott scored 22 points and Tom Hammonds 19 as the No. 20 Yellow Jackets held off a late rally in the ACC game at Atlanta.

Georgia Tech, 16-7 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, held a 10-point lead with a little less than 6 minutes remaining before Wake Forest cut the lead to 72-70 on Sam Ivy’s basket with 44 seconds remaining.

The Demon Deacons (11-10, 2-7) failed to score after that and the Jackets made the front end of three one-and-one free throw situations in the final 34 seconds, one each by Brian Oliver, Hammonds and Scott.

Louisiana State 122, Tennessee 106--Freshman guard Chris Jackson scored 50 points at Baton Rouge, La., to help keep the Tigers in first place in the Southeastern Conference.

Jackson’s 50 points was the most ever scored in the LSU Assembly Center. Pete Maravich, college basketball’s all-time leading scorer, finished his career at LSU before the Assembly Center was built.

Jackson, second-leading scorer in the country, had a 53-point game against Florida earlier this season. He is averaging just under 28 points a game.

LSU is 17-6 overall and 9-3 in the SEC. Tennessee is 14-7 and 7-5.