COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Indiana Has Plenty of Thunder Without Funderburke

Where is Lawrence Funderburke?

The 6-foot-8 Indiana freshman forward wasn’t in El Paso Saturday to see the Hoosiers beat Texas El Paso, 69-66, ending the Miners’ 25-game home winning streak.

Calbert Cheaney, another freshman, scored 22 points for the Hoosiers (7-0). Funderburke has been missing since after Thursday’s practice. Coach Bobby Knight said he is willing to open discussions with Funderburke, who missed practice Friday and did not travel with the team to Texas.

“He confuses me with some of the things he does,” Knight said. “If he has problems, they’re his problems. I’m willing to sit down and talk with him, but we’ve got too many guys here to worry about.”

Forward Matt Nover told the Indianapolis Star that Funderburke was kicked out of practice Thursday. “The coaches went to look for him and he was gone,” Nover said. “He cleaned out his locker.”

Funderburke was averaging 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Throwing players out of practice is a tactic Knight has used for years to get a player’s attention.

Mark McCall of Texas-El Paso missed a three-pointer from the left corner with five seconds to play that could have tied the score. UTEP had not lost at home since January of 1988, when New Mexico beat the Miners, 70-69.

OTHER TOP 25 TEAMS

No. 1 Syracuse 105, Towson St. 75--Stevie Thompson and Derrick Coleman put on a slam dunk exhibition during a 27-6 run in the first half as the Orangemen overpowered the Tigers with their superior height.

Thompson scored 22 points and Coleman added 21 as Syracuse stayed unbeaten in seven games. The Orangemen of the Big East won their 13th consecutive home game and extended their winning streak over nonconference teams to 35 games.

Sophomore David Johnson had a career-high 19 points and Billy Owens, another sophomore, added 12 rebounds and a personal-best 12 assists.

Towson State (5-2) was led by Kurk Lee’s 31 points. The Tigers never got closer than 25 points in the second half as Syracuse surpassed the 100-point mark for the third time this season.

No. 2 Georgetown 112, Dist. of Columbia 39--Georgetown scored the final 21 points of the first half and the Hoyas continued to feast on undermanned foes, achieving their third-largest margin of victory in school history.

Georgetown (7-0) beat St. Leo, 126-51, in December of 1976 and beat Shenandoah, 114-40, in December of 1988. The Hoyas threatened to break their record, but UDC scored the final four points of the game.

Georgetown has played only three Division I teams this season. UDC (6-5) is in Division II.

Georgetown Coach John Thompson was a high school teammate of UDC Coach George Leftwich.

“He asked me over the summer if we could play, and I asked him if he really wanted to do it,” Thompson said. “I told him if he got too good, we wouldn’t play him again,” Thompson joked.

Said Leftwich: “It was a little tough sitting out there, but it was a great experience. We understand we’re out there bear hunting with a switch, but the kids grew up today.”

No. 4 Missouri 86, Bradley 77--Nathan Buntin scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and Doug Smith scored 21 as the Tigers (9-0) defeated the Braves at Columbia, Mo.

Buntin and Smith combined to score Missouri’s first 15 points of the second half as the Tigers increased a 36-27 halftime lead to 51-36. Smith scored 10 of Missouri’s last 12 points.

Smith became Missouri’s 24th player to score 1,000 points when he tipped in a shot with 3:03 left.

Bradley Coach Stan Albeck said the Tigers look a lot better than his Braves (1-8).

“I’d trade teams with them,” Albeck said. “We played all zone to stop them from slam-dunking us out of the gym.”

No. 5 Illinois 78, Temple 61--Marcus Liberty scored 20 points and keyed a 15-2 run to open the second half as the Illini beat the Owls at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois (6-0) opened a 39-38 halftime lead to 54-40 with 12 minutes as Liberty, a 6-8 junior, scored three of the team’s first four baskets in the second half.

Temple (3-3) was led by Mark Macon’s 22 points.

Illinois Coach Lou Henson criticized Liberty at halftime. Liberty scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half.

“The coach. . . said I wasn’t playing aggressively,” Liberty said. “I was ready to go back in and play hard.”

No. 6 Michigan 82, Marquette 73--Terry Mills scored a career-high 31 points and the Wolverines held off a late rally at Milwaukee for their seventh consecutive victory.

Rumeal Robinson, Mills and Loy Vaught made two free throws apiece in the final 43 seconds after Marquette had cut a 15-point deficit to three.

Michigan (7-1) led, 68-53, with 5:59 left when Marquette went on an 18-6 run behind two three-pointers from walk-on Bruce Hayes. Sean Higgins added 17 points for Michigan.

No. 10. Louisville 78, New Mexico 49--Everick Sullivan scored 10 points as Louisville opened the second half with a 22-7 run that carried the Cardinals to their sixth consecutive victory.

Tony Kimbro started the run by putting back his own miss and Sullivan added a three-pointer to give Louisville (7-1) the lead for good at 34-31 with 18:40 left.

Sullivan added another three-pointer and two short jump shots as the Cardinals pushed their lead to 51-38 at the 11:37 mark.

It was only the beginning. Louisville then outscored New Mexico, 21-2. Felton Spencer scored 14 points and had a career-high 20 rebounds for the Cardinals.

No. 14 Nevada Las Vegas 79, Pacific 65--Larry Johnson scored 21 points and Stacey Augmon added 16 as the Rebels opened their Big West Conference season at Stockton.

Johnson scored eight points in a 10-2 spurt midway through the first half that gave UNLV a 22-13 lead en route to a 34-27 halftime margin. Augmon scored 10 points in the second half.

But the Rebels led by only 41-35 before a 9-0 run made the score 50-35 with 11:46 to play. Greg Anthony had four points and two steals during the run.

No. 15 Georgia Tech 92, Georgia 89--Dennis Scott scored 32 points and freshman Kenny Anderson added 20 for the Yellowjackets (5-0) at Atlanta. Scott missed the front end of a one-and-one with four seconds left, but Jody Patton’s three-point attempt for a tie fell short at the buzzer.

Tech overcame an 85-81 deficit in the final 3:31, with Scott starting a 9-0 run with an inside move. Litterial Green led Georgia (5-1) with 28 points, including nine in a row during one stretch.

No. 18 St. John’s 68, Manhattan 52--Malik Sealy scored 19 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and the Redmen won their third consecutive game. Billy Singleton and Boo Harvey each added 11 points for the Redmen (8-2), who led at halftime, 29-23. Harvey also had 10 assists.

Kelly Monroe had 18 points for the Jaspers (3-3), who lost their third in a row. It was St. John’s 10th consecutive victory in the series, which the Redmen lead, 56-23. St. John’s has won 18 of the last 21 meetings between the two New York schools.

No. 19 Alabama 94, Augusta 67--Keith Askins scored 15 points and Melvin Cheatum added 13, including 10 of the first 12 at Tuscaloosa, as the Crimson Tide led throughout. Cheatum paced Alabama (6-1) to a 12-4 lead and the Crimson Tide led by as many as 17 points in the first half.

The Tide led, 70-45, when Robert Horry dunked with 9:56 left. The biggest lead of the game was 91-60 with 57 seconds left when Anthony Lawrence scored on a tip-in. Augusta is 1-6.

No. 23 Oregon State 82, Gonzaga 61--Gary Payton had nine assists, eight rebounds and scored 29 points, including seven in an 11-0 streak that put the Beavers (5-1) ahead to stay at Spokane, Wash.

The Beavers struggled early but took control with the 11-point run that gave them a 26-18 lead late in the first half. Payton ended the outburst with a steal and fast-break layup.

Earl Martin, who scored 15 points, made a three-point shot and converted an offensive rebound as Oregon State scored the first nine points of the second half for a 41-23 lead. Gonzaga (3-4) never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Texas 105, No. 24 Florida 94--In their first game after losing at Austin to Cal State Long Beach, guard Travis Mays scored 35 points to lead the Longhorns to an upset victory over the Gators (2-2). Joey Wright had 24 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Texas.

Dwayne Schintzius, the Gators’ 7-2 center, scored 20 points, three under his average. Mays, who had been averaging 26.5 points, scored 16 of first 26 points Texas (4-1) scored.

No. 25 Michigan St. 94, Detroit 65--Freshman Dwayne Stephens scored 18 points to lead a balanced attack as the Spartans rolled to victory at Lansing, Mich.

Ken Redfield added 15 points for the Spartans (7-1). Kirk Manns helped break the game open in the second half when he scored eight consectuvive points during a 12-2 run that stretched the Spartans’ lead to 82-55 with 6:37 to play.

OTHER GAMES

EAST

Holy Cross 83, Boston College 72--Dwight Pernell scored 28 points as the Crusaders improved to 7-1. Boston College (5-2) was led by Doug Able’s 18 points.

Pittsburgh 88, Robert Morris 71--Brian Shorter outmuscled a much-shorter Robert Morris front line for 28 points and the Panthers ended a three-game losing streak. Shorter scored 21 points in the second half for Pittsburgh (3-3).

Fordham 65, Seton Hall 60--Guards Jean Prioleau and Andre McClendon each scored 17 points and the Rams held off a late charge to score an upset on the Pirates’ home court. It was Seton Hall’s first loss at home after 19 consecutive victories.

Fordham (5-3) took a 36-22 halftime lead and led by as many as 16 points in the second half. Seton Hall (5-1) cut the deficit to five three times in the game’s last three minutes. The Rams went on an 11-0 run with 12:33 left in the first half to take control. SOUTH

North Carolina 70, DePaul 51--Dean Smith didn’t get everything he wanted out of this home game. Scott Williams did get 14 points for the Tar Heels, unranked for the first time in six years, but Smith found room for improvement.

“Our first goal was to play hard. We accomplished that goal,” the North Carolina coach said. “Our second goal was to play intelligently. I can’t say we accomplished that goal, but we did some good things.”

One of those was to hold DePaul to 34% shooting. The Tar Heels, however, were outrebounded, 41-38.

The Tar Heels (5-4) ended a two-game losing streak in playing their first game since dropping out of the rankings last Monday. The Blue Demons (3-6) lost their fourth consecutive game.

Tennessee 71, Mississippi 67--Greg Bell scored 22 points to lead the Volunteers in a come-from-behind victory in the Southeastern Conference opener for both clubs. Tennessee (3-3) battled back after watching its 34-30 halftime lead over Ole Miss (1-6) slip away early in the second period.

The Volunteers went on a 13-5 run, capped by a Bell jumper with less than three minutes left, to go ahead, 63-62, and never trailed again. The Rebels were led by

MIDWEST

Minnesota 69, Kansas St. 68--Melvin Newbern scored 20 points, including a crucial tiebreaker at Manhattan, Kan. The Wildcats (5-4) led, 46-34, but the Gophers rallied and a layup by Newbern put them ahead, 56-54, with 7:22 remaining.

The Gophers (5-1) widened the margin but Gene Derouillere, who led Kansas State with 17 points, scored on a layup with 55 seconds left to bring the Wildcats to within 66-64, but Minnesota pulled away with three free throws.

Toledo 62, Houston 60--Chad Keller scored 17 points, including two free throws with 1:13 left for the winning points, as the Rockets (1-4) won for the first time this season. The Cougars (5-3) missed five shots from the field in the last 24 seconds.

Cincinnati 90, Dayton 88--Louis Banks ignored a broken hand as he scored a career-high 31 points and hit the winning jumper with two seconds to play. The Bearcats (3-1) let an eight-point lead slip away in the closing minutes, as the Flyers (4-2) rallied for an 85-all tie with slightly less than a minute to play on Bill Uhl’s free throw.

Banks, playing with a cracked bone in his left (non-shooting) hand, took charge from there. He blocked a completed a three-point play for an 88-85 lead with 19 seconds left. After a three-pointer tied it with 10 seconds left, Banks sank a turnaround jumper from barely inside the foul line.

WEST

Stanford 74, San Francisco 53--The Cardinal remained unbeaten (5-0) as Adam Keefe scored a career-high 24 points at Palo Alto in a nonconference game. Keefe, a 6-9 forward, scored eight of Stanford’s first 10 points in the beginning of the second half to spark Stanford to a 46-34 lead.

Oregon 80, Nevada Reno 72--Guard Kevin Mixon scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Ducks (5-2) to an 80-72 victory over Nevada Reno (2-4) in non-conference game at Eugene.

Mixon had 17 points in the second half to hold off a Wolf Pack rally that cut the Oregon lead to four. 76-72, with a minute to play. Oregon had a 10-point lead, 76-66, with 1:41 to go.

Arizona State 64, Northern Arizona 47--Alex Austin and Matt Anderson each scored 15 points at Flagstaff while center Isaac Austin added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The Sun Devils (2-3) shot only 37% from the field but outrebounded Northern Arizona, 56-30, and held the Lumberjacks (4-3) to 34% shooting. Northern Arizona led only once, 3-0 early in the game, and scored just two points in the next 12 1/2 minutes as Arizona State built an 18-5 lead en route to 30-19 halftime margin.

Utah 64, Weber State 62--Josh Grant scored 21 points and Keith Chapman scored 19 points, respectively, as the Utes held off a late rally.

Utah (5-2), whose coach, Rick Majerus, is recovering from heart bypass surgery in a Salt Lake City hospital, appeared ready to break the game when Grant and Chapman staged a 10-0 run late in the game. The Wildcats (2-3) cut their deficit to two and had a chance to tie but failed to get off a shot in its final possession.