COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Irish Take Best Shot, Beat Syracuse

Digger Phelps didn’t go for the tie because Notre Dame needs victories.

Elmer Bennett made a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded and the Irish, making their annual run for the NCAA tournament, beat fourth-ranked Syracuse, 66-65, Saturday at Syracuse, N.Y.

“We wanted the three,” Phelps said. “We were going all out and Elmer makes a great shot on a great pass from (LaPhonso) Ellis.”

Notre Dame (14-8) won its first of six road games against ranked teams, ending Syracuse’s 37-game nonconference home winning streak.

Syracuse’s last nonconference home loss was to Navy and David Robinson in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 1986.

The game was played before 32,747 fans, short of the 32,820 who watched Syracuse defeat Connecticut this season.

Billy Owens’ basket gave Syracuse (18-5) a 65-63 lead with four seconds to play.

The Irish called a timeout with two seconds remaining, but officials added a second on the clock. That gave Notre Dame enough time for Ellis to get the inbounds pass upcourt and into the hands of Bennett, who penetrated to the top of the key and launched an uncontested shot that sent Syracuse to its second consecutive loss.

“At first, I thought it was going to be long,” Bennett said. “It seemed like it stayed in the air for 20 minutes. Then it went in and it was pandemonium.”

Syracuse overcame a 13-point deficit in the final 12 minutes and took a 63-62 lead on Stephen Thompson’s layup with 1:02 left.

Ellis made one of two free throws to make the score 63-63 with 43 seconds remaining.

Bennett scored 18 points, Keith Robinson had 13, Joe Frederick and Monty Williams added 12 apiece, and Ellis had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Irish.

Derrick Coleman scored 16 points for Syracuse, and Thompson and Owens each had 14.

OTHER TOP 25 TEAMS

No. 1 Kansas 94, Nebraska 67--Kevin Pritchard and Rick Calloway awakened the sluggish Jayhawks, igniting runs of 14-4 and 20-5 that buried the Cornhuskers in a Big Eight Conference game at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas (25-2, 8-2) was coming off a defeat at home to No. 2 Missouri earlier in the week.

The Jayhawks trailed, 22-17, after 10 minutes following a 9-0 spurt by Nebraska (9-14, 2-8), but a 14-4 run gave Kansas a 44-36 lead at halftime.

Pritchard scored eight points as the Jayhawks outscored the Cornhuskers, 20-5, to start the second half.

Terry Brown scored 19 points for Kansas, Calloway added 17 and Pritchard had 16. Nebraska’s Carl Hayes scored 17 points.

No. 3 Georgetown 68, Seton Hall 60--Dwayne Bryant scored 24 points, including six free throws down the stretch, and the Hoyas got past the Pirates in a Big East Conference game at East Rutherford, N.J.

The victory gave Georgetown Coach John Thompson his 13th consecutive 20-victory season.

Georgetown (20-3, 9-3) won the game from the free-throw line, making 35 of 40--17 of 19 of in the final 6:30--to hand Seton Hall (10-13, 3-9) its sixth consecutive defeat.

No. 8 Arkansas 77, Southern Methodist 46--Oliver Miller scored 19 points and the Razorbacks rebounded from two consecutive defeats by routing the Mustangs in a Southwest Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Arkansas (21-4, 12-2), which lost to Texas Christian and Baylor in its previous two games, solidified its hold on first place.

SMU (7-16, 2-10) led, 20-18, before Arkansas went on a 28-6 run that began with 18 consecutive points.

No. 10 Connecticut 89, Boston College 67--John Gwynn scored 18 points and the Huskies rolled past the Eagles in a Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies (22-4, 9-3), who retained a share of first place in the conference with Georgetown, broke open the game with 16 consecutive points in the first half.

Lior Arditti scored 20 points for the Eagles (7-15, 1-11).

No. 12 Purdue 62, Wisconsin 55--The Boilermakers extended their domination of the Badgers to 26 consecutive games as Stephen Scheffler scored 26 points in a Big Ten victory at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (18-4, 10-2) remained a half-game ahead of Michigan and Michigan State.

Wisconsin (12-14, 3-11) took a 32-30 lead on Larry Hisle’s three-pointer early in the second half before Purdue used a 14-5 run to take control, 44-37, with 5:56 left.

No. 13 Georgia Tech 95, North Carolina State 92--Brian Oliver scored six of his 28 points in the second overtime and the Yellow Jackets rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Wolfpack in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

Oliver, who made 12 of 16 free throws, hit two free throws with 12 seconds left and Georgia Tech (19-4, 7-4) sent the game into the overtime at 82-82.

Rodney Monroe scored 31 points for N.C. State (17-8, 5-5) and Brian Howard added 26.

No. 17 Minnesota 90, Northwestern 72--Willie Burton scored 21 points and the Gophers overpowered the Wildcats in a Big Ten game at Minneapolis.

The Gophers (17-6, 8-5) broke open a tight game with a 17-2 run for a 48-34 lead early in the second half after the Wildcats scored four of the first six points to take their last lead, 32-31.

Rex Walters scored 18 points for Northwestern (8-15, 1-12).

No. 18 Louisville 72, Virginia 56--Everick Sullivan scored 22 points, making six three-pointers, and the Cardinals defeated the Cavaliers in a nonconference game at Charlottesville, Va.

The victory gave Coach Denny Crum 20 victories for the 17th time in 19 seasons at Louisville.

Sullivan made four three-pointers in the first half as the Cardinals (20-5) took a 32-23 lead.

Bryant Stith had 27 points for Virginia (15-8).

No. 21 Michigan State 70, Illinois 63--Matt Steigenga had 17 points and Mark Montgomery scored five consecutive points to stop a second-half rally by the Illini as the Spartans prevailed in a Big Ten game at East Lansing, Mich.

Michigan State (21-5, 10-3) ended a seven-game losing streak against the Illini (18-6, 8-6).

Marcus Liberty scored 25 points and Kendall Gill had 21 for Illinois.

No. 22 Xavier 74, St. Louis 58--Jamal Walker scored 19 points and the Musketeers clinched at least a tie for the Midwest Collegiate Conference championship by beating the Billikens at Cincinnati.

Xavier (21-2, 10-1) won its ninth consecutive home game and extended its string of home conference victories to 29.

Anthony Bonner of St. Louis (15-9, 7-4) had 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Providence 77, No. 24 St. John’s 74--Carlton Screen scored 23 points and the Friars turned back the Redmen in a Big East game at New York.

St. John’s (20-7, 8-5) made it close with a 20-5 run in the last five minutes, but Darrell Aiken made a layup and the Friars (14-8, 7-6) added three free throws to regain command and break the Redmen’s 15-game winning streak at Alumni Hall.

Boo Harvey scored 26 points for St. John’s.

OTHER GAMES

EAST

Villanova 71, Pittsburgh 68--Chris Walker and Tom Gries each scored 15 points and Greg Woodard made two crucial free throws with 10 seconds left to lift the Wildcats to a Big East victory over the Panthers at Villanova, Pa.

Villanova (15-12, 7-7) held a 58-46 lead on a jump shot by Walker with 11:36 left, before Pitt (10-18, 4-8) rallied, closing to 67-64. Walker and Woodard then made two free throws apiece in the final 17 seconds.

MIDWEST

Indiana 118, Iowa 71--Freshman Pat Graham scored 23 points and the Hoosiers set an Assembly Hall scoring record by routing the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

The previous Assembly Hall record was 116 points, set two years ago against Iowa.

Greg Graham, also a freshman but no relation to Pat, added 16 points for the Hoosiers (16-6, 6-6).

Rodell Davis scored 20 points for Iowa (11-12, 3-10).

Alabama Birmingham 74, DePaul 68--Andy Kennedy scored 17 points and 7-foot-2 Alan Ogg added 15 to lead the Blazers past the Blue Demons at Rosemont, Ill.

Larry Bearden’s three-pointer for Birmingham (19-7) made the score 56-56 with 5:30 to play. Elbert Rogers’ basket put UAB in front to stay, 66-65. Kennedy and Ogg each contributed two free throws, and Rogers and Bearden had baskets down the stretch.

David Booth scored 26 points for DePaul (14-12).

SOUTH

Maryland 80, North Carolina 76--Jerrod Mustaf scored 27 points and the Terrapins held off the Tar Heels in an ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The victory gave the Terrapins (14-11, 4-7) their first sweep of the Tar Heels since 1980.

North Carolina (17-10, 6-5) lost its second consecutive game in the Smith Center for the first time since it opened in 1986.

Georgia 82, Mississippi State 74--Alec Kessler scored 27 points and Litterial Green added 22 as the Bulldogs won at Starkville, Miss., to take sole leadership of the Southeastern Conference lead.

Kessler scored 17 second-half points--13 on free throws--for the Bulldogs (17-6, 10-4).

Greg Carter had 23 points for Mississippi State (12-11, 5-10).

Alabama 83, Kentucky 59--Melvin Cheatum scored 18 points and the Crimson Tide blew out the Wildcats in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The 25-point margin was the worst Crimson Tide defeat of Kentucky in history, breaking the record of 101-77 set in 1956, and avenged an 82-65 Wildcat victory at Lexington last month.

Alabama (18-7, 9-5) is one game behind Georgia in the SEC race.

Deron Feldhaus scored 18 points for Kentucky (13-11, 9-6).

SOUTHWEST

Houston 83, Baylor 77--Derrick Daniels scored 19 points and Craig Upchurch added 18 for the Cougars in an SWC game at Houston.

The Cougars (19-6, 9-3) have won seven consecutive games, their longest winning streak since they won 10 in a row in 1983-84.

Julius Denton and David Wesley each scored 22 points for Baylor (14-10, 6-7).

Southern Illinois 97, Tulsa 89--Sterling Mahan scored four of his 25 points in overtime and the Salukis got past the Golden Hurricane in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Tulsa, Okla.

The Salukis are 21-5, 7-3.

Marcell Shields scored 27 points for Tulsa (14-11, 7-5).