COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Michigan State’s 7th in a Row Is Biggest Win

Steve Smith matched his career high with 36 points and led No. 14 Michigan State to a 78-70 victory over No. 8 Michigan in a Big Ten Conference game Thursday night at East Lansing, Mich..

Michigan State’s seventh consecutive victory gave the Spartans (23-5, 12-3) a half-game lead over idle Purdue in the Big Ten and ended their five-game losing streak against Michigan (20-6, 10-5).

“This is the biggest win Michigan State basketball has had in a few years,” said Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote, who coached the Spartans to a national championship in 1979. “It’s not the best, but this has to rank with all of them.”

Smith scored 25 points in the second half, including 13 during a 19-6 run that put Michigan State ahead, 67-53, with 7:01 left.

Terry Mills led Michigan with 31 points.

No. 17 Minnesota 75, Indiana 70--Willie Burton scored 20 points, including nine of the Gophers’ last 10 in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

Calbert Cheaney had given the Hoosiers a 68-65 lead on a short jump shot with 3:06 left.

Burton then scored nine points in a row, including a three-point shot with 1:50 left that put the Gophers ahead, 70-68, and two free throws with 21 seconds left that sealed the victory.

Kevin Lynch had 15 points for Minnesota (20-6, 11-5).

Pat Graham scored a game-high 21 points for Indiana (16-9, 6-9). Cheaney added 18 and Eric Anderson had 16 for the Hoosiers.

No. 21 Louisville 86, Cincinnati 71--The Cardinals clinched their fourth Metro Conference title in five years in a game at Cincinnati.

Felton Spencer and LaBradford Smith each scored 16 points for the Cardinals (22-7, 11-2).

Cincinnati is 18-12 and 9-5.

Temple 75, Rutgers 70--Mark Macon scored 31 points and became the Owls’ all-time scoring leader in a double-overtime Atlantic 10 Conference victory at Philadelphia.

Macon, a junior guard, has 1,825 points, passing Terence Stansbury, who scored 1,811 from 1980-84. He scored six of the Owls’ eight points in the second overtime.

Temple (17-10 and 15-3), won its 30th consecutive conference home game.

Earl Duncan scored a team-high had 21 points for Rutgers (15-15, 11-7).

Wake Forest 51, Virginia 50--The Demon Deacons spoiled Terry Holland’s final home game as coach of the Cavaliers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va.

Holland, who is 323-170 overall and 169-45 at University Hall in 16 seasons at Virginia, will become athletic director at Davidson, his alma mater, next year.

Wake Forest is 11-15 and 2-11. Virginia is 17-9 and 6-7.

Iowa St. 83, Oklahoma St. 72--Junior center Victor Alexander scored 19 points to lead the Cyclones (15-11, 6-7) in a Big Eight Conference game at Ames, Iowa.

Byron Houston led Oklahoma State (15-11, 6-7) with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Colorado St. 59, Brigham Young 57--Mark Meredith made a layup and a free throw with 26 seconds left to lead the Rams (20-7, 10-5) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Ft. Collins, Col.

BYU is 21-7 and 11-5.

Hawaii 74, San Diego State 61--Chris Gaines scored 20 points to lead the Rainbows over the Aztecs in a WAC game at San Diego.

Vincent Smalls had 18 points and Cliff Beaubrun added 17 points for Hawaii (21-7, 10-5.)

Shawn Jamison scored 23 points for the Aztecs (13-16, 4-11), who lost their fifth game in a row.