COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : No. 12 Connecticut Finds Its Zone, 84-75

Connecticut found its comfort zone Monday night at Hartford, and it meant a victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference-Big East Challenge series.

The 12th-ranked Huskies beat No. 23 Wake Forest, 84-75, with a late 10-2 run after going into 1-3-1 zone defense.

“All we did was give them wide-open shots until we went to the zone, which we were in that whole run,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said. “In the first half it was a shooting drill for them, and I told the team at halftime we had to extend a little more defensively.”

The Huskies (3-0) couldn’t shake Wake Forest (3-1) for 33 minutes despite the matchup of the third-seeded teams being played at the Hartford Civic Center, Connecticut’s second home court just 20 miles from campus in Storrs.

Chris King’s free throw brought Wake Forest into a 60-60 tie with 6:45 to play. It was the game’s final tie after nine lead changes in the second half alone.

Connecticut made 10 of 11 free throws during the final 1:14.

Wake Forest, which outrebounded Connecticut, 40-34, shot 51% from the field in the first half (19 of 37) and that fell to 39% (11 of 28) in the second half.

Chris Smith scored 24 points to lead Connecticut, Scott Burrell added 20 points and Rod Sellers had 16.

Anthony Tucker led Wake Forest with 26 points.

In a later game in the eight-game ACC-Big East Challenge, Tom Gugliotta scored 25 points, including the two deciding free throws, as North Carolina State beat Pittsburgh, 78-77, to even the series at one game apiece.

The challenge ends after this year’s edition, which is the third.

No. 11 Arkansas 96, Alabama State 80--Roosevelt Wallace, one of three players back from disciplinary suspensions, scored 13 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in his first action of the season as the Razorbacks (3-1) won at Pine Pluff, Ark.

Steve Rogers scored 38 points for the Hornets (1-2).

For Arkansas, Isaiah Morris scored 16 points and Lee Mayberry had 13 and eight assists.

No. 25 Michigan 100, Detroit 74--The Wolverines unveiled their much-heralded crop of freshmen in their season opener at Detroit, and the Fab Five, as they are called, were everything the Wolverines had hoped for.

Michigan started three of the five freshmen, rated the best recruiting class ever assembled by many analysts. Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard were on the floor when the game started, but Ray Jackson and Jimmy King both got plenty of playing time. And they all scored.

Webber scored eight of his 19 points during a decisive burst in the second half. Rose had 16 points, King 15, Howard 13 and Jackson five.

But the Wolverines played like freshmen, too, committing 34 turnovers. Detroit (2-2) turned the ball over only 17 times.

No. 3 Arizona 85, Hawaii 71--The Wildcats overpowered the host Rainbows in the final of the Tip-Off Tournament played late Sunday night at Honolulu.

Sean Rooks scored 23 points and Chris Mills added 19 to lead the Wildcats (2-2). Matt Othick made three of four three-point shots to open the second half as Arizona built a 63-48 lead.

Phil Lott scored 30 points for Hawaii (1-1).

OTHER GAMES

In a game in which there were 91 free throws, UC Santa Barbara made 41 of 58, both school records, in routing Division II Cal State Sacramento, 101-65, at Sacramento. The Hornets shot only 29% (18 of 62) from the field but made 22 of 33 free throws. Doug Muse and Lucious Davis each scored 16 points for the Gauchos (3-0). Sacramento is 0-5. . . . Neil Derrick scored 28 points to lead Washington State (4-0) to a 109-67 rout of Division II San Francisco State.

Jeff Cooper had 23 points, including six three-pointers, and Eastern New Mexico methodically pulled off an 81-76 upset of New Mexico at Albuquerque, N.M. Eastern New Mexico, playing its fifth game in five days, held off one Lobo rally after another with a zone defense and a perimeter offense that produced 11 three-pointers.

Matt Waddell scored 15 points, including six in a decisive 18-6 first-half spurt, as Purdue beat Indiana State, 81-65, at Terre Haute, Ind. . . . Arriel McDonald scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half, leading Minnesota over Youngstown State, 98-59, at Minneapolis. McDonald, a sophomore, made six of seven shots in the first half and scored eight of the Gophers’ first 12 points. . . . Freshman Cedric Neloms and Todd Leslie led a 27-7 second-half spurt in Northwestern’s 83-81 victory over Vanderbilt. Kevin Rankin, with 12 first-quarter points, led the Wildcats with 19 points and made a layup to give Northwestern a 77-72 lead with 1:46 left.

Latrell Wrightsell scored 21 points to pace Creighton to a 62-56 nonconference victory over Colorado State at Omaha. . . . Devin Gray scored 26 points to lead Clemson to a 96-76 victory over Oral Roberts at Clemson, S.C. . . . Gerrod Abram scored 22 points and Boston College shot 64% in a 123-78 rout of New Hampshire at Newton, Mass.