COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Massachusetts Stuns Oklahoma

Strong scoring from the starters, tenacious defense, and a small dose of fear combined to give Massachusetts one of its greatest basketball victories.

Jim McCoy scored 20 points and the Minutemen shut down the powerful offense of No. 14 Oklahoma for an 86-73 victory Saturday night at Springfield, Mass.

“We were a little scared but being scared sometimes makes you play harder,” Massachusetts point guard Anton Brown said.

Massachusetts (11-2), beating a ranked team for the first time since a 1976 victory over Providence, held Oklahoma 30 points below the Sooners’ scoring average.

“They were knocking down everything,” Oklahoma guard Brent Price said. “They had a hand up on every shot we took and we never really did get anything going from the perimeter.”

Oklahoma (10-1), which has played five games in nine days, made only 36% of its shots and was outrebounded, 33-21.

“We’re not tired,” Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs said. “I think we were mentally ready to play. They just did a better job then we did.”

Bryan Sallier scored 30 points for Oklahoma. Damon Patterson, who was averaging 27 points, was limited to 12 against Massachusetts.

Oklahoma had a 4-2 lead 1:54 into the game, but Massachusetts was in control thereafter.

The Sooners got no closer than eight points in the second half when a dunk by Sallier in the first minute brought them to within 45-37.

Massachusetts’ largest lead was at 74-53, achieved after a 7-0 run that McCoy ended with a 10-foot jump shot with 5:23 left.

Anton Brown added 16 points for Massachusetts.

“I know my team, and when they get overconfident they don’t play together,” Massachusetts Coach John Calipari said. “When they are a little bit leery of a team . . . they play together.”

No. 4 Kansas 79, Southern Methodist 67--The unbeaten Jayhawks used a 16-2 first-half run to propel themselves to victory at Dallas.

SMU (5-5) led, 23-17, with 8:30 left in the first half when a free throw by Malcolm Nash started the run by Kansas (10-0).

Adonis Jordan scored 20 points and Rex Walters added 16 for Kansas.

Tim Mason led SMU with 19 points.

No. 5 Connecticut 70, Illinois 66--Chris Smith scored 33 points as the Huskies held on for the victory at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois (6-4) led, 37-36, at halftime and maintained its advantage until Smith made two free throws to put Connecticut (10-0) ahead to stay, 53-52, with 8:30 left.

Deon Thomas scored 26 points for Illinois.

Illinois outrebounded the Huskies, 52-33. Thomas and Scott Pierce each had 11.

No. 8 North Carolina 85, Colorado 64--The Buffaloes made only 34.3% of their shots and Hubert Davis scored 22 points for the Tar Heels in the victory at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Davis made four of six three-point shots for North Carolina (9-1), which had been limiting opponents to 39% field-goal shooting before its second-ever meeting with Colorado.

Donnie Boyce scored 20 points for Colorado (7-4).

No. 10 Indiana 81, Cincinnati 60--Eric Anderson scored 23 points, including 10 in the opening minutes of the second half to rally the Hoosiers to victory at Cincinnati.

Anderson made two jump shots and two three-point baskets as Indiana (9-2) erased a six-point halftime deficit. Davis’ three-point basket with 16:61 left put Indiana ahead to stay, 44-41.

Corie Blount scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds for Cincinnati (8-2), which led by as many as nine points in the first half and held a 36-30 lead at the intermission.

Calbert Cheaney added 17 points for Indiana.

No. 12 Seton Hall 67, Boston College 64--Jerry Walker scored 23 points and helped hold Eagle standout Billy Curley to two field goals in a Big East Conference game at Newton, Mass.

Terry Dehere scored 17 points for Seton Hall (8-2, 1-1), which led by as many as 13 points in the first 16 minutes.

Curley, a sophomore averaging 21.4 points a game for Boston College (8-3, 0-2), scored 14 points, 10 on free throws.

No. 13 Missouri 79, Oregon 58--Jevon Crudup scored 22 points as the Tigers extended the nation’s longest Division I win streak to 17 games with the victory at Eugene, Ore.

Missouri (11-0), which was ineligible for the NCAA tournament last season, spotted Oregon (4-5) a six-point lead before taking the lead for good at 22-20.

Oregon was within 11 points midway through the second half before Missouri extended the lead to 78-51 with two minutes left.

No. 17 Kentucky 80, South Carolina 63--Jamal Mashburn scored 33 points and had 11 rebounds as the Wildcats welcomed the Gamecocks into the Southeastern Conference with the victory at Columbia, S.C.

With the score 33-33, Kentucky (10-2) outscored the Gamecocks, 15-2, in the final 5:53 to take a 48-35 halftime lead.

South Carolina (8-2) pulled to within five points three times but got no closer.

No. 18 St. John’s 83, Miami 69--Malik Sealy scored 26 points and Jason Buchanan added 18 to lead the Redmen to the Big East victory at New York.

St. John’s (8-2, 2-0) has won four consecutive games.

Jake Morton scored 14 points for Miami (5-7, 0-2), which lost its third game in a row.

No. 19 Alabama 78, Mississippi State 64--Robert Horry scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds as the Crimson Tide opened Southeastern Conference play with the victory at Starkville, Miss.

Horry made two three-point baskets in the first half when Alabama (12-1) overcame a 17-10 deficit with a 16-0 run against defending conference champion Mississippi State (9-3).

Tony Watts scored 19 points for Mississippi State.

No. 20 Wake Forest 73, Clemson 58--Chris King scored 14 points and Anthony Tucker had 13 to lead the Demon Deacons to victory in an ACC opener at Clemson, S.C.

Wake Forest (7-1) led, 28-27, at halftime, but took control with a 14-2 run in the first five minutes of the second half.

Sharone Wright scored 15 points for Clemson (6-2).

No. 21 North Carolina Charlotte 76, Coastal Carolina 61--The 49ers held Coastal Carolina to 11 first-half points en route to the victory at Charlotte.

Henry Williams scored 27 points for North Carolina Charlotte (8-1).

Coastal Carolina (3-9) trailed 38-11 at halftime after making made four of 29 shots.

Villanova 75, No. 22 Georgetown 73--Georgetown freshman Don Reid missed four free throws in the final 14 seconds and the Wildcats took advantage of a reversed call by the officials for the Big East victory at Washington, D.C.

After the game, Georgetown Coach John Thompson allegedly threw a towel toward the officials, who reversed a charging call with three seconds left that gave Villanova the two free throws that won the game.

Gregg Woodward scored 22 points for Villanova (3-6).

Alonzo Mourning scored 24 points and had 15 rebounds and eight blocks for Georgetown (7-2).

No. 23 Syracuse 79, Providence 66--Adrian Autry and Dave Johnson each scored 19 points as the Orangemen set a team record with 11 three-point baskets in the Big East victory at Syracuse, N.Y.

Johnson, Autry and reserve guard Michael Edwards each had three three-point baskets for Syracuse (10-0, 2-0), which broke the school record set this season against Florida State and matched against Lafayette.

Marques Bragg scored 19 points for Providence (8-5, 0-1), which had a six-game winning streak ended.

Tulane 87, No. 24 Louisville 83--Junior forward Matt Greene scored four of his 21 points in overtime to lead the Green Wave at Louisville, Ky., in the Metro Conference opener for both teams.

The victory marked the first time Tulane (9-0) had ever defeated Louisville (7-2) in 11 meetings at Freedom Hall.