COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Syracuse Beats Connecticut at Line

Syracuse junior Mike Hopkins was confident he was going to make at least one free throw when he stepped to the foul line with three seconds left and the game against Connecticut on the line.

He made the first shot, for which he got a reward: a kiss on the cheek from teammate Lawrence Moten. It’s a good thing for the Orangemen that Hopkins didn’t have to make them both.

Hopkins’ tiebreaking free throw lifted the No. 13 Orangemen to an 84-83 victory over No. 10 Connecticut on Monday night at Syracuse. Adrian Autry and Conrad McRae secured the victory when they knocked away Chris Smith’s pass as time ran out.

“I knew I was 50-50,” said Hopkins, who came off the bench to shoot the free throws after McRae was injured on a foul.

“Smith and the other guys were talking to me trying to make me miss. I just said to myself that I was going to make it. I felt confident I would make at least one,” he said.

After he made the shot, “Moten kissed me and it changed everything,” said Hopkins, who put up an airball on the second shot.

“I didn’t even realize I did it,” Moten said. “I’m just so intense. He made the shot and I felt so good for him. He deserves it.”

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, whose team overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 10:21, said he didn’t hesitate to choose Hopkins.

“We got two shots. He’s been playing all year long. He’s a 50% game free-throw shooter. We just need one. Other guys can shoot them better, but they’ve never shot them in games,” Boeheim said.

Syracuse (16-3, 8-3) took over first place in the Big East from Connecticut (16-3, 7-3) by scoring the final five points of the game after Brian Fair had given the Huskies an 83-79 lead with 2:21 to play.

It was the second loss in a row for Connecticut, which was routed, 90-57, by St. John’s on Saturday. It was the 20th consecutive victory for Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.

No. 3 Kansas 80, Kansas State 58--Eric Pauley scored a personal-best 17 points at Lawrence, Kan., as Kansas surpassed the Wildcats for first place on the all-time Big Eight victory list.

The victory was the Jayhawks’ 18th in the last 22 games against Kansas State (11-7, 1-4) and gave Kansas (17-1, 5-0) a 50-game lead in their 85-year series. Since the Big Eight was created in 1958-59, Kansas has a 297-170 conference mark to Kansas State’s 296-171.

Pauley, a 6-foot-10 junior working against Kansas State’s 6-10 John Rettiger, triggered a 20-6 run at the beginning of the second half.

A three-point play by Kansas State’s Askia Jones made it 56-43. Then the Jayhawks took charge, frequently working the ball inside to Pauley and power forward Alonzo Jamison, last week’s Big Eight player of the week, who finished with 16 points.

It was Kansas’ 12th consecutive Big Eight victory at home and nudged the Jayhawks half a game ahead of No. 2 Oklahoma State in the Big Eight race.

Wake Forest 69, No. 14 Tulane 66--Rodney Rogers scored 21 points and continued his hot shooting for Wake Forest, which won at Winston-Salem, N.C., despite committing 22 turnovers and missing 16 of 31 free throws.

The Demon Deacons (12-6) held Tulane (16-2) to its lowest output of the season, nearly 23 points under its 88.8-point average.

Wake Forest, a top-25 team through the first seven weeks of the season, won for only the second time in seven games against a ranked opponent.

The Demon Deacons led, 63-53, with 2:58 left but almost let the game slip away by missing five free throws in the final 1:07 while the Green Wave made two three-pointers and three free throws after G.J. Hunter was fouled on a three-point attempt.

Rogers, a 63% shooter from the field, has made 32 of 41 shots in the last three games. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.

OTHER GAMES

DeRon Hayes scored 19 points and Penn State (15-6) held Duquesne (9-9) to two points in the final 8:20 for a 69-59 victory at State College, Pa. . . . Tony Bennett and John Martinez scored 14 points apiece to lead Wisconsin Green Bay (17-2, 8-1) to a 92-53 victory over Cleveland State (9-11, 2-8) in a Mid-Continent Conference game at Green Bay, Wis. . . . David Wesley scored 26 points to lead Baylor (11-8) to a 73-59 victory at Tulsa (9-8). . . . Bryan Edwards scored 18 points and Jeff Chambers had a career-high 19 rebounds as James Madison (14-5, 7-0) strengthened its grip on first place in the Colonial Athletic Assn. with a 61-45 victory at cold-shooting Richmond (14-6, 5-2). . . . Popeye Jones had 22 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots in leading Murray State (9-11) to a 77-73 victory over Eastern Illinois (9-8) at Charleston, Ill.