COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOP 25 : No. 3 Kansas Defeats No. 2 Indiana, 74-69

Although it didn’t make up for Kansas’ last visit to the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, it sure came close.

“The Final Four meant more,” said Adonis Jordan, who was a sophomore when the Jayhawks lost to Duke in the 1991 NCAA championship game on the same floor.

“This time, I just tried to come out and play hard and get a victory,” said Jordan, a senior guard whose two free throws with eight seconds to play sealed the third-ranked Jayhawks’ 74-69 victory over the No. 2 Hoosiers on Saturday.

Steve Woodberry made four free throws in the closing minutes as Kansas (2-0) came from behind. Indiana (4-1) didn’t score in the final three minutes.

“Down the stretch, it was the three guys that I’ve talked about so much this year--Adonis, Rex (Walters) and Steve,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams said. “I thought Adonis maybe played the best game he’s played at Kansas. . . . He knocked the open shots in, hit the free throws, led the ballclub, and had no turnovers.”

The Jayhawks trailed by as many as nine points during the first half and by as many as five during the second. Indiana led, 69-66, before Woodberry’s four free throws put Kansas ahead, 70-69, with 1:38 to play.

“We played fairly well throughout the game,” Indiana Coach Bob Knight said. “We managed to get a lead . . . and there was an incredibly bad no-call on (Damon) Bailey going into the lane that results in a four-point swing.

“At the end, we didn’t make the plays, and they did.”

Jordan and Walters led the Jayhawks with 16 points apiece.

Indiana was led by Calbert Cheaney with 26.

No. 5 Kentucky 96, No. 13 Georgia Tech 87--Rodney Dent made two dunks and blocked a shot to kill a Yellow Jacket rally and help the Wildcats win at Lexington, Ky.

After a dunk by Dent gave Kentucky a 90-78 lead with 3:34 to play, he ran down the court and blocked James Forrest’s short jumper. Then he came back for another dunk to give Kentucky a 92-78 lead with 2:49 remaining.

Jamal Mashburn and Rodrick Rhodes led Kentucky (2-0) with 27 points apiece, and Jeff Brassow came off the bench to score 14. Dent had 10.

Travis Best led Georgia Tech (1-1) with 27 points and Forrest added 24.

No. 7 North Carolina 104, Texas 68--The Tar Heels have scored at least 100 points in each of their first three games.

By beating the Longhorns in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, North Carolina won the Tournament of Champions at Charlotte, N.C.

Reserve Donald Williams scored 19 points for the Tar Heels and George Lynch, voted the tournament’s most valuable player, had 17.

The Tar Heels (3-0) got off to a slow start, missing their first six shots while the Longhorns (2-1) got three-pointers from Michael Richardson, Terrence Rencher and B.J. Tyler for a 9-1 lead.

It was 11-5 when North Carolina went on a 22-6 run to take control.

Richardson had 20 points to lead Texas.

During the second half, three Tar Heels were sidelined because of injuries. Brian Reese suffered a sprained right ankle, Lynch a bruised hip and Williams suffered bruised ribs.

The Longhorns made only 28 of 98 shots.

No. 10 Iowa 69, Mississippi State 54--Acie Earl scored 19 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and was voted the Amana-Hawkeye Classic’s most valuable player as the Hawkeyes won the title game at Iowa City.

Iowa (3-0) led, 39-24, at halftime.

Orien Watson led Mississippi State (2-1) with 17 points and was the only Bulldog in double figures.

Iowa won the tournament for the 10th time in 11 years.

No. 12 Louisville 73, No. 18 Michigan State 69--The Cardinals made 23 of 27 free throws, the Spartans seven of 20, and that was the difference in the nightcap of a Holiday Classic doubleheader at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

Michigan State guard Shawn Respert said the Spartans’ attitude toward free throws might have caught up with them.

“We do a lot of messing around in practice, and we don’t take our free throws seriously,” Respert said. “I think that cost us a ballgame tonight.”

With Michigan State trailing, 64-61, the Spartans’ senior center, Mike Peplowski, fouled out. Peplowski had seven points and 14 rebounds in the first half but, after getting in foul trouble, had only five points and one rebound during the second.

James Brewer, a reserve, led Louisville with 18 points. Respert led Michigan State with 24.

Michigan State’s Kris Weshinskey, a starting forward, suffered a sprained left ankle and was sidelined with seven minutes to play in the first half.

No. 14 Georgetown 96, Southern 57--Othella Harrington had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Hoyas over the Knights at Landover, Md.

“He’s poised, and very unselfish,” Georgetown Coach John Thompson said of Harrington. “He’s not one of those players who, if you give him the ball, you never get it back.”

The Hoyas went to Harrington early and often, as the 6-foot-10 freshman scored Georgetown’s first seven points. He had 16 by halftime.

Southern (3-2), an NAIA team from New Orleans, stayed with the Hoyas (2-0) for about eight minutes.

Georgetown’s other first-year big man, 6-10 Duane Spencer, had 12 points and seven rebounds.

No. 15 Oklahoma 115, Towson State 73--Jeff Webster scored 25 points and Angelo Hamilton had 20 as the Sooners (2-0) won easily at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma shot 52% but made only two of 15 three-point shots.

No. 17 Syracuse 94, Virginia Commonwealth 81--Freshman John Wallace had nine of his 17 points during a 24-2 run that closed out the first half as Orangemen won the Carrier Classic at Syracuse, N.Y.

It was the 11th Carrier title in a row for the Orangemen (3-0), who have won 14 of the 16 of the tournaments.

The Rams (2-1) chipped away at Syracuse’s 19-point halftime lead during the second half, twice cutting it to seven.

But the Orangemen made 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch.

No. 19 Massachusetts 78, Central Connecticut 52--Although his Minutemen won by 26 points at Amherst, Mass., Coach John Calipari wasn’t pleased.

“We are not a top 20 team, because top 20 teams do it every night and we didn’t do it tonight,” Calipari said. “I’m not too happy. We played dumb against the zone. I didn’t really find anything that good that came out of this game.”

Harper Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Minutemen (1-1).

No. 20 Tulane 103, Southern Methodist 92--G.J. Hunter scored 11 of his 19 points in overtime as the Green Wave (3-1) outscored the Mustangs, 20-9, in the extra period to win at New Orleans.

SMU (1-1) went on an 11-3 run in the final three minutes of regulation to force the overtime.

Anthony Reed had 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Tulane.

No. 24 Purdue 88, East Tennessee State 74-- Glenn Robinson scored 25 points and Cuonzo Martin had 21 to lead the Boilermakers (3-0) in the championship game of the Boilermaker Invitational at West Lafayette, Ind.

Eric Palmer led the Buccaneers (2-1) with 21 points.

No. 25 Connecticut 81, North Carolina State 74--Scott Burrell scored 20 of his personal-best 28 points during the first half and the Huskies held off the Wolfpack for a victory at Raleigh, N.C.

The Huskies (1-1), playing without starter Donyell Marshall, who has an injured left knee, and suspended starter Toraino Walker, had to withstand a second-half rally by the Wolfpack (1-2) after dominating the first half.