COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Duquesne Stuns Florida State With Comeback

Florida State had not played for two weeks, but what mattered against Duquesne Tuesday night was that the Seminoles did not play well in the final 10 minutes.

Effrem Whitehead’s five three-point shots in the second half led a comeback by Duquesne as the Dukes rallied from a 18-point deficit to stun the 10th-ranked Seminoles, 91-84, in Pittsburgh.

The Dukes (4-1) overcame Bob Sura’s 34 points and a 59-41 deficit. Duquesne trailed, 70-54, before scoring 37 of the final 51 points, including runs of 8-0 and 13-0 against the Seminoles (3-3).

“Give them credit. I’ve built two programs at Iona and Florida State and I know what this means to Duquesne,” said Pat Kennedy, Florida State coach. “I don’t think the (two-week) layoff hurt us as much as the pressure.

“To tell the truth, we’re not the same team that people picked in the top 10 when we (don’t) have Andre Reed, Chuck Graham and Charlie Ward.”

Of the three missing starters, Reed and Graham are injured and Ward, the quarterback of the Seminoles’ third-ranked football team, won’t be available until after the Orange Bowl.

No. 14 Syracuse 93, Maryland Baltimore County 86--Michael Edwards’ three-point basket ended a Maryland Baltimore County rally and started a 12-2 run that helped the Orangemen (6-0) overcome a night of sloppy play. Lawrence Moten had seven of his 22 points during the run, which turned a two-point Orangemen lead into a 76-64 cushion with 7:23 to play. The Retrievers are 3-2.

Alabama Birmingham 75, No. 18 Tulane 69--Stanley Jackson scored 19 points and Carter Long added 17 as the Blazers upset the No. 18 Green Wave at Birmingham, Ala. Tulane (5-2) cut the Blazers’ lead to 71-67 on two free throws by Pointer Williams with 36 seconds remaining, but Long made two free throws 13 seconds later. Jackson stole the ball on the Green Wave’s next possession and drove for a dunk to seal the victory.

The score was tied, 36-36, at halftime, but Jackson made a three-pointer, and Alabama Birmingham (7-1) led until a basket by Williams put Tulane ahead 55-54 with 6:31 to play. The Blazers answered with two free throws by Corey Jackson to make it 56-55 and led for the rest of the game.

No. 23 Michigan State 79, Illinois Chicago 75--Shawn Respert scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half at East Lansing, Mich. as the Spartans (4-1) won their third consecutive game. For the Flames (2-3), it was a second near-upset of a Big Ten team. On Dec. 3, they lost by two points to Illinois.

Michigan State led, 45-37, at halftime, but a 9-2 run pushed the Flames within 47-46 with 17:24 to play in the game. The Spartans then scored the next 13 points, five by Respert, to take control. All five Spartans scored during the run, and they held the Flames scoreless for more than five minutes.

The Flames suffered badly from the lack of an inside game. They didn’t attempt their first free throw until 1:26 remained in the game, and their four attempts tied a school record, set in February against Wisconsin Green Bay.

Mike Peplowski led the Spartans with 23 points and nine rebounds.

OTHER GAMES

Geert Hammink scored 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds to help Louisiana State beat Nicholls State, 75-64, at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Aaron Swinson scored 21 points--14 of them in the first half--as Auburn jumped ahead quickly and routed cold-shooting Lincoln Memorial, 77-51, at Auburn, Ala. . . . Charles Harrison, a transfer student from Georgetown playing in his first game since becoming eligible, hit the go-ahead basket with 1:31 left and scored a game-high 21 points in Wake Forest’s 69-65 victory over Rhode Island at Winston-Salem, N.C. . . . Aaron McKie scored 21 points as Temple (2-0) opened up a 23-point lead in the first half and coasted to an 87-60 victory over La Salle (2-3) in Philadelphia. It was the 83rd meeting between the two city rivals, and Temple leads the series, 48-35. The margin of victory was the biggest ever for Temple (2-0) in the series.