COLLEGE BASKETBALL THE TOP 25 : Simpson Has Dream Game, Ohio State Upsets No. 8 Iowa

Freshman Greg Simpson played against Iowa before, but only in his dreams.

Simpson scored 23 points Saturday night to lead Ohio State to a 92-81 upset of the eighth-ranked Hawkeyes in a Big Ten Conference game at Columbus, Ohio.

“It’s something you dream of, to come out and play the No. 8 team in the country and hit shots like that,” Simpson said.

Simpson, Ohio’s Mr. Basketball the past two seasons, made all four of his three-point shots as Ohio State (9-3 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten) matched a school record with 11 three-pointers.

The long-distance shots helped the Buckeyes take a 24-point lead in the first half that stood up against a comeback by Iowa (11-2, 0-2).

“They’ve got a lot of dimensions,” Iowa Coach Tom Davis said. “Simpson is just one of them. He may emerge as a superstar, but it’s too early to put pressure on him.”

Simpson’s previous best was 14 points Tuesday night at Penn State. He topped that in the first half Saturday night as the Buckeyes took a 48-27 lead at halftime.

Iowa rallied behind Val Barnes, who scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half, and cut the lead to 67-57 with 12:03 left. But the Hawkeyes never quite got over the hump, getting as close as 85-79 with 1:24 left.

No. 2 Kentucky 84, Tennessee 70--Dale Brown scored 23 points and Jamal Mashburn added 21 to offset a 31-point performance by Allan Houston as the Wildcats defeated the Volunteers in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

Brown, who went scoreless in his last two games and missed his first five shots against Tennessee, made three three-pointers during a 13-2 run that Kentucky (11-0, 2-0) used to turn a 30-27 deficit into a 40-32 lead with 3:57 remaining in the first half.

Although Kentucky never trailed after the surge, Tennessee (6-5, 0-2) rallied to within 45-43 on Lang Wiseman’s three-pointer with 19:01 left.

But Kentucky, behind three-pointers from Jared Prickett, Travis Ford and Brown, pulled to a 71-59 lead.

No. 3 Michigan 98, Wisconsin 73--Jalen Rose led the Wolverines on a 21-4 surge before and after halftime and Michigan avenged an 18-point defeat to the Badgers last season in a Big Ten game at Madison, Wis.

Rose had six points in a 10-2 burst over the final three minutes of the half that built a 44-32 lead. He added seven in an 11-2 spurt after halftime that gave Michigan (12-1, 2-0) a 55-34 lead three minutes into the half en route to its 11th consecutive victory.

Tracy Webster had 25 points for the Badgers (7-3, 0-1).

Chris Webber scored 20 points, Rose and Juwan Howard each had 18 and Jimmy King added 16 for the Wolverines.

No. 4 Kansas 78, Iowa State 71--Richard Scott scored 18 points and the Jayhawks defeated the Cyclones at Lawrence, Kan., for the 11th consecutive season in a Big Eight Conference opener.

Scott scored to begin and end a 13-2 run early in the second half as the Jayhawks (11-1) pulled away to their biggest lead of the game at 20 points.

Justus Thigpen scored 25 points for Iowa State (8-4).

No. 5 Indiana 105, Penn State 57--The Hoosiers scored 18 consecutive points early and coasted to victory in the Nittany Lions’ first trip to Bloomington, Ind., as a member of the Big Ten.

Indiana (13-2, 2-0) never trailed after scoring the game’s first seven points en route to its 24th consecutive victory at Assembly Hall.

Damon Bailey came off the bench to score 28 points for the Hoosiers and Greg Graham added 19.

Deron Hayes and Rahsaan Carlton had 11 points apiece for Penn State (5-6, 0-2).

No. 6 North Carolina 101, Maryland 73--Eric Montross powered inside for 16 of his 17 points in the first half and the Tar Heels defeated the Terrapins in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Tar Heels (12-1, 2-0) beat the Terrapins (8-3, 0-2) for the 24th time in the last 30 games.

Montross, who had 10 rebounds and three blocked shots in the first 20 minutes, also held Maryland’s leading scorer, Evers Burns, scoreless when he guarded him in the first half. Burns, who averages 20.3 points, first scored when Montross was on the bench getting a breather.

Donald Williams scored 20 points for North Carolina. Kevin McLinton had 21 points for Maryland.

No. 7 Seton Hall 91, Providence 79--Terry Dehere scored 24 of his 28 points in the first half as the Pirates defeated the Friars in a Big East game at Providence, R.I.

Dehere made three of four three-pointers and all seven of his free throws in the first half. His final three-pointer gave Seton Hall (13-1, 3-0) a 52-20 lead with 2:10 left in the half.

Michael Smith scored 34 points for Providence (6-4, 0-3).

No. 13 Arkansas 86, South Carolina 76--Scotty Thurman scored 24 points and the Razorbacks defeated the Gamecocks in an SEC game at Columbia, S.C.

Arkansas (11-1, 2-0) led, 41-40, at halftime and gradually pulled away from South Carolina (5-6, 1-1) in the second half for its third consecutive victory.

Illinois 52, No. 14 Michigan State 39--The Illini held the Spartans to their lowest point total in 13 years, including a scoreless final 2:24 in a Big Ten upset at East Lansing, Mich.

Illinois (9-4, 2-0) broke out of a 32-32 tie with 11:05 left by scoring eight consecutive points and holding Michigan State (8-3, 0-2) scoreless for six minutes.

Michigan State’s Mike Peplowski, averaging 17.1 points and 11.1 rebounds, had two points and three rebounds.

No. 16 Cincinnati 80, St. Louis 65--Nick Van Exel scored 22 points and the Bearcats scored 16 consecutive points midway through the first half of a Great Midwest Conference opener against the Billikens at St. Louis.

It was the sixth victory in a row for the Bearcats (9-1). Donnie Dobbs scored 20 points for St. Louis (5-6).

Boston College 57, No. 17 Georgetown 56--Malcolm Huckaby made two free throws with 17 seconds to play to give the Eagles a Big East upset of the Hoyas at Landover, Md.

Georgetown (8-2, 2-2) had four shots in the final 10 seconds, but Duane Spencer, Joey Brown, Robert Churchwell and John Jacques all missed.

Boston College (9-2, 3-0) took a 53-48 lead with 5:36 left on a three-point play by Billy Curley, but the Hoyas rallied to go ahead, 56-55, on a basket by Churchwell with 1:13 left.

Florida 62, No. 18 Vanderbilt 61--Stacey Poole scored 20 points, including a 15-footer at the buzzer that lifted the Gators (8-3, 2-0) to an SEC victory over the Commodores at Gainesville, Fla.

Poole’s jumper came 4.7 seconds after Bruce Elder made two free throws to give the Commodores (11-3, 1-1) their first lead since the opening minutes.

Billy McCaffrey scored 29 points for Vanderbilt.

No. 19 Connecticut 87, Villanova 80--Brian Fair scored 27 points and Donyell Marshall had 21 to lead the Huskies past the Wildcats in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

James Bryson’s basket got Villanova (5-4, 1-2) to within 71-70 with 4:12 to play, but Connecticut (7-2, 2-1) went on a 7-0 run for a 78-70 lead with 1:52 left.

No. 21 Syracuse 89, Miami 81--Freshman John Wallace had 23 points and 13 rebounds as the Orangemen gave Coach Jim Boeheim his 400th coaching victory by beating the Hurricanes in a Big East game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Miami (3-8, 1-3) tied the game, 78-78, with 3:09 to play on Steve Edwards’ three-pointer, but Adrian Autry scored five consecutive points and Syracuse (9-3, 1-3) pulled away.

Temple 52, No. 22 Massachusetts 44--Aaron McKie scored 19 points and the Owls used a late 10-0 run to upset the Minutemen in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Philadelphia.

The Owls (5-3, 1-1) held a 42-41 lead after a three-point play by Jerome Malloy of Massachusetts (6-4, 0-1) with 4:11 to go before McKie’s three-pointer started the 10-point spurt.

No. 23 Florida State 74, Wake Forest 72--Sam Cassell’s three-point play with one second left in overtime gave the Seminoles (9-5) an opening ACC victory over the Demon Deacons at Winston-Salem, S.C.

Randolph Childress made two free throws with 14 seconds left to give Wake Forest (8-2, 0-1) a 72-71 lead.

Rodney Rogers had 31 points for Wake Forest.

St. John’s 85, No. 24 Pittsburgh 77--Lamont Middleton scored 20 points and the Redmen made 13 of their last 14 free throws to defeat the Panthers (9-2, 2-2) in a Big East game at New York.

St. John’s (7-4, 2-1) never trailed while winning its 21st consecutive home game.

No. 25 Virginia 73, North Carolina State 56--Cory Alexander scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half and the unbeaten Cavaliers extended the nation’s second-longest winning streak to 14 games by defeating the Wolfpack (3-6, 0-2) in an ACC game at Raleigh, N.C.

The Cavaliers (9-0, 2-0), trail Duke’s 23-game streak.