COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Robinson Hits in Time for Purdue

Making four key free throws in the final minutes enabled Glenn Robinson to overcome a poor shooting performance, giving 10th-ranked Purdue its best start.

The free throws allowed the Boilermakers (13-0) to hold off Seton Hall, 69-67, Sunday at West Lafayette, Ind.

Robinson led Purdue with 24 points, but made only two of 11 shots in the second half. He was eight for 23 overall after bringing a 29.9-point average into the game.

Still, “Robinson is fabulous,” Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “He’s clearly the premier player in the country. . . . He gets points so many different ways.”

Alabama Birmingham 67, No. 17 Cincinnati 65--Robert Shannon scored a season-high 24 points, including two on free throws with 30 seconds to play, to lead the Blazers in a Great Midwest Conference game at Cincinnati.

Alabama Birmingham (11-1, 1-0) squandered a 12-point second-half lead before rallying to end Cincinnati’s 25-game home winning streak, third longest in the country. Cincinnati (11-3, 0-1) missed a shot to tie with less than a second to play.

OTHER GAMES

Yuri Barnes had 15 points and Virginia (8-3, 2-0) used runs at the start of each half to run its winning streak to five games with a 79-58 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over North Carolina State (4-8, 0-2) at Charlottesville, Va. . . . T.J. Honore scored 21 points to help Mississippi State (8-2, 2-0) to an 81-69 Southeastern Conference victory over Mississippi (5-5, 0-2) at Oxford, Miss.