COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Massachusetts Catches Up to Florida State

The Massachusetts Minutemen lived up to their nickname again.

After playing catch-up with Florida State for most of the game, No. 11 Massachusetts erased a 10-point deficit in the closing minutes to defeat the Seminoles, 62-58, Thursday night at Amherst, Mass.

“It was a great win. I still don’t know how we won it, but I’m pleased,” Massachusetts Coach John Calipari said. “If we want to continue to win, we’ve got to come out of the gate better. We can’t be a top team by coming from behind in the second half all the time.”

Massachusetts (17-3) did it by limiting Florida State (9-8) to one basket and only three points in the last nine minutes, erasing a 55-47 deficit.

A key for the Minutemen was a disqualifying fifth foul against Florida State center Andre Reid with eight minutes to play.

Lou Roe’s jumper with 4:53 left gave Massachusetts its first lead of the second half at 57-56.

Bob Sura, who had 18 points for Florida State (9-8), responded with a layup and Marcus Camby hit a free throw to tie the score, 58-58, with three minutes left.

Roe blocked Sura’s shot, Camby grabbed the deflection and Dana Dingle made a layup with 2:07 left to put Massachusetts ahead to stay at 60-58.

No. 9 Louisville 76, North Carolina Charlotte 55--Tick Rogers ignited a 13-4 spurt at the close of the first half with two baskets off steals as the Cardinals won their seventh consecutive game at Louisville, Ky.

Charlotte, 9-6 overall and 2-3 in the Metro Conference, played its fourth consecutive road game and seventh in its last eight games.

Louisville (17-2, 7-1) was led by Clifford Rozier’s 23 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 10 Temple 65, Rhode Island 51--Eddie Jones scored 23 points and had six steals as Temple used a full-court press to break open a tight Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia for its ninth victory in a row. Rhode Island (7-10, 3-6) led, 33-31, with 13:28 to play before Temple (15-2, 8-1) went on a 16-3 run.

Nevada 77, No. 23 New Mexico State 68--Jimmy Moore scored 25 points, including 19 in the second half, as Nevada pulled away in a Big West game at Reno. The win was Nevada’s first over a ranked team since it opened the 1984 regular season with a victory over 11th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas.

Jerry Hogan made six of his nine attempts from three-point distance for the Wolf Pack (8-10, 4-5).

New Mexico State (16-2, 8-1) had the longest winning streak in the nation ended at 13, and was led by Paul Jarrett’s 17 points.

No. 25 Cincinnati 69, Memphis State 64--Cincinnati failed to get the blowout it predicted but managed to save face as Dontonio Wingfield rallied the Bearcats in a Great Midwest game at Cincinnati.

LaZelle Durden scored 15 points and made three free throws in the final 40 seconds to save himself and Cincinnati (15-5, 3-2) from embarrassment at the hands of Memphis State (6-11, 1-6). Durden told reporters he was “kind of expecting a blowout” to make up for Cincinnati’s loss at Memphis State on Jan. 23.