COLLEGE BASKETBALL : Kentucky Beats Massachusetts With Prickett

Sophomore forward Jared Prickett got most of the credit for Kentucky’s 67-64 victory over Massachusetts on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

Massachusetts Coach John Calipari took all of the blame.

Seventh-ranked Kentucky scored the game’s final seven points and got help from Prickett, who had to play out of position because of injuries and foul trouble but still managed 17 points and 15 rebounds.

“At the start of the season I had no idea I’d end up playing a lot of (center), but when (starter) Rodney (Dent) got hurt and guys get into foul trouble I find myself playing there a lot,” said Prickett, who came into the game averaging 8.5 points and 6.4 rebounds.

The Wildcats (18-3) won their fifth in a row by clamping down on the Minutemen (17-4) in the game’s final minutes.

Lou Roe finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds for Massachusetts, which led, 64-60, with 2:21 to play. He didn’t get a shot in the final three minutes.

A jump shot by Kentucky’s Tony Delk and a layup by Prickett tied the score, and two free throws by Rodrick and one by Prickett gave Kentucky the lead.

“I thought I did a very, very poor job with game management the last minute and a half,” Calipari said.

No. 3 Kansas 94, Nebraska 87--Steve Woodberry made a three-point shot and the first dunk of his career in the final two minutes for the Jayhawks, who gave Nebraska its fourth consecutive loss.

Woodberry scored 25 points at Lawrence, Kan., where the Jayhawks (20-3, 5-2 in the Big Eight) became the first Division I team to win 20 games this season.

Nebraska is 12-6, 2-4.

No. 8 Purdue 87, Iowa 78--Glenn Robinson had a second-half run and took the Boilermakers along with him at Iowa City.

Robinson outscored Iowa, 13-4, in a second-half spurt that built a 64-52 lead for Purdue (18-3, 6-3 in the Big Ten). He finished with 34 points.

No. 9 Louisville 78, Vanderbilt 62--Freshman guard DeJuan Wheat scored 21 points at Louisville, Ky., and led a run that carried the Cardinals (18-3) to their eighth victory in a row.

Billy McCaffrey scored 21 points to lead Vanderbilt (10-8), which has lost three in a row.

No. 18 St. Louis 91, DePaul 81--Erwin Claggett scored 13 of his 22 points in the first 10 1/2 minutes for the Billikens (18-1, 5-1 in Great Midwest) at St. Louis.

Tom Kleinschmidt scored 23 points for DePaul (13-6, 2-5).

OTHER GAMES

Ryan Hoover scored a career-high 32 points as Notre Dame (8-13) followed its upset of UCLA with an 88-85 victory over Georgia (10-11) at Atlanta. . . . Andy Elkins scored 39 points to lead Evansville (16-6, 4-1 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference) to a 91-86 victory over Detroit Mercy (9-11, 3-4) at Evansville, Ind.