COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Defensive Key Unlocks Indiana Upset

Indiana figures it can’t count on its shooting, so it had better count on defense to win games.

The Hoosiers held Kansas seven minutes without a point and got 29 points from Brian Evans and 22 from Alan Henderson in beating the No. 3 Jayhawks, 80-61, Saturday to extend the nation’s longest home winning streak to 47 games.

“All week long we prepared on their individual players, what we can take away from them, how we can improve our position on defense every time down the court,” Henderson said. “As we grow as a team, we’re learning how to execute the things we practice and carry them over into the game a little better.

“Definitely, defense is the key. We know we don’t have the kind of team that can just go out there and out-shoot somebody night in and night out.”

Indiana (5-4) used a 15-0 run to build a 39-19 lead in a first half in which it held Jayhawk shooters to 26%. Kansas shot only 36% all day long.

Indiana shot only 23% in the second half and 35% for the game, but made 27 of 35 free throws to only four of nine for Kansas (5-1).

“Indiana kicked our tails every way it can get kicked,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams said. “They were more intense, more focused and more aggressive. . . . You can look at the stats all you want. The bottom line is that they outplayed us and outcoached us.”

The man who “outcoached” Williams, Indiana’s Bob Knight, declined to speak with the media after the game.

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No. 1 N. Carolina 129, VMI 89--Dante Calabria made six three-point shots in the first half for the Tar Heels (6-0), who tied a school record for most points in a game in defeating VMI (2-4) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Jerry Stackhouse led North Carolina with 22 points, and Jeff McInnis added 20 as the Tar Heels showed no ill effects from a nine-day layoff.

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No. 5 Massachusetts 91, Western Kentucky 72--Mike Williams scored 21 points in his first start of the season to lead the Minutemen (5-1), who won their fourth game in a row.

Williams, suspended for academic reasons from the season opener against Arkansas and playing in reserve since, scored 15 points in the second half.

Chris Robinson led the Hilltoppers (2-2) with 20 points and seven rebounds.

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No. 6 Kentucky 83, Texas Tech 68--Rodrick Rhodes kept the sluggish Wildcats (5-1) close with 13 first-half points, and they eventually wore down Texas Tech (3-2) at Cincinnati.

Rhodes finished with 23 points for Kentucky, which used a 12-4 run late in the first half to pull away.

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No. 7 Arizona 75, Texas El Paso 61--Damon Stoudamire scored 24 points to help the Wildcats (7-1) win their seventh game in a row and stop a three-game winning streak by UTEP (3-2).

Antoine Gillespie had 22 points for the Miners, who defeated Arizona, 98-91, in overtime in a first-round NCAA tournament game at Tucson last March.

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No. 8 Florida 71, Florida St. 65--Dan Cross put the Gators (5-1) ahead for good with two free throws and Dametri Hill added two more with 16.3 seconds to play in the second overtime of a victory over Florida State (4-2) at Orlando.

Hill finished with 21 points and Cross had 17 for Florida, which made only two shots from the field but were seven for eight from the free-throw line in the second extra period.

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California 82, No. 11 Minnesota 75--Monty Buckley scored 21 points and the Golden Bears (5-0) led most of the game in upsetting the Golden Gophers in Oakland.

Townsend Orr’s 21 points led Minnesota (6-2), which lost its second game in a row.

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Louisville 77, No. 14 Georgia Tech 72--Alvin Sims scored seven of his 14 points in the final 4:28 as the Cardinals (4-3) defeated the Yellow Jackets (6-1) in the nightcap of the Kuppenheimer Classic doubleheader in Atlanta.

Georgia needed double overtime to defeat Pittsburgh, 87-86, in the first game.

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No. 15 Georgetown 85, Maryland Eastern Shore 46--Othella Harrington led the way with season highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds at Landover, Md., as the Hoyas (5-1) won their fifth game in a row in cruising past the Fighting Hawks (3-4).

Maryland-Eastern Shore shot only 29% and was knocked out of the game early by a 19-4 Georgetown run to a 31-13 lead.

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No. 16 Syracuse 67, Princeton 65--Otis Hill’s first points, a three-point play with 16 seconds gone in overtime, gave the Orangemen (5-1) the lead and they held off the Tigers (3-5) at Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse (5-1) had only four field goals in the second half but made 16 of 21 free throws to stave off upset-minded Princeton, which led by as many as nine points in the first half and never trailed by more than four until overtime.

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No. 17 Cincinnati 81, Wyoming 80--LaZelle Durden scored 45 points, including 10 in the final 89 seconds and three free throws after the final buzzer for the Bearcats (6-2), who overcame a nine-point lead by the Cowboys (2-4) in the final 90 seconds at Laramie, Wyo.

Durden missed a 20-foot shot at the buzzer, but he was fouled by LaDrell Whitehead and made all three free throws for the victory.

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No. 18 Michigan State 80, Detroit 63--Shawn Respert scored 20 points to lead the Spartans (4-1) at Detroit. They have beaten the Titans (2-5) 11 times in a row.

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Xavier 90, No. 19 Ohio University 71--The Musketeers (5-1) held Gary Trent to 17 points, his lowest total of the season and eight points below his average, and got 26 points from Michael Hawkins in defeating the Bobcats (7-3) in Cincinnati.

Hawkins’ three-point basket with 8:21 to play started a five-minute, 16-0 blitz that wiped out Ohio’s only second-half lead and put Xavier ahead, 79-64.

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No. 21 Wake Forest 74, College of Charleston 64--Tim Duncan scored a career-high 23 points and blocked seven shots in leading the Demon Deacons (5-1) to a victory over Charleston (4-3) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

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No. 24 New Mexico St. 96, New Mexico 89--Thomas Wyatt’s 12 points in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half keyed a 17-2 run that rallied the Aggies (7-2) to a victory over the Lobos (3-4) in Albuquerque.

New Mexico State trailed, 57-43, at halftime but promptly erased the deficit with the combination of Wyatt’s shooting and a switch to a man-to-man defense that held New Mexico’s shooting to 29% in the second half.

OTHER GAMES

Mike Amos missed a free throw with 6.6 seconds to play in overtime and Washington (1-2) failed to put in the rebound in three tries in falling, 63-62, at Kansas State (5-2). . . . Canaan Chatman scored 21 points to lead Portland (5-2) to an 82-43 victory over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo (0-7) at Portland. . . . Tom Kleinschmidt scored 21 points and sparked DePaul (4-2) in an 84-49 victory over Northwestern (4-3) at Rosemont, Ill. . . . Faron Hand grabbed a deflected pass with one second to play and made the winning layup to give Nevada (3-3) a 92-91 victory over Colorado (4-1) in Boulder. . . . Forward Ryan Minor scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, powering Oklahoma (6-0) to a 91-70 victory over Jackson State (1-7) in Norman, Okla. . . . Tournament most valuable player Marlon Garnett scored 17 points and Alabama Birmingham (6-4) shot only 25% as Santa Clara (6-1) won the UAB Classic with an 80-65 victory.