COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Arkansas Toppled by Rebuilding Auburn

For a team trying to rebuild its reputation, nothing helps momentum like a victory over the defending national champions.

Auburn got just that as Moochie Norris and Lance Weems made five three-pointers apiece, and the Tigers survived fierce second-half pressure in sending No. 5 Arkansas to its worst loss since joining the Southeastern Conference, 104-90, Saturday at Auburn, Ala.

“Can we just stop here?” asked Auburn’s giddy first-year coach, Cliff Ellis.

The Tigers, 9-4 overall and 2-2 in the SEC, are coming off their fifth losing season in six years.

Arkansas (13-3, 2-2) lost earlier this season to Massachusetts and Mississippi, and was coming off a 79-74 victory over Mississippi State in which they trailed by 19 points in the second half.

“We make it harder than it has to be,” said Scotty Thurman, who scored 27 points and tried to rally Arkansas with seven three-pointers in the second half.

Razorback star Corliss Williamson was held to 12 points on four-of-10 shooting and three rebounds. Thurman took some of the blame.

“Sometimes we get caught up in the three-point game,” Thurman said. “We have the best power player in the nation, and sometimes we don’t look for him enough.”

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said, “I think out of the 40 minutes our guys played hard for about 10.”

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No. 1 Massachusetts 93, No. 21 Pennsylvania 60--Lou Roe, who usually saves his best games for his best opponents, dominated inside with 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Minutemen (11-1) routed the Quakers (8-2) at Amherst, Mass.

Penn, winner of its last 31 Ivy League games, may have been the toughest regular-season opponent left for the Minutemen. Their 15 remaining foes all are unranked and 13 of those games are against the weak Atlantic 10.

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No. 2 Connecticut 70, Providence 62--The Huskies (12-0, 5-0) remained the only unbeaten team in Division I by making 13 of 16 free throws in the final 8:10 and holding off the Friars (10-3, 2-3) in a Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

The Huskies had five players with nine or more points led by Ray Allen’s 14.

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No. 23 Iowa State 69, No. 3 Kansas 65--Fred Hoiberg scored 17 consecutive points for Iowa State (13-2, 1-1 in the Big Eight) in the second half, including the go-ahead three-point basket with 1:11 left, and the Cyclones rallied to beat the Jayhawks (11-2, 1-1) at Ames, Iowa.

Hoiberg matched his career high with 32 points and combined with Julius Michalik for all 26 of Iowa State’s second-half points as the Cyclones scored the final 10 points to overcome a 65-59 deficit.

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No. 7 Kentucky 83, Georgia 71--Tony Delk scored 17 points and the Wildcats (10-2, 4-0) defeated the Bulldogs (11-3, 2-2) in an SEC game marked by poor shooting and sloppy ball-handling at Lexington, Ky.

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No. 8 Syracuse 65, Pittsburgh 63--Lawrence Moten finished off a 19-point game with what proved the two decisive free throws with 10 seconds left and the Orangemen (12-1, 5-0) nearly blew a 19-point lead before winning a Big East game (4-9, 0-5) at Pittsburgh.

Syracuse ran its winning streak to 12, its longest since a 13-game run four years ago.

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No. 9 Maryland 78, No. 14 Wake Forest 66--Joe Smith had 23 points and Duane Simpkins scored all of his 17 in the second half as the Terrapins (13-3, 3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) improved to 10-0 at home. Maryland never trailed and ended the Demon Deacons’ (9-2, 2-1) seven-game winning streak.

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No. 10 Georgetown 75, Boston College 60--Freshman Allen Iverson scored 20 points in leading the Hoyas (11-1, 5-0) over the Eagles (6-6, 0-5) in a Big East game at Landover, Md.

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No. 11 Michigan State 70, Oklahoma State 69--Daimon Beathea’s three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left gave the Spartans (11-2) a victory over the Cowboys (10-6) at East Lansing, Mich.

Shawn Respert led Michigan State with 24 points.

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Villanova 72, No. 15 Florida 70--Jonathan Haynes made an 18-foot jumper with one second to play as the Wildcats (9-5) capped a 13-4 rally to beat the Gators (7-5) at Gainesville, Fla.

Andrew DeClercq had 20 points to lead Florida, which lost for the third time in four games.

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Virginia 91, No. 16 Duke 88--Cory Alexander (22 points) scored seven points in the second overtime, and Jamal Robinson’s baseline jumper with 54 seconds to play helped the Cavaliers (10-3, 4-0) rally from a 23-point deficit at Durham, N.C., sending the Blue Devils (9-6, 0-4) to their fourth consecutive loss.

Duke has lost four in a row for the first time since 1984. It also placed in peril the Blue Devils’ streak of 153 weeks of being ranked in the Associated Press poll.

Jeff Capel led Duke with a career-high 28 points.

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No. 17 Missouri 67, Kansas State 61--Paul O’Liney scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half as the Tigers (12,2, 2-1 in the Big Eight) overcame 36% shooting and several challenges from the Wildcats (10-5, 1-2) at Columbia, Mo.

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Purdue 84, No. 19 Iowa 83--Cuonzo Martin scored 25 points and Todd Foster scored Purdue’s final three points on free throws to lift the Boilermakers (11-5, 2-2 Big Ten) over the Hawkeyes (11-5, 1-3) at Iowa City.

OTHER GAMES

All-American forward Michael Finley scored 23 points to become Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer in lifting the Badgers to a 74-67 victory over Minnesota at Madison, Wis. Finley (1,874 points) moved past Danny Jones (1,854), who was a Badger from 1986-90. . . . Original Fab Fiver Ray Jackson scored 25 points and Maurice Taylor, the best of another strong Michigan freshman class, added 23 points, leading the Wolverines (9-6, 3-1 Big Ten) to a 92-70 victory over Northwestern (4-8, 0-3) in Evanston, Ill. . . . St. Louis (10-2, 2-0 Great Midwest) had a 23-4 first-half run and the momentum swung after a pair of technical fouls on Dayton Coach Oliver Purnell in the Billikens’ rout in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is 5-7, 0-2. . . . Darnell Burton scored a season-high 19 points and led runs at the start of each half that carried Cincinnati (12-5) to an 86-72 victory over Tulane (13-3) at Cincinnati. . . . Eric Washington scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead a balanced attack as Alabama (11-3, 2-1) defeated South Carolina (3-9, 0-4), 91-59, in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Danny Hurley, who sent the game into overtime with a three-point basket with 1.4 seconds remaining, had five of his 19 points in overtime as Seton Hall (11-4, 2-2) earned a 91-81 victory over St. John’s (8-4, 2-3) at New York. . . . Freshman Kelly McCarty scored a career-high 21 points and Damien Smith added 18 as Southern Mississippi (8-3, 1-1) won in Louisville’s Freedom Hall for only the second time in 16 tries in beating the Cardinals (9-5, 1-2), 74-72, in Metro Conference play. . . . Roderick Anderson had 23 points and Terrence Rencher added 21 to lead Texas (8-3, 1-1 Southwest Conference) to a 115-82 victory over Texas A&M; (7-9, 1-1) at Austin. . . . Ryan Minor and John Ontjes came up with one big play after another as Oklahoma (12-2, 1-0) opened Big Eight play with a 98-83 victory over Colorado (9-3, 1-1) at Norman, Okla.