COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Villanova Holds Off Rally to Stun No. 10 Georgetown

A 17-point halftime lead seemed like a pretty comfortable cushion until Villanova Coach Steve Lappas considered the opposition.

“Georgetown is one of the top 10 teams in the country,” he said. “We knew they’d come back at us and it would be a (close) game.”

Georgetown pulled to within two points with four minutes to play, but Villanova hung on for a 66-60 victory over the 10th-ranked Hoyas on Sunday at Philadelphia.

Villanova, 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the Big East, was led by Jonathan Haynes, who scored 21 points.

Georgetown (12-3, 5-2) played without freshman sensation Allen Iverson for all but 10 minutes in the first half.

Iverson, averaging 20.3 points, suffered a sprained right ankle last week against Connecticut. He limped slightly when he played, but had five assists before Coach John Thompson took him out.

“I would have loved to have put him in when we cut it to four, (but) that’s how bad it was hurting him,” said Thompson, who demanded that signs in the Spectrum referring to Iverson as a convict be removed before he would play the game.

“You expect certain ribbing, but there is a line,” Thompson said.

Iverson, Virginia’s high school basketball and football player of the year in 1992, was convicted of maiming by mob following a 1993 brawl at a bowling alley. Then-Gov. Douglas Wilder granted him conditional clemency after Iverson served nearly four months at a work farm.

No. 8 Maryland 84, North Carolina State 67--Joe Smith scored 26 points to lead the Terrapins (14-3, 4-1) over the Wolfpack (10-5, 2-3) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

It also was Coach Gary Williams 300th career victory, but he said January is not the time to enjoy such milestones.

“This time of year, you have to put that aside and think about Clemson,” Williams said, referring to Maryland’s next opponent. “Then, at the end of the year, say 300 is nice. But I can’t be thinking about that tonight or tomorrow.”

No. 12 Michigan State 73, Michigan 71--Shawn Respert scored 30 of his 33 points in the second half to help the Spartans (12-2, 4-1) beat the Wolverines (10-7, 4-2) at Ann Arbor, Mich., and move into first place in the Big Ten.

Oklahoma State 85, No. 16 Missouri 70--Bryant Reeves scored 28 points to lead the Cowboys (12-6, 2-1) over the Tigers (13-3, 2-2) in a Big Eight game at Stillwater, Okla.

No. 18 Virginia 88, No. 22 Georgia Tech 85--Cory Alexander scored 24 points, including a three-point basket with 30 seconds to play in the second overtime, to help the Cavaliers (11-4, 5-1) hold off the Yellow Jackets (11-6, 2-3) at Charlottesville, Va.

No. 24 Florida 62, Tennessee 47--Andrew DeClercq had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Gators (9-5, 3-2) over the Volunteers (7-7, 2-4) in a Southeastern Conference game at Knoxville, Tenn.