COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Connecticut Holds Off Boston College, 63-62

Doron Sheffer made two free throws with 9.2 seconds left, and No. 9 Connecticut withstood a late rally by Boston College for a 63-62 victory Sunday in Hartford, Conn., in the Big East opener for both.

Connecticut (4-1) had the lead with about four minutes left and Boston College’s Danya Abrams out of the game on fouls. But the Eagles rallied to cut the lead to 61-60 when Scoonie Penn made a layup with 10.7 seconds left.

The Eagles (3-1) fouled immediately and Sheffer made both free throws for a 63-60 lead. Boston College then got an uncontested layup by Bevan Thomas with 1.8 seconds left to close the scoring.

Connecticut broke from a 10-10 tie to take a 19-10 lead midway through the first half as Ray Allen scored 20 of his 22 points in the first 20 minutes.

OTHER TOP 25 TEAMS

No. 5 Massachusetts 80, Florida 58--Marcus Camby scored 30 points and Massachusetts turned in another suffocating defensive effort to win the Franklin National Bank Classic in Landover, Md.

Massachusetts (3-0) led, 37-18, at halftime and upped the margin to 29 points before coasting to its third victory in six days. The first two victories were against ranked opponents, the third against a team that made the NCAA tournament in each of the past two years.

Camby made nine of 15 shots and had eight rebounds. He also had two assists and blocked two shots by the Gators (2-2).

No. 19 Maryland 98, George Washington 81--Johnny Rhodes led a rejuvenated Terrapin offense with 21 points in the consolation game of the Franklin National Bank Classic in Landover, Md. The Terrapins (2-2) shot 56% in the first half while building a 52-35 halftime lead.

Rhodes had 10 points before halftime and made three baskets in the opening 5:15 of the second half to help Maryland go up, 67-39. George Washington (2-2) never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

No. 25 Arkansas 116, Alcorn State 75--Jesse Pate scored nine points and Kareem Reid had three assists during a 21-2 run at Fayetteville, Ark.

The Razorbacks (3-2) scored 24 points off the Braves’ 22 first-half turnovers while building a 56-36 lead at intermission. Alcorn State (2-2) committed only 34 turnovers in its first three games but had 37 against Arkansas.

OTHER GAMES

Alabama Birmingham 66, Auburn 54--The Blazers’ Carlos Williams had 26 points and 11 rebounds at Auburn, Ala.

Auburn (4-1) suffered from 35% shooting and an eight-of-27 performance from the foul line.

Alabama-Birmingham (2-1) led through most of the game, briefly surrendering the lead only twice in the second half.

Syracuse 92, Providence 78--John Wallace and Otis Hill dominated the inside and combined for 48 points on 19-of-30 shooting in a Big East Conference game at Providence, R.I.

Syracuse (3-0), which never trailed, took its largest lead, 65-51, on Wallace’s eight-foot turnaround jumper with 11:55 left in the game.

The Friars (2-1) went on a 23-10 surge the next 10 minutes, trimming the lead to 75-74 at 1:26.