COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Hoyas’ Iverson Learns Dunks Not Everything

Allen Iverson stole the ball, dribbled down court alone and stunned the crowd. Not with a monster slam, but with the gentlest dunk possible.

John Thompson’s message, it seems, was finally finding its mark with the Georgetown sophomore, whose flashy play delights crowds and terrifies his coaches. Iverson auditioned for the highlight films only once--when he rammed home a flying one-hander after the game was well in hand--in sixth-ranked Georgetown’s 83-52 victory over Rutgers at Landover, Md., Monday night.

“Everybody likes to put a little style in their play,” said Iverson, who had five steals and scored 18 of his 21 points in the first half. “But Coach Thompson tells us that sometimes the things we do are not necessary.”

Georgetown, 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big East, was much better at handling the ball in its new, up-tempo offense, committing a season-low 11 turnovers against the Scarlet Knights (2-2, 1-1).

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No. 14 Utah 86, Drake 50--Keith Van Horn scored 17 points and the Utes shot 58% at Salt Lake City. The victory was the 22nd in a row at home for Utah (3-1), which started with an 18-2 lead. Drake (2-2) never came closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Drake Coach Rudy Washington benched his starters for the entire second half.

Utah played without starting guard Brandon Jessie, who was suspended seven games by the NCAA for his involvement with a sports agent while in junior college.

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No. 18 Duke 84, South Carolina St. 64--Mike Krzyzewski decided not to use a chalkboard to show the Blue Devils how to play better at Chapel Hill. He might have punched a hole in it.

After Krzyzewski challenged his team with words and a basketball in the locker room at halftime, the Blue Devils responded. Greg Newton scored 21 points and Jeff Capel added 19 as the Blue Devils shook off a sluggish start.

Chris Collins added 18 points for the Blue Devils (5-1), who rebounded from a 75-65 loss to Illinois that snapped their non-Atlantic Coast Conference home winning streak at 95 games.

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No. 21 Illinois 82, Kansas State 56--Jerry Hester scored 16 points at Champaign, Ill., as the Illini, fresh off its weekend upset at Duke, overwhelmed the Wildcats.

The Illini (4-0) used accurate outside shooting--61% from the field, 45% from three-point range--and aggressive full-court pressure to hold a double-digit lead throughout most of the game. Kansas State fell to 3-1.

Other games

The start of the second half of the San Francisco State-Eastern Michigan game in Ypsilanti was held up for about 45 minutes after dozens of protesters took over the court, demanding an end to police brutality. Eastern Michigan won, 111-61. . . . Mark Sanford scored 25 of his career-high 35 points in the second half to lead Washington (2-0) to a 92-76 victory over Jackson State (0-4) at Seattle.