COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Temple Too Much for No. 2 Villanova

Derrick Battie, Marc Jackson and Lynard Stewart each scored 12 points as Temple handed No. 2 Villanova its first loss of the season, 62-56, Wednesday night at Philadelphia.

Villanova (7-1) trailed, 55-47, with 2:49 left to play, before rallying behind Kerry Kittles.

Kittles, who shot two for 14 from the floor, scored five of his 10 points in the game’s final 1:15.

A Kittles free throw with 1:08 left closed the gap to 56-54, but Levan Alston stole the ball from freshman John Celestand with 20 seconds to play to seal the victory for the Owls (2-3).

Eric Eberz had 19 points and Alvin Williams 13 for Villanova, which shot only 27 percent from the floor in the game.

The smaller Owls scored 10 of their first 12 second-half points from in close as Villanova was unable to stop Temple’s power game.

No. 12 Cincinnati 84, Minnesota 50--Playmaker Keith LeGree scored a career-high 19 points at Cincinnati.

Mark Jones had 15 points for Minnesota (5-2), which suffered its worst defeat since a 99-65 loss at Iowa State in December 1992. The Golden Gophers’ 50 points were their fewest since that loss.

Cincinnati (5-0) was sluggish at the start, but began to take advantage of Minnesota’s turnovers and weak free-throw shooting and opened a 17-point lead late in the first half.

Georgia 94, No. 19 Georgia Tech 70--Coach Bobby Cremins of Georgia Tech said he told his team what to expect from Georgia at Athens and he was right.

“We had beat them three years in a row and I told our kids they would come after us,” Cremins said. “We were outplayed and outcoached. Georgia was great.”

Katu Davis scored 27 points and Shandon Anderson added 19 as the Bulldogs took control from the start and never trailed.

A sellout crowd of 10,400 roared throughout as the Bulldogs (5-1) won the first campus game between the two teams since 1981, with the previous 14 meetings taking place at The Omni in Atlanta, a neutral floor.

Tech’s backcourt duo of freshman Stephon Marbury and Drew Barry were held in check, with Marbury scoring 13 points and Barry 11. Barry had six turnovers.

No. 20 Louisville 87, E. Kentucky 70--Tick Rogers’ gamble paid off big for the Cardinals at Louisville. Rogers stole the ball at midcourt and dunked the ball to spark an 11-0 second-half run.

“I just figured I could go for the steal,” said Rogers, whose basket gave Louisville (6-2) a 46-43 lead with 15:26 remaining in the game.

No. 25 Syracuse 75, Bowling Green 64--John Wallace and Otis Hill took over inside in the second half at Syracuse. Wallace scored 10 of his 17 points and Hill 11 of his 13 in the second half as the Orangemen (7-0) fended off the Falcons (4-3) time after time.

OTHER GAMES

Jeff Nordgaard scored seven of his 23 points in overtime to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-2) to an 81-71 victory over cold-shooting Oregon (4-2) in Eugene. . . . LaDrell Whitehead scored 23 points to lead Wyoming (4-1) to an 83-81 victory over Colorado (4-3) at Boulder. . . . Johnny Rhodes scored 20 points and keyed a strong second half defensive effort as Maryland defeated Rider, 83-67, at College Park. . . . Mike Frensley scored 17 points and made a three-point shot with 49.3 seconds to play at East Rutherford, N.J., to lift St. Peter’s to a 61-59 victory over Seton Hall.

College Basketball Notes

Auburn declared two basketball players ineligible and suspended assistant coach Robbie Laing amid questions about possible NCAA rules violations. Athletic director David Housel said Laing had admitted taking part in improper benefits that went to Chris Davis and Moochie Norris, including transportation, housing and tutorial services. . . . Arizona State guard Lenny Holly likely will sit out the next two games because of recurring epileptic-type seizures, according to coach Bill Frieder.