Keady Hides Pain in Purdue Victory

Purdue Coach Gene Keady screamed and glared, stomped and stared as if it was any other game, as if it was the end of any other week.

Only after No. 22 Purdue had beaten Minnesota, 76-62, at Minneapolis on Saturday and Keady was behind closed doors with his team did he show the personal grief he had hidden so well during the game.

Keady’s father, Lloyd, died Friday after a long illness, and his stepdaughter Lisa has been in a coma since suffering a head injury in a fall on Wednesday at her home in New Jersey.

Keady wept in the locker room after his players told him that they had dedicated the game to him. Keady said he had considered not coaching Saturday’s game.

“I don’t think my dad would have wanted that, and I don’t think Lisa would have wanted that, because they’re both fighters,” he said, slumped over and staring at the floor during his postgame news conference.

Keady will attend his father’s funeral in California on Monday, then return to coaching Tuesday when Purdue plays Indiana at West Lafayette, Ind.

Guard Chad Austin scored a career-high 27 points as Purdue (13-2 overall, 3-0 in the Big Ten) won its ninth game in a row and increased its conference win streak to 11. Minnesota is 9-7 and 1-3.

No. 2 Kentucky 61, Tennessee 44--The Wildcats (13-1, 4-0) converted 29 turnovers by the Volunteers (7-6, 1-3) into 35 points in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky double- and triple-teamed Tennessee’s leading scorer, 7-0 center Steve Hamer, who missed 12 of 15 shots from the field and had nine points. The Volunteers missed 14 of their first 16 shots and finished with 30% shooting.

No. 4 Cincinnati 91, Marquette 70--Guard Darnell Burton and forward Danny Fortson both had 17 points to lead six double-figure scorers for the Bearcats (11-0, 3-0) in a Conference USA game at Cincinnati. Marquette is 9-3 and 1-1.

Cincinnati is one of four unbeaten teams in the nation. The others are Massachusetts, Clemson and Penn State.

No. 5 Georgetown 72, Miami (Fla.) 67--Guard Allen Iverson set a Big East record with 10 steals and scored 29 points to lead the Hoyas (14-2, 4-1) past the Hurricanes (8-6, 2-4) at Landover, Md.

Miami finished a 0-3 East Coast trip that included a frigid stop at Connecticut and a weather-postponed game at Seton Hall.

The Hurricanes, who had cut a 19-point first-half deficit to one with 1:10 left, were hurt by 32 turnovers and nine-of-23 free-throw shooting (39%).

No. 6 Connecticut 83, Providence 74--Forward Kirk King made all 10 of his shots from the field for 20 points as the Huskies (14-1, 6-0) increased their win streak to 13 in the Big East game at Providence, R.I. King has made his last 19 shots.

Guard Ray Allen, the Big East’s leading scorer (23 points a game), had eight of his 21 points during a 16-2 run that came after Providence (8-6, 1-5) had pulled within 59-55.

No. 7 Villanova 69, West Virginia 67--Forward Chuck Kornegay’s dunk with two seconds left allowed the Wildcats (13-2, 5-1) to escape with a Big East victory at Morgantown, W.Va.

Villanova needed two timeouts before getting the ball inbounds for its final possession with 25 seconds left. The Wildcats worked the clock until guard Alvin Williams was able to find a wide-open Kornegay underneath. The Mountaineers (5-7, 0-5) failed to get off a shot as time expired.

Villanova’s leading scorer, guard Kerry Kittles (20.4 points a game), played only one minute because of a groin injury suffered in practice this week. John Celestand, who had averaged six minutes and less than a point, took Kittles’ place and scored 14 points.

Guard Greg Simpson had 28 points for West Virginia, which lost three home games in a row for the first time since 1972-73.

No. 8 Wake Forest 77, Maryland 64--Center Tim Duncan had 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocked shots--the first time he has reached double figures in all three in a game--to help the Demon Deacons (10-1, 3-0) extend their Atlantic Coast Conference win streak to 13 at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Guard Rusty LaRue made all six of his shots helping Wake Forest a 19-point lead in the first half and finished with 19 points.

Maryland (6-6, 0-3) missed 44 of 67 shots from the field in becoming the 10th team to shoot less than 40% against Wake Forest.

Wisconsin 80, No. 11 Iowa 71--Freshman forward Sam Okey scored 23 points and the Badgers (10-6, 2-2) used a 12-3 run in the final two minutes to upset the Hawkeyes (13-3, 2-2) at Madison, Wis.

Iowa (13-3, 2-2) had five players score in double figures, led by forward Jess Settles with 15 points.

Alabama 56, No. 12 Mississippi State 55--Eric Washington’s three-point shot with 2.8 seconds remaining proved decisive for the Crimson Tide (9-3, 3-1) in a Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Miss.

Mississippi State (10-3, 2-2) had taken a 55-53 lead with eight seconds left on guard Marcus Bullard’s three-point shot. Bullard, however, had a three-point shot blocked as time ran out by Alabama’s best defender, center Roy Rogers.

Alabama missed 19 shots from the field in a row at one point but trailed by only six points when forward Thalamus McGhee’s follow shot with 12:51 left ended the drought.

No. 15 Virginia Tech 71, La Salle 55--Reserve guard Troy Manns, a transfer from George Mason, scored 15 of the final 19 points for the Hokies (9-1, 2-0) in an Atlantic 10 game at Radford, Va.

The game was played at Radford University because two feet of snow on the roof at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg created a hazardous condition.

La Salle is 3-10 and 0-2.

Auburn 89, No. 19 Georgia 86--The Tigers (14-3, 2-2) successfully used a perimeter game designed to offset a decided height disadvantage in a Southeastern Conference game at Auburn.

Auburn attempted 29 three-point shots, making 12, and made nine of 10 free throws in the final five minutes. Guard Katu Davis missed a three-point shot at the buzzer that could have sent the game into overtime for Georgia (10-3, 1-2).

No. 20 Penn State 83, Northwestern 74--Forward Glenn Sekunda scored nine of his career-high 30 points in overtime as the Nittany Lions (13-0, 4-0) ran the longest Division I winning streak to 14 games in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Guard Geno Carlisle scored 31 of his career-high 36 points in the second half to allow Northwestern (5-7, 0-3 and a 13-game Big Ten losing streak) to rally from a 14-point deficit. A reverse layup by Carlisle with 9.2 seconds accounted for the final points of regulation.

Penn State was without top scorer Pete Lisicky, who injured his right Achilles’ tendon Thursday against Minnesota. Northwestern was without leading rebounder Matt Moran, who quit the team before Saturday’s game.

Indiana 85, No. 21 Illinois 71--The slumping Illini (11-5, 0-4) managed only two field goals in a second-half stretch of 11:45 at Champaign, Ill. The last time Illinois started conference play with four losses was the 1930-31 season.

The Hoosiers (10-6, 3-1) were dominant at the forward position with Andrae Patterson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Brian Evans (19 points, 11 rebounds).

No. 23 Michigan 76, Michigan State 54--The Wolverines (13-4, 3-1) were in control throughout the game at East Lansing, Mich. as the Spartans (8-7, 2-1) missed 10 of their first 11 shots.

Michigan had a 42-30 rebounding advantage in handing Michigan State its most lopsided home loss since 1990. Quinton Brooks accounted for half of the Spartans’ points (27) and made nine of 15 shots from the field, compared to 11 of 47 (24%) by his teammates.

Wyoming 61, No. 25 New Mexico 58--Forward Sly Johnson, after missing two free throws with 18 seconds left, made two for the final points of the Western Athletic Conference game for the Cowboys (7-7, 1-3) at Laramie, Wyo.

Freshman Kenny Thomas (18 points) was the only double-figure scorer for New Mexico (13-2, 3-2).

BIG WEST CONFERENCE

Utah State (8-7, 2-1) overcame a 20-point deficit in the second half at Logan, Utah, and posted a 73-71 victory over Pacific (6-7, 1-2). It was the second overtime victory this week for Utah State, which got 27 points from forward Silas Mills. . . . UC Santa Barbara (6-6, 3-1), with a 60-56 victory over New Mexico State (4-8, 1-3), ended a losing streak at 10 games to the Aggies at Las Cruces, N.M.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

Santa Clara (11-3, 2-2) made its first eight three-point shots of an 86-66 home-court victory over Portland (10-4, 1-1). . . . Visiting Gonzaga (10-4, 1-1) shot 72% from the field in an 81-71 victory over St. Mary’s (6-7, 0-2), which got only five points from the WCC’s leading scorer, guard David Sivulich.

OTHER GAMES

Oklahoma (10-4, 2-0) made all 14 free throws in the third overtime of a 117-100 victory over Nebraska (12-4, 1-1) in a Big Eight game at Norman, Okla. Guard Jaron Boone, the Cornhuskers’ leading scorer, missed three shots in the final 1:13 of regulation, had a basket disallowed with 2.1 seconds left in the first overtime because it was shot behind the backboard, and had a shot blocked as time ran in the second overtime. Forward Ryan Minor, the Sooners’ leading scorer, had 33 points, Boone 18.

George Washington Coach Mike Jarvis threatened not to have his team play a game against Missouri at Columbia, Mo., when officials said he would be assessed technical fouls for not submitting his starting lineup in time. Missouri Coach Norm Stewart asked officials to waive the NCAA rule that requires lineups to be submitted to the official scorer 10 minutes before the game and they obliged. NCAA rules call for a technical foul against each of the five starters whose names were not submitted by the deadline. Missouri (11-4) shot 35 more free throws than George Washington (8-3) in a 92-77 victory that ended the Colonials’ win streak at six. Missouri had a 39-15 advantage in free throws made.

Forward Rowan Barrett scored a career-high 32 points as St. John’s (7-5) beat Louisville, 86-64, in a nonconference game at New York. The Cardinals (10-6) shot 34% from the field. . . . Guard Jerry McCullough had all 19 of his points in the second half, including 10 of 11 on free throws as Pittsburgh (8-3, 3-1) was a 75-65 home-court winner over Notre Dame (5-7, 0-5) in a Big East game. . . . Courtney Alexander, a freshman forward from Durham, N.C., had 19 points and eight rebounds as Virginia (7-5, 2-2) was a 77-66 winner over Duke (9-6, 0-4) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers finished the game with a 20-4 run. It was the first time since February 1984 that these teams had met with neither being nationally ranked. . . . North Carolina State (9-4, 1-2) overcame 27% shooting in the first half for a 71-65 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over Florida State (9-4, 1-2) at Raleigh, N.C.

Forward Jason Sasser’s 27 points and 12 rebounds led Texas Tech (12-1, 2-0) to an 82-54 victory over Texas A&M; (8-6, 0-2) at Lubbock, Texas. The Red Raiders have won 24 games in a row at home and the season start is their best since 1938-39. . . . Curtis McCants had a career-high 38 points for visiting George Mason (6-7) in a 110-106 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (8-7). Shanta Cotright tied a Cal Poly SLO record with 43 points. . . . Brigham Young (8-5, 2-2) had its road losing streak extended to 10 games in an 83-76 Western Athletic Conference loss to San Diego State (8-4, 4-1). . . . Chad Bickley, a freshman guard from Santa Maria Valley Christian, made an NAIA-record 18 three-point baskets in 30 attempts and scored 56 points as Christian Heritage of San Diego beat Patten College of Oakland, 122-80. Bickley set a national high school record for three-pointers in a game (21) last season.