Three-Pointers Give Providence the Edge

Providence was hot from three-point range while Boston College couldn’t miss from the line. It doesn’t take a math major to figure out who’s going to win such an exchange.

Derrick Brown and Michael Brown combined for 43 points and eight three-pointers Thursday night as Providence held off 21st-ranked Boston College, 76-75, at Newton, Mass. In all, Providence was successful on 14 of 21 three-point shots.

“We’ve had days where no one can hit a three. Some days everyone can,” said Derrick Brown, who scored 23 points and connected on four of five from three-point territory. “It just happened that way tonight.”

Added Coach Pete Gillen: “We were on fire from the threes. Fourteen of 21 is unconscious. How we did it, I have no idea.”

Providence (11-7, 4-6 ) made nine of 10 three-pointers in the second half en route to beating the Eagles (12-5, 5-4) for the fourth consecutive time and the seventh time in their last eight meetings. It was the Friars’ first victory over a ranked team in four tries this season.

Boston College made 28 of 29 free throws, including their last 27, but lost because of three consecutive turnovers in the final minutes.

Danya Abrams had 24 points for the Eagles, but teammate Scoonie Penn--twice the Big East rookie of the week last month--was only one for 11 from the field.

No. 1 Massachusetts 59, Temple 35--This must be Massachusetts’ year. The top-ranked Minutemen even won in Philadelphia’s McGonigle Hall.

They had lost 13 of the last 14 times they played in Temple’s home gym, but turned that around with a victory that allowed the Minutemen, 20-0 and 8-0 in the Atlantic 10, to remain the nation’s only unbeaten team.

Massachusetts did it this time with some impressive defense. The Owls (11-8, 7-1) shot a dismal 21% from the field and missed all 16 of their three-point attempts.

Carmelo Travieso led the Minutemen with 16 points. Marcus Camby added 15 points, five rebounds and nine blocked shots.

No. 7 Utah 77, Texas El Paso 62--Brandon Jessie and Keith Van Horn scored 17 points each at Salt Lake City for Utah (17-3, 9-1 in Western Athletic Conference) and the Utes made seven of eight free throws in the final 2:06 to seal the victory.

It was a bad night for the Miners (10-9, 2-8), but a career night for UTEP’s Mark Ingles, who had a personal-high 23 points and hit a school-record-tying seven three-point baskets.

No. 11 Memphis 83, DePaul 82--Mingo Johnson scored six points in overtime at Rosemont, Ill., as the Tigers sent the Blue Demons to a school-record ninth consecutive loss.

Johnson led the Tigers with 21 points. Lorenzen Wright added 17 points and 12 rebounds for Memphis (16-3, 7-1 in Conference USA).

DePaul (7-12, 0-8) got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Bryant Bowden, who missed a last-second shot that could have won the game for the Blue Demons. Jermaine Watts, whose three-point basket with 4.9 seconds to go in regulation forced overtime, contributed 17 points.

No. 18 Syracuse 72, Miami 51--John Wallace scored 19 points and Otis Hill had 17 at Syracuse for the Orangemen (15-6, 6-5) on a night when Miami (10-8, 4-6) shot 30% from the field and remained winless on the road in the Big East in five games.

It was the second consecutive blowout loss for the Hurricanes, who lost by 28 to Villanova on Saturday.

OTHER GAMES

Keith Booth scored 11 of his career-high 27 points during a 17-2 run at Charlottesville, Va., giving Maryland (10-7, 3-4) command of the Atlantic Coast Conference game in an 80-72 victory over Virginia (7-10, 2-6), the Cavaliers’ fifth consecutive loss. Booth also had a career-best 16 rebounds.

Jamal Robinson led Virginia (7-10, 2-6) with a career-high 29 points, but the Cavaliers shot only 39.7% from the field and committed 16 turnovers.

Johnny Rhodes had 21 points and seven steals for the Terrapins. His sixth steal was the 300th of his career, making him only the second player in ACC history and the 15th in NCAA annals to reach that mark.

Kenny Thomas scored six points during a 13-4 run that secured an 88-81 victory for New Mexico (17-3, 7-3) over Brigham Young (11-8, 5-5) at Provo, Utah. Charles Smith led New Mexico with 24 points. Bryon Ruffner had 19 for BYU. . . . Adam Jacobsen made seven of Pacific’s 17 three-point shots and scored 22 points to lead the Tigers (8-10, 4-6) to a 75-59 victory over New Mexico State (6-12, 3-7) at Las Cruces. Pacific swept the season series from the Aggies for the first time.

College Basketball Note

Nebraska senior guard Jaron Boone, a second-team All-Big Eight selection last year, was indefinitely suspended for disciplinary reasons.