Providence Makes NCAA Statement

Providence Coach Pete Gillen wouldn’t say his team’s 84-77 victory over No. 8 Georgetown on Tuesday night assured it of an NCAA tournament bid but Hoya Coach John Thompson had no such compunctions.

“They deserve to get in, based on how they played today,” said Thompson, who was ejected in the second half of the Big East game.

Last year, the Friars (16-9) ended the regular season with victories over nationally ranked Connecticut and Villanova, beat Syracuse in the conference tournament and still failed to make the NCAA tournament. Their Big East mark of 7-11 probably was the reason. A victory at Miami on Saturday would give Providence a 10-8 league mark this season.

Providence sprinted to an 11-1 lead and never trailed.

The Hoyas’ Ya-Ya Dia rebounded a miss and scored on a layup to cut Providence’s lead to 70-67 with 1:40 remaining, but the Friars’ God Shammgod made a driving layup and Derrick Brown stole the ball and dunked.

No. 1 Kentucky 88, Auburn 73--Tony Delk scored 15 points and the Wildcats extended their winning streak to 24 games by defeating the Tigers in a Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

Auburn looked like a formidable upset threat for a while But Kentucky (25-1, 15-0) overwhelmed the Tigers (18-10, 6-9) by converting turnovers into 19 points.

No. 6 Villanova 76, Boston College 71--Eric Eberz scored 25 points and Alvin Williams 24 as the Wildcats won without Kerry Kittles at Newton, Mass.

Williams made a three-point shot with 61 seconds left to protect a one-point lead, then made six of eight free throws over the last 24 seconds.

The Wildcats (24-4, 14-3 Big East) beat Boston College (16-9, 9-8) for the sixth consecutive time. Kittles sat out the second of three games for charging $3,100 in unauthorized calls to a university credit card.

No. 13 Wake Forest 84, No. 19 North Carolina 60--Tony Rutland and Jerry Braswell fired a first-half barrage that sent the Demon Deacons past the Tar Heels at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Rutland finished with 22 points and Braswell had 12 as Wake Forest matched its season high with 12 three-point baskets.

Wake Forest (19-5, 11-4) moved within half a game of first place Georgia Tech (18-10, 11-3) in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

North Carolina (19-9, 9-6) lost for the fifth time in the last eight games.

OTHER GAMES

Maurice Taylor led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points and Michigan (18-10, 8-7) used big runs in each half en route to a 75-46 rout of archrival Michigan State (14-14, 8-8) in a Big Ten game at Ann Arbor. . . . Brian Miles and Brian Bruso scored 16 points apiece as host San Diego (13-13) escaped with a 77-73 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (15-12) in a nonconference game.

College Basketball Notes

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he is not interested in the Illinois coaching position that will be vacated by the retiring Lou Henson. . . . Wichita State Coach Scott Thompson resigned after Tuesday’s 61-60 loss to Oral Roberts. The Shockers finished with an 8-21 record, the worst in school history.