Camby, Massachusetts Defeat St. Joseph’s

It wasn’t the way No. 2 Massachusetts had hoped to rebound from its only loss, but then the Minutemen have grown accustomed to winning ugly.

Marcus Camby had 21 points, 15 rebounds and his 300th career blocked shot Wednesday night as Massachusetts avoided its first back-to-back losses in three years with a sloppy 68-66 overtime victory over St. Joseph’s at Amherst, Mass. The Minutemen were upset last Saturday by George Washington, 86-76 .

“No one’s been in more games like that than us this season,” said Camby, who made a turnaround jumper in the lane with 1:44 to play in overtime to break a 63-63 tie.

Camby then registered the milestone block at the other end. And with 16 seconds left and the Minutemen, 27-1 overall and 15-1 in the Atlantic 10 Conference, leading, 67-66, Edgar Padilla missed two free throws that could have iced it, but Camby grabbed the rebound.

Padilla went back to the line with 13 seconds left and made one of two free throws. The Hawks (13-11, 8-7) went for the victory at the buzzer, but Terrell Myers’ three-point attempt bounced off the rim.

Myers and Reggie Townsend each had 14 points and Townsend added 11 rebounds for St. Joseph’s, which had won four in a row. The Hawks outshot UMass in every category but were outrebounded 60-34.

“If you [do that] . . . maybe you deserve the fate you are dealt,” Hawk Coach Phil Martelli said.

No. 4 Connecticut 78, Rutgers 66--Ray Allen scored a career-high 39 points, including a career-best nine three-point baskets, rallying the Huskies from an early 15-point deficit in a Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

Allen made four consecutive three-point baskets in the first half after the Huskies (26-2, 16-1) had fallen behind, 30-15.

Rutgers (9-16, 6-11) led, 58-57, on a scoop shot by Damion Santiago with 7:45 to play. Allen responded with his seventh three-point basket, which started an 11-0 run.

No. 12 Penn State 78, Northwestern 62--Pete Lisicky scored 29 points as the Nittany Lions won a Big Ten game at State College, Pa.

The Wildcats (7-18, 2-14) kept it close through a sloppy opening eight minutes until Penn State (20-4, 11-4) went on an 11-2 run that included two three-point baskets by Lisicky.

No. 18 Georgia Tech 83, Florida State 68--Matt Harpring scored 22 points to lead the Yellow Jackets at Tallahassee, Fla., clinching the top seeding for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Drew Barry and Eddie Elisma had 16 points each as Georgia Tech (19-10, 12-3) had little trouble handling the Seminoles (13-12, 5-10) in setting a school record for conference victories.

The victory, the Yellow Jackets’ sixth in a row, also made Bobby Cremins the winningest coach in Georgia Tech history with a 293-170 record. Cremins overtook John “Whack” Snyder, who went 292-271 from 1951-73.

No. 20 Iowa 69, Wisconsin 54--Jess Settles scored 25 points to lead the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten game at Iowa City, Iowa.

Andre Woolridge added 12 of his 19 points in the second half and Russ Millard finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Iowa (20-7, 9-6). It was also Tom Davis’ 93rd conference victory to make him the winningest Big Ten coach in school history.

The Badgers (15-12, 7-8) lost despite a career-high 22 points from Sean Daugherty.

Marquette 80, No. 21 Louisville 79--Aaron Hutchins made a three-point shot from the right corner with three seconds left in the second overtime, lifting the Golden Eagles (19-6, 9-4) in a Conference USA game at Louisville, Ky.

“I was open,” said Hutchins, who had six three-point baskets and finished with 23 points. “I just used a step-back move. I knew it was going in. I never doubted it.”

Hutchins’ game-winner spoiled the return of Louisville center Samaki Walker, who had sat out 10 games while the school conducted an investigation into the purchase of an automobile by his father. Walker finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Louisville fell to 19-9 and 10-4.

Kansas State 92, No. 23 Iowa State 87--Elliot Hatcher and Aaron Swartzendruber each scored 22 points and freshman Ayome May made a three-point shot for the go-ahead basket in overtime as the Wildcats won the Big Eight game at Ames, Iowa.

Kansas State (16-9, 7-6) rallied from an 11-point deficit in the first half and came from five points down in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation to keep its NCAA tournament hopes alive. Iowa State (19-8, 8-5) got a season-high 31 points from Kenny Pratt.

OTHER GAMES

Ricky Price made a three-point shot at the buzzer to cap a dramatic ACC comeback that gave Duke (18-10, 8-7) its fifth consecutive victory, 77-75, over Maryland (15-10, 7-7) at College Park, Md. The Blue Devils got the ball to guard Steve Wojciechowski, who controlled a difficult in-bounds pass and passed to Price on the left side. Price’s shot dropped squarely into the net for the victory. . . . Brian Evans scored 25 points and Todd Lindeman 19 as Indiana (16-11, 9-6) posted a 76-64 Big Ten victory over Illinois (17-10, 6-9) at Bloomington, Ind.

Andre Owens had 15 assists and Jerome Lambert scored 21 points as Oklahoma State (16-9, 6-7) posted an 89-67 Big Eight victory over Oklahoma (16-11, 7-6) at Stillwater, Okla. . . . A basket by Damon Frierson from eight feet out with three seconds to play gave Miami of Ohio (19-6, 11-6) a 58-56 Mid-American Conference victory over Bowling Green (14-11, 9-8) at Bowling Green. . . . Chris Cameron’s career-high 22 points included four free throws in the final 1:12 that enabled Tulane (18-7, 9-4) to post a 60-58 victory over Alabama-Birmingham (16-12, 6-7) in a decisive Conference USA game at New Orleans.

Roy Rogers and Eric Washington combined for 37 first-half points as Alabama (15-10, 8-7) posted a 98-89 Southeastern Conference victory over Arkansas (16-11, 8-7) at Fayetteville, Ark. . . . Carlos Strong scored 22 points and Georgia (17-8, 8-7) erased a 16-point deficit with a 27-7 run midway through the second half and posted an 86-70 victory over Florida (10-15, 5-10) in an SEC game at Gainesville, Fla. . . . Freshman Keith Carter scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds as Mississippi (12-13, 6-9) extended its home court winning streak to seven games with a 75-48 victory over Louisiana State (12-15, 4-11) in an SEC game at Oxford, Miss. . . . Southern California College (20-11) won, 83-81, over Point Loma Nazarene (14-17) in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament. Cal Baptist (17-14) won, 98-80, over Concordia (20-10) in the other game.

College Basketball Notes

The 1996 Naismith Award finalists are: Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, Saudia Roundtree of Georgia, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest, John Wallace of Syracuse, Lorenzen Wright of Memphis Keith Van Horn of Utah, Ray Allen of Connecticut, Tony Delk of Kentucky, Allen Iverson of Georgetown and Kerry Kittles of Villanova.