Going to Burton Is a Good Idea for Cincinnati

Forward Danny Fortson is No. 7-ranked Cincinnati’s leading scorer, but guard Darnell Burton is becoming the Bearcats’ go-to guy in must-score situations.

Burton’s three-point basket broke a tie with 2:18 remaining and his two free throws with 15 seconds left sealed Cincinnati’s 71-66 home-court victory Thursday over No. 14 Memphis State. Burton’s three-point basket with two seconds left gave the Bearcats a two-point victory over Tulane last Sunday.

Cincinnati clinched at least a tie for the regular-season Conference USA championship. Fortson led the Bearcats (22-4 overall and 11-2 in conference) with 25 points and a career-high 17 rebounds while Burton had 16 points.

Memphis (20-6, 10-3) had two chances to tie the game in the final minute but guard Mingo Johnson had one shot blocked and a three-point attempt fall short.

Memphis center Lorenzen Wright fouled out with 18 points and seven rebounds. The Tigers, who lost key 6-foot-10 reserve Chad Allen to a knee injury last week, were outrebounded, 46-27.

No. 5 Purdue 67, Minnesota 61--Guard Chad Austin scored 22 points, including three on free throws in the final 41 seconds, as the Boilermakers (24-4, 14-2) clinched at least a tie for the Big Ten championship at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue needs to win only one of its final two games (Northwestern and Iowa) to become the first Big Ten school to win three consecutive conference championships outright since Ohio State in 1960-62.

Minnesota (15-12, 7-8) has lost 14 consecutive games and 22 of its last 23 at Purdue’s Mackey Arena. Guard Bobby Jackson had 16 points for the Golden Gophers.

No. 16 Virginia Tech 70, Xavier (Ohio) 61--Senior center Travis Jackson equaled a career high with 17 points in his last home game for the Hokies (21-4, 12-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference) at Blacksburg, Va.

Jackson, who made eight of 11 shots, was one of four Virginia Tech seniors honored before the game. Junior forward Ace Custis had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Freshman guard Darnell Williams led Xavier (11-14, 7-8) with 16 points.

No. 24 George Washington 76, Rhode Island 72--Center Alexander Koul scored 20 of his season-high 28 points in the second half and was a defensive force in the final minute for the Colonials (20-5, 13-2 in the Atlantic 10) at Washington, D.C.

It was George Washington’s first game since its victory over then-No. 1-ranked Massachusetts last Saturday. The Colonials are unbeaten (11-0) at home and went 10-1 in February en route to their second 20-win season in 20 years.

George Washington scored the game’s last five points on free throws, three by Koul--who blocked a shot and altered two others in preventing Rhode Island (15-12, 7-8) from scoring in the final minute.

Koul, a 7-1 sophomore from Belarus, also had 10 rebounds in outplaying Michael Anderson, a 7-foot center from Denmark. Anderson had no points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.

OTHER GAMES

Guard Dominick Young’s sixth three-point basket of the second half with two seconds left gave visiting Fresno State (19-8, 13-4 in the Western Athletic Conference) an 88-87 victory over Texas El Paso (12-14, 4-13). Young had 31 points and made nine of 14 three-point shots. New Mexico (23-4, 13-4 in the WAC) ran its winning streak to six with a 67-55 victory over Air Force (5-21, 1-16 and an 11-game losing streak) at Albuquerque. . . . Guard David Evans had 30 points to lead Colorado State (17-9, 11-6 in the WAC) to an 87-74 victory over San Diego State (14-12, 8-9) at Fort Collins, Colo. . . . Temple (17-11, 12-4 in the Atlantic 10) didn’t score in the game’s final five minutes but still managed its fifth consecutive victory, a 57-54 decision over St. Bonaventure (9-16, 4-11) at Olean, N.Y. Forward Derrick Battie had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Owls.

TOURNAMENTS

Trans America Athletic--Chris Thunel’s three-point basket with four seconds remaining in regulation and four overtime points helped Florida International (13-14) to a 58-55 victory over top-seeded Samford (16-11) in a first-round game at Deland, Fla. Florida International won this tournament as a No. 8 seed last season, qualified for the NCAA tournament with an 11-18 record and a lame-duck coach (Bob Weltlich), and was trounced in the first round by UCLA. Regular-season champion College of Charleston (23-3) is ineligible to participate in the TAAC tournament.

College Basketball Notes

Bobby Paschal, the all-time winningest coach at the South Florida, resigned as his most difficult season in 10 years at the school draws to a close. South Florida (10-15, 1-12) plays Alabama Birmingham Saturday and finishes its season in the Conference USA tournament March 6-9. The Bulls lost by one or two points to nationally ranked Cincinnati, Memphis and Louisville and have played most of February with a seven-man roster because three players were suspended for academic reasons and another quit. Paschal has a 125-158 record with two NCAA tournament appearances at South Florida and is 278-243 in 18 years of college coaching, which includes a stint at Southwestern Louisiana. . . . Leading scorer Jesse Pate (13.4 points a game) and top rebounder Sunday Adebayo (7.6 rebounds a game) are no longer eligible to play for Arkansas because of problems with their junior college transcripts. Adebayo and Pate can transfer to another school and be eligible to play next season. Both had been held out of Arkansas’ last four game while the school made an appeal to the NCAA. . . . Canisius forward Darrell Barley, player of the year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, suffered a broken right thumb in practice, making him doubtful for Saturday’s MAAC tournament game against Loyola of Maryland. Barley led the conference in scoring (20.1 points a game), rebounding (7.9) and field-goal percentage (51.7). He had been sidelined earlier this month with a knee injury. . . . Another prominent MAAC player, Manhattan forward Jason Hoover, will sit out the conference tournament because of a stomach disorder. Hoover averages 11.4 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds.