St. John’s Avoids Dubious Mark in 77-39 Setback to Minnesota

Minnesota held St. John’s to its lowest point total in 33 years and handed the Red Storm one of its worst defeats, 77-39, on Sunday.

St. John’s made only 12 shots, shot 27% and barely avoided its worst loss in history, 81-40, to Kentucky in 1951. It was St. John’s lowest point total since a 52-32 loss to Villanova in 1963, when Joe Lapchick was the coach.

Eric Harris and Sam Jacobson each scored 13 points for No. 17-ranked Minnesota (6-1), which was playing for the first time since losing to Alabama on Dec. 5. Bobby Jackson and Charles Thomas added 10 points apiece for the Golden Gophers.

Charles Minlend and Zendon Hamilton scored 10 points apiece for St. John’s (2-4), which has lost three in a row. Felipe Lopez, St. John’s leading scorer with a 17.8-point average, was held to two points on zero-for-seven shooting.

Minnesota scored the first six points and held St. John’s without a field goal for seven minutes in the first half while racing to a 25-6 lead.

Miles Tarver, making his first collegiate start, scored three consecutive baskets during a 16-4 run that helped Minnesota take a 54-26 lead with 14:19 remaining.

No. 1 Kansas 105, N.C.-Asheville 73--Raef LaFrentz had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks (9-0) at Lawrence, Kan.

Kansas took control early, running off 10 points in a row to take a 17-7 lead.

After a dunk by Robert Stevenson of NC-Asheville (1-3), Kansas followed with a 21-2 run, getting seven points each from LaFrentz and Scot Pollard and six from Paul Pierce.

Asheville finished the half with a 7-0 run, but still trailed, 50-23, at intermission. Kansas began the second half with an 11-3 spurt and cruised to its 32nd consecutive victory at Allen Field House.

Jerod Haase scored 17 points for Kansas.

No. 5 Michigan 70, Louisiana State 59--Maceo Baston and Louis Bullock each scored 13 points for the Wolverines (7-0) at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Michigan led by as many as 27 points before LSU narrowed the gap late in the game.

Nick Sheppard led LSU (3-5) with 19 points. Maurice Taylor scored 12 points for Michigan.

The Tigers got off to a 10-4 lead, but Michigan then went on a 29-4 run that included streaks of 11-0 and 13-0.

No. 11 North Carolina 105, Virginia Military Institute 61--Antawn Jamison had 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels (6-1) rolled at Lexington, Va.

Serge Zwikker added 18 points and 11 rebounds for North Carolina, which outrebounded the Keydets, 68-32.

VMI (2-4) kept the game interesting for about five minutes, with Maurice Spencer’s two free throws bringing the Keydets within a basket at 12-10. North Carolina then began getting the ball inside to Jamison and Zwikker and went on a 21-4 run en route to a 53-28 halftime lead.

OTHER GAMES

Freshman C.J. Black came off the bench to score 16 points and grab nine rebounds for Tennessee (3-2), a 57-47 winner over Memphis (1-4) at Knoxville, Tenn.. . . . Freshman reserve Tate Decker had a season-high 19 points and three blocked shots in 21 minutes as Missouri (5-2) scored a 64-50 victory over Southeast Missouri State (2-5) at Columbia, Mo.