Embattled Patterson Puts Cincinnati at Ease

Tired of being corrected in practice and struggling on the court, Ruben Patterson finally asserted himself.

Patterson emerged from a troubled two weeks by scoring a season-high 25 points Tuesday, leading the No. 7-ranked Bearcats to a lackluster 90-46 victory over winless Howard at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati (3-2) ended a 13-day layoff that began with a loss to No. 1 Kansas and was marred by Patterson’s arrest on an aggravated burglary charge. A grand jury chose not to indict, and the charge was dropped.

That was the lowlight of a disappointing season so far for Patterson, a junior college transfer who has played well below expectations.

Howard came into the game shooting 37% from the field and made only 25% in the game. Cincinnati had 20 steals, tying the school record, and forced Howard to turn the ball over 29 times.

No. 8 Clemson 58, South Carolina 39--When Greg Buckner gets hot, Clemson gets a victory.

It’s a simple formula that has carried the Tigers into the top 10 and one that lifted them at Columbia, S.C.

“It seems like every first half we’re kind of sluggish,” said Buckner, who combined with Merl Code to score 15 points during the eighth-ranked Tigers’ breakaway 20-3 run.

Buckner started his latest rescue after South Carolina (4-3) had taken a 26-25 lead 50 seconds into the second half. He scored the next seven points and Code capped the spurt with two three-pointers as Clemson (8-1) was suddenly up, 45-29.

For South Carolina, it was the lowest point total since a 31-30 loss to Maryland on Jan. 9, 1971.

No. 16 Minnesota 82, Rhode Island 72--Gopher Coach Clem Haskins knew his 16th-ranked team needed to start fast against the Rams, an explosive team playing on its home court.

The Rams, the nation’s third-highest scoring team at 93 points per game, didn’t make a field goal for the first 6:07, while Minnesota (7-1) got points from all five starters to take a 17-3 lead.

Haskins was pleased by the quick start, but knew his team couldn’t maintain such an advantage against the Rams (4-2), who were coming off an emotional victory over rival Providence.

Sam Jacobson scored 16 points and keyed the spurt that put the game away. With the Gophers leading, 65-61, and Rhode Island on an 11-0 run with 7:43 to play, Jacobson made a three-pointer, then tipped in a miss. About a minute later he grabbed a rebound off a missed Minnesota free throw and made another three-pointer to give the Gophers a 74-63 lead with 3:27 to play.

No. 23 Texas Tech 99, Texas-San Antonio 51--The Red Raiders were still smarting from their first loss but rebounded against the Roadrunners at Lubbock.

Tony Battie had 23 points and 15 rebounds while Tech’s reserves combined for 48 points. Texas Tech (6-1), still seething over a 93-89 loss last Saturday at unranked Texas Christian, never let up on UTSA (4-4) even as Coach James Dickey emptied his bench en route to the Raiders’ 34th consecutive home victory.

OTHER GAMES

Brian Jones made a game-winning lay-up with 11 seconds remaining as Santa Clara fought off a late comeback by Eastern Washington to win, 89-87, at Cheney, Wash. The Broncos (5-4) led 87-78 with 1:09 remaining before Eastern Washington (4-4) went on a nine-point scoring run. . . . Thomas Kelley scored a career-high 27 points to lead visiting Michigan State (4-1) to a 86-77 victory over Evansville (5-5). . . . Senior guard James Collins scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Florida State (5-1) to a 100-62 victory over visiting Tennessee State (1-3). . . . Seldon Jefferson scored 18 points, including 13 in a row as West Virginia (4-1) pulled away in the second half, to lead the Mountaineers to a 103-91 victory over cross-state rival Marshall (5-1) at Charleston.