Huggins Makes Point, Fortson Gets His

Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins had seen enough after a Jan. 30 loss to Louisville, which was not as close as the 81-70 score indicated.

Huggins was outraged at his team’s lack of aggressiveness and vowed to shake things up. He promptly did that by benching leading scorer and rebounder Danny Fortson and highly regarded junior college transfer Ruben Patterson for Cincinnati’s next game against DePaul and got the desired result--a 43-point victory.

“We have to go back to playing harder, like we used to,” said Huggins after the DePaul game.

Huggins apparently made his point with Fortson, who showed a new dimension in his game in the No. 12-ranked Bearcats’ Conference USA 91-70 victory Saturday over slumping Marquette at Cincinnati.

Fortson, who does most of his scoring or draws fouls around the basket, stepped outside the key when he was bottled up by Marquette’s zone defense and scored six of his eight baskets on medium-range jump shots. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead Cincinnati, 17-4 overall and 6-1 in the conference, to its third consecutive victory.

Fortson, a 6-foot-7 junior, scored a season-high 34 points in the Bearcats’ overtime victory over Tulane on Thursday, his first game since being benched.

“Their whole deal was to surround [Fortson] and not give him anything inside,” Huggins said. “Danny can shoot from out there. I wanted him to shoot from out there.”

So did Marquette Coach Mike Deane, whose team is the nation’s leader in field-goal percentage defense (33%).

“You have to pick your poison,” Deane said. “I thought we did a good job on Fortson in the first half. Their other guys had to step up, and they did.”

Marquette (14-6, 5-3) suffered its third consecutive defeat and its most lopsided loss in two years because it couldn’t defend the perimeter. In addition to Fortson, the Bearcats made 12 of 23 three-point shots and made 54% of their shots overall, the highest percentage by a Marquette opponent this season.

“It was a one-sided game that they dominated from beginning to end,” Deane said. “As they got rolling, they became unstoppable.”

Cincinnati made seven of its first 11 three-point shots to take a 22-point lead before settling for a 45-29 advantage at halftime.

The Bearcats took advantage of the absence of guard Anthony Pieper, Marquette’s best perimeter defender, in the second half. Pieper scored three points in 22 minutes and sat on the bench the rest of the game with an ice pack on his left shoulder. He dislocated the shoulder Dec. 22, missed three games, returned and reinjured it on Jan. 30.

Pieper’s absence or ineffectiveness has been one factor in the Golden Eagles’ three-game losing streak that knocked them out of the national rankings. Pieper, who averages 9.9 points, was limited to three points in 23 minutes in a loss to Tulane on Feb. 1 and sat out the embarrassing defeat by Maine last Thursday.

No. 5 Utah 82, Colorado State 67--Keith Van Horn scored 23 of his 33 points in the first half for the Utes (17-3, 9-1), who raced to a 12-point lead and kept control in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Collins, Colo.

Van Horn has scored in double figures in 62 games in a row and added 12 rebounds for Utah, which leads the WAC Mountain Division.

Bryan Christiansen scored 19 points and Milton Palacio added 12 for the Rams (16-6, 6-4), whose eight-game home winning streak ended and who are third in the WAC Pacific Division, behind Hawaii and Fresno State.

No. 10 Clemson 80, No. 7 Maryland 68--Guard Terrell McIntyre had 21 points, three steals, six assists and didn’t commit a turnover in 39 minutes as the Tigers (19-4, 7-3) handed the Terrapins (18-5, 7-4) their most-lopsided loss of the season in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

McIntyre, the smallest player in the ACC at 5 feet 9, had 11 points in a 16-1 run that turned a tie game into a runaway. Forward Greg Buckner had 23 points for Clemson, which had lost three of its previous four games.

“This was a big win for us because it put us back in the ACC championship hunt,” Buckner said. “If we go to Wake [Forest] and take care of business, we’ll be tied for first.”

Clemson plays No. 2 Wake Forest on Wednesday at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Forward Keith Booth had 19 points for Maryland, which has lost three of its last four games.

No. 9 Duke 80, North Carolina State 51--The Blue Devils (19-5, 8-3) made a school-record 15 three-point baskets in 23 attempts in an ACC game at Durham, N.C.

Duke made six consecutive three-point shots to end the first half and take a 38-21 halftime lead. Another streak of five three-point baskets gave the Blue Devils a 68-35 lead with 8:25 to play.

Guard Trajan Langdon led Duke with 18 points.

North Carolina State (9-11, 1-10) was playing with leading scorer Clint Harrison.

Texas Christian 80, No. 9 New Mexico 59--The Horned Frogs (15-8, 4-6) beat a Top 10 team for the first time since 1983 in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Worth, Texas.

New Mexico (18-4, 7-3), playing its fourth game in eight days, appeared to tire late in the first half, and TCU took an 11-point halftime lead. The Horned Frogs went on to lead by as many as 31 points while the student section in the sellout crowd of 7,166 chanted “Overrated, overrated” at the Lobos.

New Mexico guard Charles Smith had 23 points.

No. 13 Michigan 81, Penn State 64--Forward Jarod Ward matched his personal best with 19 points for the Wolverines (17-6, 7-4), who pulled away from the Nittany Lions (8-12, 1-10) in the second half of the Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan forward Maurice Taylor played with a clear plastic mark to protect a broken nose, suffered in 58-53 loss to Wisconsin on Thursday. Taylor played 27 minutes and had 14 points.

Guard Louis Bullock had two three-point baskets to pass Glen Rice as the Wolverines’ lifetime leader with 137.

No. 15 Colorado 77, Texas A&M; 64--The Buffaloes (17-5, 8-2) went on an 11-0 run after leading scorer Chauncey Billups left the Big 12 Conference game because of fatigue. They maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way at Boulder, Colo.

Colorado was leading, 41-38, when Billups, a sophomore guard, removed himself from the game after making a free throw. Billups, who had 19 points, returned when the Buffaloes were ahead, 52-38.

Forward Shannie Jones had 23 points for Texas A&M; (8-12, 2-8), which had 20 turnovers.

St. Joseph’s 79, No. 17 Xavier of Ohio 65--The Hawks (15-5, 9-2) shot 65.6% (21 of 32) in taking a 23-point halftime lead and didn’t allow the Musketeers (16-4, 7-3) to get closer than 16 points until the final minute of the Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Guard Rashid Bey had 17 points and nine assists and consistently beat Xavier’s full-court pressure as St. Joseph’s, which hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1986, won for the eighth time in nine games.

“I told the guys before the game that to make the NCAA tournament, we have to beat this team,” Bey said.

No. 19 South Carolina 76, Florida 68--The Gamecocks (17-5, 11-0) tied a school record with their 12th consecutive victory in a Southeastern Conference game at Columbia, S.C. The winning streak is South Carolina’s longest since the 1970-71 season, when the Gamecocks were 23-6 record under legendary coach Frank McGuire.

South Carolina, coming off a victory over No. 3 Kentucky last Tuesday, came out flat and made only 37% of its shots to fall behind, 32-30, at halftime.

Freshman forward Herbert Davis scored all of his 12 points in a 5 1/2-minute span of second half in which South Carolina took a 50-42 lead. Forward Ryan Stack had a personal best 18 points and guard BJ McKie had 14 points and 11 assists for the Gamecocks.

Guard Greg Williams had 27 points for Florida (11-12, 3-7).

No. 20 North Carolina 81, Virginia 57--The Tar Heels (15-6, 5-5) recorded a second consecutive lopsided ACC victory and defeated the Cavaliers (15-8, 5-6) at Chapel Hill, N.C., for the 16th consecutive time. North Carolina was a 28-point winner over Florida State on Thursday.

Guard Shammond Williams, who scored 18 points, had his 13th consecutive game with at least two three-point baskets. He has made 28 of his last 46 three-point shots (60.7%).

Virginia had defeated North Carolina, 75-63, on Jan. 11 in Charlottesville, Va., to send the Tar Heels to their worst ACC start at 0-3. Among the Cavaliers’ problems in the rematch was being outrebounded, 48-27.

No. 23 Texas Tech 87, Nebraska 74--Guard Corey Carr scored 33 points, 21 in the second half, for the Red Raiders (14-6, 6-4) in the Big 12 Conference game at Lubbock, Texas.

Freshman guard Rayford Young, making his first start for Texas Tech, had nine points and eight assists, and 6-foot-11 center Tony Battie had 11 points and 17 rebounds.

Center Mikki Moore led Nebraska (12-10, 4-6) with 20 points. The Cornhuskers had lost to No. 1 Kansas in overtime and defeated No. 15 Colorado in their last two games.

No. 24 Indiana 93, Ohio State 76--The Hoosiers (18-7, 5-6) made 43 of 52 free throws in ending their longest losing streak in seven years, three games, in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

Indiana, whose streak started with a loss to Ohio State (9-11, 4-7) in Columbus on Jan. 30, scored its final 14 points on free throws and had made 14 of 16 in the first half before the Buckeyes tried their first one. Freshman A.J. Guyton had 24 points for the Hoosiers.

Ohio State Coach Randy Ayers and leading scorer Damon Stringer were ejected seven minutes apart in the second half with two technical fouls apiece.

OTHER GAMES

Richard “Doc” Sauers became the 10th coach in NCAA history to win 700 games when Division III Albany State (N.Y.) defeated defeated Bridgeport (Conn.), 89-71. Sauers, the fourth winningest active coach in all divisions, is in his 41st year coaching at Albany State. He has a 700-328 record. Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp, who coached from 1931 to 1972, holds the all-time record with 876 victories. Sauers and Jim Phelan, coach of Division I Mount St. Mary’s, Md., are the only active coaches with 40 or more seasons at the same school. . . . Guard Jeff Clement set the NCAA record for all divisions with 16 three-point baskets in a home-court 151-112 victory for Division III Grinnell (Iowa) College against Monmouth (Ill.). Clement, a 5-foot-10 sophomore from the town of Grinnell, scored 50 points in only 19 minutes and took 26 three-point shots. Keith Veney of Marshall has the Division I three-point basket record of 15, set on Dec. 14, 1996.

Guard Chad Austin had 27 points and Purdue (13-8, 8-3) made 33 free throws in 46 attempts in a 77-62 Big Ten victory over Michigan State (11-8, 4-6) at East Lansing, Mich. . . . Wisconsin (12-7, 6-5) held Northwestern (1-10, 6-16) to seven baskets in the second half of a 56-44 Big Ten victory over Evanston, Ill. . . . Guard Jay Larranaga made nine of 12 three-point shots and became the first Bowling Green player to score 40 points in 20 years as the Falcons (17-6, 9-3) were 103-78 Mid-American Conference winners over Akron (6-14, 4-8) at Bowling Green, Ohio. The last Bowling Green player to score 40 in a game was Tommy Harris in 1977 against Northern Illinois.

Miami (14-6, 8-4) missed four of seven free throws in the final minute, but Earl Johnson’s 50-foot shot at the buzzer missed, preserving the Hurricanes’ home-court 53-50 Big East victory over Rutgers (9-10, 5-8), whose last five games have been decided by 15 points. Rutgers defeated Miami last Sunday, 60-59, when the officials ruled the Hurricanes’ Tim James was standing on the three-point line when he made a basket at the buzzer. . . . West Virginia (14-6, 8-5) shot 62% in a 90-78 Big East victory in overtime over Providence (17-6, 8-4) at Morgantown, W.Va. Forward Austin Croshere had 20 points for Providence, which shot 44%. The Friars, whose winning streak ended at six games, and Miami have a half-game lead in the Big East 7 division over Boston College, Villanova and West Virginia.

Todd Burgan, a 6-foot-7 forward, shifted to center when Syracuse got into foul trouble and had 29 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Orangemen (14-9, 5-7) to a 77-74 Big East victory over Georgetown (14-8, 7-7) at Syracuse, N.Y. Burgan, who made nine of 12 shots, was pressed into service early in the second half after starting center Otis Hill drew his fourth foul and backup Etan Thomas fouled out. Another backup center, 6-foot-11 Elvir Ovcina, left the team Friday and headed by bus for Georgia to watch a friend play basketball. Guard Victor Page had 26 points for Georgetown, which had one of its best shooting games (50.9%) of the season. . . . Princeton (16-3, 6-0) shot 61% in a 75-51 Ivy League victory over Harvard (12-8, 5-3) at Princeton, N.J.

Massachusetts (14-10, 8-3) got 15 points and 11 rebounds from Tyrone Weeks, the replacement at center for Marcus Camby, in a 64-61 Atlantic 10 victory over Rhode Island (13-8, 7-4) at Providence, R.I. The Minutemen have won eight of their last nine games. . . . Virginia Tech (13-9, 6-4) held Fordham (6-14, 1-9) to its lowest point total in 51 years in a 50-32 Atlantic 10 victory in New York. Fordham, whose previous lowest output came in a 64-22 loss to City College of New York in 1946, shot 22.9%. . . . Center Adonal Foyle, the nation’s second-leading scorer and rebounder, had 24 points and 11 rebounds, but Colgate (9-13, 5-3) was a 72-65 Patriot League loser to Holy Cross (6-15, 3-5) at Hamilton, N.Y. . . . Guard Charles Jones, the nation’s leading scorer with a 29.3-point average, had 42 points but Long Island (14-7, 11-2) was a 103-97 Northeast Conference loser to Rider (12-9, 9-4) at Lawrenceville, N.J.

Guard Ray Harrison made a short jump shot in the lane that bounced on the rim twice with 3.6 seconds left as Georgia (17-5, 6-4) was a 56-54 Southeastern Conference winner over Mississippi State (11-12, 5-5) in Athens, Ga. Mississippi State guard Trey Moore’s three-point shot was blocked as time ran out. . . . Center Austin Bates scored nine of his 24 points in overtime and had 10 rebounds as Vanderbilt (14-8, 5-5) was an 87-83 Southeastern Conference winner of Arkansas (12-8, 5-5) at Nashville, Tenn. The Commodores shot 23 more free throws than the Razorbacks and had a 27-12 edge in attempts made. . . . Bubba Wells scored a game-high 35 points to lead Austin Peay (12-12, 9-5) to a 92-75 victory over Tennessee Martin (7-14, 4-8) in an Ohio Valley Conference game in Clarksville, Tenn.

Guard Reggie Freeman had 25 points and Texas (13-7, 7-3) shot 61% in the second half in handing Oklahoma State (12-10, 4-6) a 90-73 loss--its worst at Stillwater, Okla., in Eddie Sutton’s seven years as coach. . . . North Carolina Charlotte (16-6, 7-3) forced 30 turnovers and had only 12 in a 102-77 Conference USA victory at Houston (10-10, 2-6). . . . Daymond Forney scored 21 points to lead Fresno State (16-8, 8-2) to an 82-54 WAC victory over Rice (11-9, 5-5), the Bulldogs’ 11th consecutive victory at home.