Kentucky Shows Purdue a Little Bit of the Big Time

There were five victories by an average of 22 points, but then Purdue ran into North Carolina and, on Wednesday night, the Boilermakers were run over by Kentucky and Nazr Mohammed.

Mohammed, playing at home in Chicago in the Great Eight tournament, scored 19 points and limited Purdue center Brad Miller to 10 in an 89-75 victory over sixth-ranked Purdue,

Boilermaker Coach Gene Keady figures his team has been exposed.

“I’m not happy, to say the least. Teams that don’t compete and practice hard are not on my high list,” said Keady, whose team was also beaten by No. 3 North Carolina in the Alaska Shootout. “We’re a bunch of wannabes that can’t play with the big boys. We’ve proven that the last two games.”

Seventh-ranked Kentucky (5-1) beat Purdue in the Great Eight for the second season in a row.

“People don’t think we’re as good as we were last year and the year before, but we still think we can win every game,” said Mohammed, who came in averaging 7.4 points. “We like playing big games.”

Miller, one of the Big Ten’s best centers, entered as Purdue’s leading scorer at 19.2 points a game. Shooting 68% coming in, he managed to take only nine shots Wednesday, making four. Miller did grab 14 rebounds.

“We tried to limit his touches,” Mohammed said. “And when he did get the ball, we surrounded him.”

While Miller struggled, Mohammed went 10 for 18--all on layups and tip-ins. He played only 18 minutes.

Scott Padgett and Jamaal Magloire also played major roles in holding Miller to four points over the first 33 minutes as Kentucky broke open the game.

The Boilermakers are favored to win the Big Ten for the fourth time in five years, but Keady said it won’t happen if they don’t play with much more determination.

“It’s leadership, ‘wanna-do-it,’ work ethic, a lot of things,” he said. “It’s basic stuff. Effort’s the big thing I’m concerned about.”

Chad Austin scored 24 points but had five of the Boilermakers’ 22 turnovers. He was playing with a shield to protect his broken nose.

Mohammed’s layup capped an 11-0 run that gave Kentucky a 53-40 lead with 15 minutes to play. Austin scored the next seven points and could have pulled Purdue closer but missed two free throws with 12:20 left.

The Wildcats then used a 12-3 run--again finished by Mohammed--to go up, 65-60, with 8:54 left. Purdue never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

No. 1 Duke 93, North Carolina Greensboro 37--Elton Brand scored 23 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Blue Devils, who played relentless defense to win in Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils (7-0) improved to 68-7 when they are top-ranked under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and the Spartans (0-4) were playing their first game against a No. 1 team since moving to Division I in 1991. Greensboro was also held to its lowest point total since the move from Division II.

Duke upped its record to 110-2 against nonconference teams in Cameron Indoor Stadium since February 1983.

No. 3 North Carolina 81, Louisville 72--The Tar Heels (7-0) got 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Shammond Williams, who started fast but needed to score eight of the final 10 points to put Cardinals (2-2) away in the Great Eight tournament in Chicago.

Antawn Jamison had 21 points and 12 rebounds for North Carolina, which held a 16-point first half lead but but had it cut to two points in the second.

No. 13 Connecticut 88, West Virginia 75--Freshman point guard Khalid El-Amin scored 29 points for the Huskies in Storrs, Conn., in the Big East opener for both teams.

Connecticut (6-1) scored 33 points on fast breaks and used a 10-0 run to put away the Mountaineers (5-1) after they had closed within two points with 7:24 to play.

Kevin Freeman had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Connecticut, which shot 59.3%.

No. 24 Wake Forest 61, Davidson 56--Freshman guard Robert O’Kelley scored 18 points in 24 minutes, including 11 over the final 6:26 for the Demon Deacons (6-0) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

After center Loren Woods tied the score, 50-50, with a free throw with 3:40 left, O’Kelley keyed a decisive 8-2 run with a three-point play and a three-point shot from the top of the key

Davidson is 2-2.

No. 25 Princeton 63, North Carolina Wilmington 50--Jamie Mastaglio played strong defense and Gabe Lewullis scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half for the Tigers (5-0), who won at home.

While Lewullis and Steve Goodrich, who had 16 points, sparked a sluggish Princeton offense, Mastaglio threw a blanket over Stan Simmons, who had led Wilmington (3-3) with a 20.8-point average coming in.

Simmons made only three of 11 shots, had only two second-half points and took only three shots over the final 18 minutes of the game.

OTHER GAMES

Mike Batiste had 18 points and led five Arizona State (5-2) players in double figures in an 87-76 victory over Northern Arizona (2-3) in Tempe, Ariz. . . . Antonio Reynolds-Dean scored a game-high 21 points and Cuttino Mobley added 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Rhode Island (3-1) to a 75-57 victory over Brown (2-5) at Providence, R.I. . . . Todd Burgan scored 20 points and Jason Hart had 19 points and 10 assists for Syracuse (4-0) in an 80-73 victory over St. John’s (4-2) in New York in the Big East opener for both teams. . . . Demetrius Alexander and Jeremy Hays scored 15 points each for Alabama (5-2) in an 81-64 victory over Texas A&M; (4-1) in Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Freshman Larry Hughes scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for St. Louis (5-0) in a 78-74 victory over Vanderbilt (6-1) at home. . . . Kris Clack scored 20 points and fueled a second-half run that helped Texas (3-3) avert a collapse in a 78-62 victory over American University (0-5) in Austin, Texas. . . . Quincy Lewis scored the first and last baskets of an 11-0 run for Minnesota (3-2) in the second half of a 65-58 victory over Eastern Michigan (2-2) at Minneapolis. . . . Michael Redd scored 26 points, making nine of 10 shots for Ohio State (4-1), which shot 69.8% in an 84-74 victory over Toledo (3-2) in Columbus, Ohio. . . . Malik Allen scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half for Villanova (1-2), which Georgetown’s (3-2) debut at MCI Center by winning its Big East opener, 73-69, in Washington. . . . Maceo Baston scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half for Michigan (4-1) which got past pesky Florida International (3-2), 71-62, at Ann Arbor, Mich. . . . A.J. Guyton and Andrae Patterson, replaced in the starting lineup for the second game in a row, combined for 36 points in a reserve role for Indiana (3-2), which was a 91-80 winner over Notre Dame (3-2) in Bloomington, Ind. . . . Jeron Roberts scored 20 points, including the free throws that broke the game’s final tie, and Wyoming (5-0) was a 67-61 winner over Utah State (4-2) in Laramie, Wyo. . . . Todd MacCulloch tipped in his miss with no time on the clock for Washington (4-0) in an 80-78 victory over Portland at Seattle. . . . Roberto Bergersen scored 25 points to lead Boise State (3-1) to an 85-68 victory over Idaho State (2-3) in Pocatello, Idaho. . . . Jabbar Washington scored 23 points and six other Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (5-1) players also scored in the double digits in a 117-71 victory over UC Santa Cruz (3-3).