Georgia Tech Floored Early by Kentucky

Had it been a fight, it never would have gone the distance.

“They just gave us a knockout punch early,” Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said Saturday night after watching third-ranked Kentucky bolt to a 25-2 lead in the first 11 minutes of an 80-39 victory over the Yellow Jackets at Atlanta. “They were awesome. They just completely took us out of our offense. They really frustrated us.”

Kentucky (10-1) made its sixth victory in a row an easy one with the early run in which Michael Bradley had six points and Scott Padgett and Jamaal Magloire had five. Georgia Tech (7-2) got its only basket during that span from Jason Collier, a transfer from Indiana who just became eligible.

“With every game, we get better,” said Magloire, who split playing time at center with first-round NBA draft selection Nazr Mohammed on last season’s national championship team. “It’s just a victory. The margin is not important. Our goal is just to win games.”

Kentucky stretched its lead to 33-9 on a spin move in the lane by Magloire with 4:00 left in the half and built the margin to 62-25 on a three-point play by Magloire with 8:49 left.

Georgia Tech, losing for the first time in four games, shot only 24% and made only two of 26 three-point shots.

“I know Georgia Tech struggled shooting the ball . . . [but] I thought our defense was superb early in the game and late in the game,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said. “We got on a roll there, especially defensively.”

Kentucky dominated every aspect, finishing with a 53-32 rebounding advantage, with Padgett getting 10. Bradley was the Wildcats’ leading scorer with 16 points, while Magloire and Ryan Hogan had 15 each.

“We made them look a lot better than they are,” Georgia Tech’s Alvin Jones said. “But they are a great team, and I don’t want to take anything from them. Mentally, we were just not in it. Maybe we were a little timid.”

No. 5 Maryland 81, Princeton 58--Laron Profit scored 21 points at Baltimore as the Terrapins (11-1) rebounded from their lone defeat and matched the best start in their history.

Maryland, which dropped three spots in the national rankings after a 103-91 loss at Kentucky last Saturday, forced eight turnovers to take a 19-2 lead in the first six minutes.

The last time Princeton (5-3) gave up more than 80 points in a game was in the 1994-95 season against Massachusetts. It was the Tigers’ most-lopsided loss since a 23-point defeat against Washington State six seasons ago.

No. 6 Stanford 71, Pacific 58--Arthur Lee scored 17 points and Mark Madsen had 16 as the Cardinal (7-2) handed the Tigers (4-3) their second home-court loss in 30 games.

Pacific led 47-42 early in the second half after Jason Williams’ three-point play, but Madsen’s follow shot started a 10-0 run that put Stanford in command.

No. 7 North Carolina 82, Dartmouth 68--The Tar Heels (12-1), playing without starting guards Ed Cota (injury) and Jason Capel (family matter) relied on the superior size and skill of their front-court players to defeat the Big Green (4-4) at Hanover, N.H.

Seven-foot Brendan Haywood, 6-11 Kris Lang and 6-9 Ademola Okulaja combined for 44 points and 26 rebounds. Dartmouth, with no player taller than 6-9, attempted 29 three-point shots, making 12.

Terry Newby and Max Owens, the replacements for Cota and Capel, combined for 13 points with five-for-13 shooting.

No. 8 Purdue 63, Butler 54--The Boilermakers (11-1) made all six of their free throws in the final minute to pull away from the Bulldogs (3-5) at Indianapolis.

Jaraan Cornell led Purdue with 13 points.

No. 11 New Mexico 102, Sacramento State 71--Senior center Kenny Thomas played his first game of the season for the Lobos (7-0), getting 17 points and 12 rebounds at Albuquerque.

Thomas, who sat out the first semester as part of an agreement that settled his dispute with the NCAA over his freshman year eligibility, reached double figures in scoring and rebounds in the same game for the 25th time in his career.

Sacramento State (0-8) has lost 26 in a row.

No. 13 Kansas 65, Illinois 55--Eric Chenowith had 18 points, and blocked seven shots for the second consecutive game to lead the Jayhawks (8-2) past the Illini (7-3) at Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas point guard Ryan Robertson also had 18 points, making all 10 of his free throws.

Nick Bradford had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Kansas, while Cory Bradford--no relation to Nick--made six of seven three-point shots and had 26 points for Illinois.

The Illini outrebounded the Jayhawks 52-36 for the highest rebounding margin by a Kansas opponent since Indiana’s 57-40 advantage on Dec. 17, 1994.

No. 15 St. John’s 88, Fordham 57--Tyrone Grant scored 16 points at New York as the Red Storm (9-2) won its sixth in a row, all of which have been by at least 19 points.

St. John’s has lost only to Stanford and Purdue. Fordham is 4-3.

No. 17 Minnesota 55, Nebraska 51--The Golden Gophers (7-1) overcame 13 second-half turnovers to defeat the Cornhuskers (6-5) at Lincoln, Neb.

Quincy Lewis had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which was helped by Nebraska’s poor shooting--25% (14 for 55) and no field goals in the final three minutes when trailing by no more than four points.

No. 19 Auburn 88, Navy 70--Chris Porter scored a career-high 34 points at Annapolis, Md., as the Tigers (11-0) never trailed in continuing their best start in 40 years.

Porter, a 6-foot-7 junior whose previous career best was 24 points, made 10 of 17 shots and 14 of 20 free throws. He also had 11 rebounds and three steals.

Navy (6-2) is 0-10 against ranked teams since David Robinson led the Midshipmen past No. 8 Syracuse in March of 1986.

No. 20 Arkansas 99, Memphis 74--The Razorbacks (8-2) made 15 consecutive shots in a 10-minute span of the first half to coast past the Tigers (6-3) at Fayetteville, Ark.

Chris Jefferies’ dunk gave Arkansas a 17-13 lead and started the streak of shots without a miss with 11 minutes left in the first half. Pat Bradley made four three-point shots and Jefferies had three other baskets during the streak which continued through Kareem Reid’s layup with a minute left before halftime that gave the Razorbacks a 55-24 lead.

Arkansas shot 70% in the first half and finished at 52% (33 for 64). Reid made all 14 of his free throws and was the game’s leading scorer with a career-high 26 points.

No. 25 Iowa 82, Missouri 68--The Hawkeyes (8-1) defeated a Big 12 team for the third consecutive game and increased their win streak to six in a game at Iowa City, Iowa.

Jess Settles, a former All-Big Ten player who was sidelined with back and hip problems the previous two seasons, had 16 points for Iowa. The Hawkeyes ended Kansas’ 62-game home win streak and defeated rival Iowa State by 20 points last week.

Missouri (7-2) had 23 turnovers in having its win streak ended at six.

OTHER PAC-10 GAMES

Eddie House had 34 points to lead Arizona State (5-4) to a 96-91 victory over Texas A&M; (7-2) in three overtimes at College Station, Texas. . . . Geno Carlisle scored 27 points and made two free throws in the final seconds as California (6-1) was a 71-70 winner over Brigham Young (4-6) at Provo, Utah. The Golden Bears trailed 35-28 at halftime after shooting only 27%. Both teams were without key players--BYU’s Sileste Rivers suffered minor injuries in an automobile accident, while California’s Thomas Kilgore missed the team bus and didn’t make the trip. . . . Todd MacCulloch had 23 points and 19 rebounds to lead Washington (5-3) to a 73-53 victory over New Mexico State (5-4) at Seattle. Deon Luton also had 23 points for the Huskies. . . . Alex Scales had 18 points to lead Oregon (6-1) to a 78-68 victory over Alcorn State (5-3) at Eugene, Ore. Reuben Stiff had 18 points for Alcorn State.

OTHER GAMES

Rasheed Brokenborough, who was bedridden with a throat infection for three days this week, had 23 points and three steals for Temple (6-4) in its 56-32 victory over Rutgers (7-2) at Piscataway, N.J. It was the Scarlet Knights’ lowest point total since a 30-29 loss to St. Bonaventure on Jan. 25, 1982. . . . Seton Hall (7-3) held Northwestern (5-2) to two field goals over the final 11:29 at East Rutherford, N.J., in a 63-52 victory, its fifth in a row. . . . Elton Scott made a three-point basket with 11 seconds left and had a steal on the ensuing inbound pass that led to Marcus Goree’s game-winning layup for West Virginia (5-5) in its 69-68 victory over Virginia Tech (3-4). at Morgantown, W.Va.

Demetrius Porter made two free throws and converted a steal into a layup in the final 33 seconds of overtime as Fresno State (7-4) defeated Georgia, 86-82, in Atlanta to give Coach Jerry Tarkanian his 696th major college victory. Jumaine Jones had a game-high 31 points for Georgia (7-3), scoring his team’s final 11 points in regulation. . . . Vincent Yarbrough scored a game-high 23 points as Tennessee (7-3) won its first road game of the season, 75-68, in overtime against South Florida (6-1) at Tampa, Fla. South Florida’s Shaddrick Jenkins’ jumper with 8.5 seconds left accounted for the final points of regulation. . . . Louisiana State (6-1) recorded its first victory over a team from a major conference in almost a year, winning in overtime, 63-61, against Texas (2-7) at Baton Rouge.

Alex Sanders made 10 of 13 shots and had a career-high 26 points to lead Louisville (3-2) to a 90-63 home-court victory over DePaul (6-4) in the Conference USA opener for both teams. DePaul freshman Quentin Richardson--the conference’s leading scorer (19.4 points a game) and rebounder (12 a game) coming into the game, had 17 points and five rebounds. . . . Xavier (6-4) bounced back from its first back-to-back losses in three seasons with an 88-58 victory over Canisius (2-3) at Cincinnati. Lenny Brown led Xavier with 21 points, making four consecutive three-point shots during a 16-0 run early in the second half. . . . Murray State (9-0) increased the longest home win streak in Division I to 33 games with a 69-57 victory over Western Kentucky (2-7).