Baxter Perfect in Maryland Blowout

On a record-setting night for fifth-ranked Maryland, Coach Gary Williams allowed himself to loosen his tie and crack a joke.

Lonny Baxter set a school record by making all 10 of his shots and scored 28 points Wednesday night as the Terrapins registered the most lopsided victory in school history, a 132-57 rout of North Texas at College Park, Md.

Baxter, a freshman forward, also made all eight of his free throws. His perfect night from the field bettered the record of eight for eight shared by Williams, who graduated from Maryland in 1968, and senior center Obinna Ekezie.

“If my assistant coaches did their job,” Williams quipped, “they’d have told me to take him out when he got to eight so he wouldn’t have broken the record.”

Said Baxter, a seldom-used reserve who played a season-high 18 minutes: “I didn’t realize it until after the game. I just happened to play a lot tonight and made the most of it.

“It feels great to break a record as a freshman. I hope to break many more.”

Laron Profit scored 16 of his season-high 24 points in the first half and Steve Francis added 17 for the Terrapins (12-1), who had no trouble in their 63rd consecutive nonconference home victory, the longest current streak in the nation.

The 75-point margin of victory surpassed the 67-point blowout of Western Carolina this season, and the 132 points was the second-highest output in Maryland history.

North Texas is 0-9.

Saint Louis 78, No. 13 Kansas 64--Justin Love, who had scored only 18 points all season, scored 24 to lead the Billikens (6-5) over the Jayhawks (8-3) at St. Louis.

Kansas made only 36% of its shots, just 25% in the first half. Kansas also committed 24 turnovers, 14 in the opening half, which ended with Saint Louis holding a 34-20 lead.

Kansas never got closer than 44-37 in the final 20 minutes.

Love, a 6-foot-2 junior college transfer, sat out the Billikens’ first seven games because of back problems and scored 18 in the last three. He made seven of 10 shots, three of four from three-point range, while playing only 17 minutes because of foul trouble.

No. 15 Michigan State 75, Alabama 58--Reserve forward A.J. Granger scored 10 of his 16 points during a 20-4 second-half run that helped the Spartans (9-3) overpower the Crimson Tide (10-3) in the championship game of the Pearl Harbor Classic at Laie, Hawaii.

The Spartans were locked in a tight battle when Granger, whose previous scoring high was 10, made a three-point shot to start the rally. By the end of the run, Michigan State had a comfortable 57-47 lead.

No. 19 Arkansas 75, Wake Forest 59--Pat Bradley scored 27 points and the Razorbacks (9-2) held the Demon Deacons (9-3) to 33% shooting at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Derek Hood had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Kareem Reid had six assists for Arkansas, which has won four consecutive games since a 30-point loss at Oklahoma on Dec. 5.

No. 20 Wisconsin 61, Marquette 45--Sean Mason scored 15 points to help the Badgers defeat the Warriors (7-5) at Milwaukee for their eighth consecutive victory.

Wisconsin, which held Marquette to only 10 points in the first half, is 11-1 for only the second time since 1930 and has won seven consecutive road games, tying the school record set in 1911-12 and 1915-16.

Marquette never recovered after making only three of 22 shots in the first half.

No. 21 Iowa 87, Coppin State 73--Jess Settles scored 18 points to lead the Hawkeyes (9-1) over the Eagles (2-9) at Iowa City.

North Carolina State 62, No. 23 Oklahoma 58--The Wolfpack (9-3) held the Sooners (7-3) to three points over the opening 10 1/2 minutes, then allowed them only six points in an eight-minute stretch of the second half in the third-place game of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic at San Juan.

Tim Wells and Ron Kelley each had 12 points and Adam Harrington added 11 for North Carolina State, which kept the outcome in doubt until the end by making only four of 10 free throws in the final two minutes.

OTHER GAMES

Rhode Island, which plays at Pepperdine on Tuesday in Coach Jim Harrick’s first game in the Southland since he was fired at UCLA, got 21 points from Preston Murphy in improving to 6-4 with a 74-55 victory over San Francisco (7-5) at Providence, R.I. . . . Northwestern (6-2), which will play host to Long Beach State on Sunday, upped its record to 6-2 with a 69-59 victory over Boston College (3-7) at Evanston, Ill. . . . Michael Ruffin made only three of six free throws in the final 49.6 seconds, but they were enough to help Tulsa (11-2) hold off Oregon State (5-3) for a 59-57 victory in the third-place game of the Pearl Harbor Classic at Laie, Hawaii.