Miami Smells Rank After Upset Victory

The once-beaten Miami Hurricanes, snubbed in the national rankings this season, won Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun’s vote Tuesday night at Miami.

Lucas Barnes scored 14 points and sparked a second-half spurt to help the Hurricanes move closer to their first top-25 ranking since 1960 by beating No. 8 Connecticut, 76-67.

“I can only judge on what they did tonight,” Calhoun said. “If we’re ranked, clearly they should be ranked.”

Miami, 27th in voting this week, hasn’t been ranked since the end of the 1959-60 season. The Hurricanes improved to 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big East Conference.

Connecticut, which had won nine consecutive games, fell to 13-2 and 3-1.

No. 6 Kentucky 90, Georgia 79--Allen Edwards scored all 19 of his points in the second half at Athens, Ga., to help give Wildcat Coach Tubby Smith a triumphant return in his first visit since leaving the Bulldogs after last season.

Smith spent two seasons at Georgia, guiding the Bulldogs to their first consecutive 20-victory seasons before succeeding Rick Pitino at Kentucky last May.

It also was Smith’s first time coaching against his son, G.G. Smith, Georgia’s junior point guard, who scored eight points as Georgia (8-6, 0-2 in the SEC) lost to Kentucky for the ninth consecutive time and 16th time in 17 games.

Kentucky (13-2, 2-0) took its biggest lead of the first half at 35-26 when Saul Smith, a freshman reserve guard at Kentucky and younger brother of G.G., made a three-point basket with 4.3 seconds before halftime.

“It’s been a real emotional day and an emotional buildup to this game,” Tubby Smith said. “I don’t feel much ecstasy. It feels good to get the win, but when you’re competing against friends and family, it’s tough.”

Indiana 80, No. 17 Michigan 62--Andrae Patterson scored 19 points and William Gladness added 14, including six during a 15-2 second-half streak that carried the Hoosiers over Michigan in Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

The victory kept Indiana (10-5, 1-2) from possibly matching its worst conference start since it went 0-4 in Coach Bobby Knight’s first year as coach in 1972. It also ended a six-game winning streak by the Wolverines (12-4, 2-1).

No. 23 Rhode Island 83, St. Joseph’s 68--Tyson Wheeler tied a career high with 35 points and had a school-record nine three-point baskets as Rhode Island rallied in an Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Two days after Cuttino Mobley had tied Wheeler’s record with eight three-pointers against Temple, Wheeler broke the mark as the Rams (9-2, 2-0) won their third in a row. St. Joseph’s (4-5, 0-2) got 23 points from Rashid Bey.

OTHER GAMES

Cameron Murray triggered a 9-1 run with a three-pointer and made four free throws in the final 32.2 seconds, lifting Louisville (6-7) to a 73-67 victory over St. John’s (9-6) at Louisville, Ky. . . . John Celestand had 18 points as Villanova (7-5, 4-0) overcame a 17-point first-half deficit to defeat Boston College (8-7, 1-4), 68-65, in overtime in a Big East game at Philadelphia. . . . Tyrone Weeks had 16 points and nine rebounds and Massachusetts (8-5, 2-0) took control with a 36-7 run in a 15:50 span in a 73-55 victory over Fordham (4-8, 0-2) in an Atlantic 10 game at New York. . . . Lamont Barnes tied his career high with 23 points as Temple (7-4) withstood a furious Penn (3-7) rally, defeating the Quakers, 67-58, at Philadelphia.