LaFrentz Holds Court as Kansas Sets Record

Center Raef LaFrentz was back in the middle of things for an emotionally charged third-ranked Kansas at Lawrence, Kan., on Saturday.

LaFrentz celebrated his return to the Kansas lineup after missing nine games with a broken finger on his right hand with 31 points and 15 rebounds in an 88-49 Big 12 Conference victory over Texas Tech.

Kansas, which is playing its 100th season of college basketball, set a school record by winning its 56th consecutive game at Allen Field House. The Jayhawks, 22-3 overall and 6-1 in the Big 12, were coming off a one-point loss to Missouri at Columbia, Mo.

“I’m usually a pretty calm kind of guy. I’ve played in big games before, but this was the biggest,” said LaFrentz. “I was nervous. We wanted the record.”

LaFrentz said he spent sleepless hours merely watching the blinking light of the stimulator he wore on the hand that he injured in a collision with teammate Eric Chenowith during practice on Dec. 26.

“I can always sleep before tournament games because I know how important it is to get your rest,” said LaFrentz. “I couldn’t sleep last night. I went to bed at 11:30 and didn’t get to sleep until 4.”

LaFrentz was alert at the start of the game, scoring six points as Kansas jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first seven minutes. He had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the first half as Kansas took a 44-14 lead and made consecutive three-point baskets to give the Jayhawks their biggest lead at 70-30 with 8:36 left.

Texas Tech (8-8, 2-4) made only four of 29 shots and was outrebounded 35-13 in the first half.

“Under the circumstances, with Raef coming back, them trying to break a record, they [had] just lost to Missouri, we expected a lot of fire, a lot of energy,” said Texas Tech guard Cory Carr, who missed nine of his first 10 shots and finished with 16 points--eight below his Big 12-leading average.

No. 1 Duke 72, Virginia 65--The Blue Devils (18-1, 7-0) had defeated the Cavaliers (10-10, 2-5) by 44 points earlier this season but never led by more than the final margin in the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va.

Duke led at halftime for the 19th consecutive game, 32-30, and never lost the lead though Virginia was within two points on four occasions in the second half.

Trajan Langdon scored eight of 15 points in the final 3:54 to help keep the Blue Devils ahead. Norman Nolan led all scorers with 22 points for the Cavaliers.

No. 2 North Carolina 103, No. 20 Florida State 55--The Tar Heels (20-1, 6-1) made 20 of their first 24 shots en route to a 58-28 halftime lead in the ACC game at Chapel Hill, N.C., and their 28th consecutive 20-victory season.

Antawn Jamison scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half for North Carolina, which led by 45 points with 7:50 when Coach Bill Guthridge took out his starters.

The loss was the second-worst ever for Florida State (14-6, 3-5).

No. 4 Utah 67, Nevada Las Vegas 54--The Utes (17-0, 5-0) remained one of two unbeaten teams in Division I (Stanford is the other) and established a school record for consecutive victories to start a season in the Western Athletic Conference game at Las Vegas.

Utah shot 53% and got 19 points each from Michael Doleac and Hanno Mottola.

UNLV (9-8, 2-3) struggled against a Utah defense that is ranked fourth in the nation (55.7 points allowed per game) and was booed coming off the floor at halftime after shooting 32% and trailing, 40-20.

No. 7 Kentucky 85, Tennessee 67--The Wildcats (18-2, 7-0) had a 48-30 rebounding advantage and scored 30 points off 15 turnovers in the Southeastern Conference game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Scott Padgett, who led Kentucky with 20 points, was ejected with 4:28 left after receiving his second technical foul.

Leading scorer Tony Harris returned for Tennessee (11-5, 1-5) after sitting out two games because of a stress fracture in his left leg, but missed nine of 12 shots and scored 13 points.

No. 8 Connecticut 63, No. 15 Syracuse 54--The Huskies (17-3, 7-2) won the Big East game at Syracuse, N.Y., without two key players as Richard Hamilton scored 24 points.

Connecticut’s leading rebounder Kevin Freeman is sidelined because of a broken right wrist suffered in Monday night’s loss to St. John’s, while backup forward Antric Klaiber was suspended Wednesday after being arrested for drunk driving.

Syracuse (15-4, 5-3) shot 31.6% (18 for 57), with leading scorer Todd Burgan missing 14 of 16 shots and scoring seven points--12 below his average. A highlight for the Orangemen was a school-record nine blocked shots by 6-foot-9 Etan Thomas.

Missouri 80, No. 10 Iowa 79--The Tigers (11-7) defeated a ranked team for the fourth time this season as Kelly Thames made two free throws with 5.6 seconds left and the Hawkeyes (15-4) missed the game’s final shot at Columbia, Mo.

Iowa’s Dean Oliver dribbled the length of the court, but his 10-foot baseline shot rolled out at the buzzer.

Thames had 17 points to lead Missouri, which trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half.

Kent McCausland led Iowa with 18 points, making six of eight three-point shots. McCausland gave the Hawkeyes a 70-69 lead with two seconds left in regulation but Jeff Hafer completed a three-quarter court inbounds pass to 6-foot-11 Tate Decker, who was fouled and made the second of two free throws. McCausland also gave Iowa the lead in overtime before Thames’ free throws.

No. 12 Purdue 80, Northwestern 45--The Wildcats (7-9, 1-6) helped the Boilermakers (17-4, 5-2) by committing 26 turnovers in the Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue’s Brad Miller had 20 points and played strong defense against Evan Eschmeyer, who had 10 points--12 below his Big Ten-leading average.

No. 13 Mississippi 81, Mississippi State 77--Ansu Sesay scored a career-high 33 points, including the last four of the second overtime, as the Rebels (14-2, 5-1) extended their home-court winning streak to a school-record 16 in the SEC game at Oxford, Miss.

Sesay, who has scored in double figures in 40 consecutive games, forced the second overtime with a leaning shot in the lane with 1.8 seconds left.

Detrick White made a short jumper with 1.4 seconds left in regulation to tie the score for Mississippi State (13-6, 2-4).

No. 14 South Carolina 61, Auburn 56--The Gamecocks (13-3, 5-2) had only one field goal the final 13 minutes but managed to win the SEC game at Auburn, Ala., as the Tigers (11-6, 3-3) went scoreless in the final six minutes.

No. 17 New Mexico 76, Texas El Paso 69--The Lobos (14-3, 4-1) made 11 of 21 three-point shots in the WAC game at El Paso, Texas.

Clayton Shields made five of nine three-point shots and had 24 points while Kenny Thomas scored five of his 21 points to key a late 12-2 New Mexico run that kept UTEP (11-6, 2-3) from threatening.

No. 18 Arkansas 77, Alabama 70--The Razorbacks (16-3, 5-1) won the SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark., without their third- and fourth-leading scorers.

Guards Kareem Reid and Tarik Wallace did not play because of a curfew violation. Another Razorback guard, leading scorer Pat Bradley, missed his first eight shots and scored only two points.

Alabama (11-9, 1-6) missed 12 of its first 13 shots in falling behind 21-5.

Dayton 93, No. 19 Xavier 82--The Flyers (13-6, 5-2) matched last season’s victory total and continued their home-court dominance of the Musketeers (12-5, 4-3) in the Atlantic 10 game.

Xavier is 5-22 at Dayton Arena, losing this time as Coby Turner made two three-point baskets to key a game-closing 16-4 Flyer run.

No. 23 West Virginia 81, Providence 63--Sophomore Marcus Goree, making only his second start, had a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Mountaineers (17-3, 7-3) past the Friars (8-9, 3-5) at Morgantown, W.Va.

Goree was starting in place of Brian Lewin, who was benched for breaking a team rule.

Tulsa 64, No. 24 Hawaii 63--Eric Coley returned from a four-game absence due to his mother’s death and scored 12 points to lead the Golden Hurricane (11-8, 3-2) in the WAC game at Tulsa.

Hawaii (13-4, 2-3) had a chance to win the game in the final seconds but Erin Galloway missed a shot.

Maryland 74, No. 25 Clemson 69--Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 10 of his 20 points in a late three-minute stretch as the Terrapins (12-6, 5-3) overcame a seven-point deficit with 5:21 left to defeat a ranked team for the fourth time this season in the ACC game at College Park, Md.

Maryland also has victories over then-No. 1 North Carolina, Kansas and Florida State.

Terrell McIntyre played in spite of a foot injury and scored 24 points for Clemson (12-7, 3-4).