Hot-Shooting Villanova on Top of World

Villanova won the Top of the World Classic from long range.

John Celestand scored 21 points, making five of seven three-point shots, to lead the Wildcats to a 76-63 victory over No. 19 Arkansas on Sunday at Fairbanks, Alaska.

Villanova (4-0) shot 60% for the game, including 10 for 17 on three-point attempts. Brian Lynch made four of five from three-point range and scored 17 points.

The Razorbacks (4-1) were flat from the start, shooting 45%, including six for 21 on three-pointers.

“The defensive energy was tremendous,” Villanova Coach Steve Lappas said. “We won all three games [in the tournament] on the defensive end of the floor.”

The Razorbacks rode to the title game on the shoulders of shooting guard Pat Bradley, who scored 31 points in close contests against Virginia and New Mexico State.

But Bradley had only three points on one-for-nine shooting in the final, and Derek Hood, who had 21 points and 17 rebounds in the first two games, was limited to four points and four rebounds.

“I thought Hood was trying too hard--he couldn’t relax,” said Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson. “But I know he’ll be back and Pat will be back.”

Sergerio Gipson scored 15 points and Chris Walker had 13 for Arkansas.

Howard Brown added 17 for Villanova, which jumped out to a 7-0 lead and maintained its advantage through the half, increasing it at one point to 21 points. The Wildcats made 60% of their shots, connecting on six of 12 from three-point territory. Celestand scored nine points, all on three-pointers.

At the other end, the Razorbacks struggled with 42% shooting, including three for 11 on three-pointers.

Also at the Top of the World Classic:

Sanjey Noriega scored 22 points to lead Alaska Fairbanks (4-1) to a 71-65 victory over New Mexico State (2-2) in the third-place game; Sean Mason scored 20 points to lead Wisconsin (4-1) to a 78-41 rout of Nebraska (2-2) in the fifth-place game; and Virginia (2-2) got 23 points from Donald Hand in a 62-53 victory over Washington State (1-3) in the seventh-place game.

No. 15 Purdue 72, Lafayette 67--Brian Cardinal had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead the Boilermakers at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (4-0) made eight of 10 free throws in the final 1:16 to maintain its cushion.

Lafayette’s Brian Ehlers countered with a jump shot with 1:08 left before Tony Mayfield hit two free throws for Purdue with 59 seconds remaining, giving the Boilermakers a 68-61 lead.

Tyson Whitfield hit a three-pointer to bring Lafayette (2-1) within 68-64 with 43 seconds remaining and added another three-pointer that cut Purdue’s lead to 69-67 with 12 seconds left.

The contest was a tuneup for Purdue, which is headed to New York to play North Carolina in the semifinals of the Chase Preseason NIT on Wednesday. Stanford plays St. John’s in the other semifinal.

OTHERS

Louisville 99, Western Kentucky 78--Alex Sanders scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down five rebounds at Louisville, Ky., in the Cardinals’ opener. Western Kentucky fell to 0-3.

Miami (Ohio) 76, Dayton 62--Wally Szczerbiak scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the RedHawks (3-0) over the Flyers (2-1) at Oxford, Ohio.

Santa Clara 82, Mount St. Mary’s (Md.) 53--Justin Holbrook scored a career-high 16 points as the Broncos (1-2) rolled over the Mountaineers (1-1) at Santa Clara.

WOMEN

Stanford 73, No. 1 Purdue 72--It took Purdue more than two decades to reach No. 1. The Boilermakers’ stay at the top will last only one week.

Regan Freuen made a foul shot with one second remaining as Stanford (1-3), which had been off to the worst start in school history, withstood a furious Purdue rally in the final five minutes and defeated the Boilermakers (2-1) at Palo Alto.

“This was a huge win for us,” Freuen said. “We’re just getting to know each other. The thing we had in common today is we all knew we had to come out with some sense of urgency.”

Purdue had ascended to the No. 1 ranking for the first time in its history last week by defeating top-ranked Tennessee, ending the Volunteers’ 46-game winning streak. Stanford, which has won two NCAA titles this decade, was unranked this week for the first time since the start of the 1987-88 season.

“A game like this overall helps the game of women’s college basketball,” Purdue Coach Carolyn Peck said. “Every team is beatable--it’s simply a matter of preparation and intensity and coming out ready to play, and that was Stanford today.”

No. 7 Georgia 118, Oral Roberts 64--Twin guards Kelly and Coco Miller started the season the way they ended last season, scoring 26 and 23 points, respectively, to lead the Lady Bulldogs over the Golden Eagles (0-3) at Athens, Ga.

Arkansas State 86, No. 8 Virginia 77--Julie Hagood scored 22 of her career-high 28 points in the second half as the Indians (1-1) upset the Cavaliers (1-1) at Jonesboro, Ark.

Hawaii 51, No. 17 Kansas 47--Raylene Howard scored 21 points to lead the Rainbow Wahine (3-0) over the Jayhawks (2-2) in the championship game of the Hawaiian Regent Classic at Honolulu.

No. 20 Florida 82, No. 13 George Washington 59--Reserve Tonya Washington scored 19 points to lead the Gators (4-1) over the Colonials (2-1) in the Reebok Classic at Boston.

No. 24 Illinois 76, Wagner 51--Allison Curtin and Cindy Dallas had 14 points apiece to lead the Illini (2-0) over the Seahawks (2-2) at Champaign, Ill.