Duke Can Take This Victory to the Bank

In a game of h-o-r-s-e, it wouldn’t have counted.

But Nick Horvath’s bank shot from the top of the key for a three-point basket with 14.6 seconds left in overtime counted big time for No. 17 Duke in its 84-83 victory over No. 22 DePaul Saturday at Durham, N.C.

Horvath, a 6-foot-10 freshman forward, played only four minutes, making all three of his shots--though the last one was purely an accident.

“The crazy thing was it was one of our options we had,” said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who replaced Carlos Boozer with Horvath in a timeout that preceded the basket. “But we didn’t tell him to bank it in.”

Said Horvath: “I was thinking just to be ready if the ball gets to me. I saw it was open and I took it.”

DePaul, which led most of the game, had one last chance for victory, but forward Quentin Richardson, who scored 20 points, threw up an airball from in close against Chris Carrawell’s tight defense. The ball went out of bounds, with referees ruling it had been touched last by DePaul. After the ball was successfully inbounded as the final buzzer sound, fans stormed the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The victory was the 39th a row for Duke (5-2) on its home court. The Blue Devils got a career high 22 points from junior forward Nate James.

Duke took its first lead at 61-60 with 6:58 left on a free throw by James and went ahead by as many as six points. But DePaul--which starts three sophomores, a freshman and a junior college transfer--came back to tie the score at 73-73 on forward Bobby Simmons’ free throw with 24 seconds left. Duke’s Jason Williams, a freshman guard who played the entire game, lost the ball driving to the basket as time expired in regulation.

Freshman center Steven Hunter led DePaul (4-2) with 21 points and 10 rebounds. All the Blue Demon starters had at least 14 points.

“It’s hard to say a team or a program comes of age, but this early in the season . . . this is a coming-of-age type of game,” said DePaul’s Pat Kennedy, the former Florida State coach who has a 2-12 record against Duke. “I can’t walk out of here any less prouder except if Horvath’s shot had hit the right side of the backboard instead of the middle of the backboard.”

OTHER TOP 25 GAMES

No. 1 Cincinnati 75, No. 25 Gonzaga 68--Center Kenyon Martin had 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Bearcats (5-0) in the Rock-N-Roll Shootout at Cleveland.

Guard Steve Martin, from Cleveland, led Cincinnati with 21 points. The Bearcats had a 20-point lead cut to five by the Bulldogs (4-1) but made four free throws in the final 28 seconds. Cincinnati had a 24-10 advantage in free throws made.

No. 2 North Carolina 102, Nevada Las Vegas 78--Junior guard Max Owens and sophomore forward Jason Capel had career highs of 23 and 20 points, respectively, for the Tar Heels (5-1) in the championship game of the Food Lion MVP classic at Charlotte, N.C.

Nevada Las Vegas (5-1) got 20 points from center Kaspars Kambala.

No. 4 Arizona 88, No. 9 Texas 81--Sophomore forward Richard Jefferson scored all of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats (6-0) past the Longhorns (4-1) at Austin, Texas.

After Texas came back from a 10-point deficit to tie the score at 66-66, Jefferson scored eight consecutive points--two on three-point baskets--to give Arizona command of the game.

Arizona forward Michael Wright had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Texas center Chris Mihm had 18 points but only five rebounds--his first non-double figure effort in seven games dating to last season.

No. 5 Connecticut 98, North Carolina Asheville 68--Forward Kevin Freeman had 18 points and guard Khalid El-Amin had a career-high 10 assists for the defending national champion Huskies (5-1) at Storrs, Conn.

The game was the first of three in a row for Asheville (0-7) against schools that have national championships. Kentucky and North Carolina State--where Asheville Coach Eddie Biedenbach played in the late 1960s--are the next two.

No. 8 Michigan State 74, Eastern Michigan 57--Andre Hutson scored 13 of his 15 points in a first half in which the Spartans (6-1) led the Eagles (4-2) by as many as 21 points in the championship game of the Spartan Classic in East Lansing, Mich.

Wake Forest 77, No. 10 Temple 72--Robert O’Kelley scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half as the Demon Deacons (5-0) built a 26-point lead, then held on to defeat the Owls (2-2) at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Temple, which came into the game shooting 37%, missed 17 of its first 18 shots. Junior forward Mark Karcher had a career-high 33 points, but made only 12 of 33 shots.

No. 11 Florida 96, Florida A&M; 44--Guard Kenyan Weeks, the lone senior on a team with 11 sophomores and freshmen, made all of his shots (eight) and free throws (four) to lead the Gators (5-1) past the overmatched Rattlers (1-4) at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida A&M; had more turnovers (29) than points (27) with nine minutes to play.

No. 23 Indiana 83, No. 13 Kentucky 75--The Hoosiers (4-0) broke a losing streak at five against the Wildcats (3-3), making 55% of their shots at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Kentucky has lost three in a row for the first time since the 1989-90 season, when it was on NCAA probation.

The victory was the 747th for Indiana’s Bob Knight--the NCAA’s winningest active coach in Division I--and moved him past Phog Allen into seventh place on the all-time list.

Guard A.J. Guyton led Indiana with 21 points.

No. 14 Syracuse 82, St. Joseph’s 60--Forward Ryan Blackwell had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Orangemen (6-0) overcame an injury to center Etan Thomas against the Hawks (2-2) in the championship game of the Carrier Classic in Syracuse, N.Y.

Thomas, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds, sprained his right ankle after landing awkwardly on it after trying to block a shot and left the game with 6:58 left in the first half.

No. 15 Ohio State 87, Duquesne 55--The Buckeyes (2-1) led by as many as 40 points against the Dukes (2-2) at Columbus, Ohio. Guard Scoonie Penn lead Ohio State with 16 points.

No. 24 Maryland 69, No. 16 Illinois 67--Guard Juan Dixon made a running shot at the right baseline with 6.3 seconds left for the decisive basket for the Terrapins (6-1) in the BB&T; Classic at Washington.

Guard Frank Williams, who led Illinois (2-2) with 18 points, had a 25-foot shot bounce off the back of the rim at the buzzer.

The game had 22 lead changes and was tied 10 times. There were six lead changes in the final eight minutes, when the biggest lead for either team was three points.

Maryland plays George Washington (3-3)--a 72-63 winner over Seton Hall (3-1)--in today’s championship game.

No. 18 Tennessee 76, Pittsburgh 50--The Volunteers (6-0) made 11 of 25 three-point shots while the Panthers (4-1) were only one for 15 at Pittsburgh.

Tennessee took advantage of its superior size and depth to overcome a four-point halftime deficit. Pittsburgh, with only six scholarship players available because of injuries and academic problems, had only one player--forward Chris Seabrooks--score in 17 minutes in the second half. The rest of the Panthers were 0 for 15 in that span.

No. 19 Purdue 75, Akron 66--The Boilermakers (3-2) overcame 40% shooting to defeat the Zips (3-2) at West Lafayette, Ind. Forward Brian Cardinal had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for Purdue.

No. 21 Oklahoma State 87, Texas San Antonio 66--Junior forward Brian Montonati had a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds at Stillwater, Okla., as the Cowboys (6-0) coasted past the Roadrunners (3-3).

Oklahoma State made nine of 20 three-point shots after missing all seven of its attempts from beyond the arc in its previous game.

OTHER GAMES

Forward Dan Langhi scored 27 points, including four free throws in overtime, to lead Vanderbilt (4-0) to an 87-85 victory over Notre Dame (3-4) at South Bend, Ind. Vanderbilt, off to its best start since the 1986-87 season, extended its streak of making at least one three-point basket to 416 games. Sophomore swingman David Graves scored a career-high 33 points for Notre Dame, which lost its second consecutive overtime game. . . . Forward LaVell Blanchard scored 21 points--including 11 in a 24-6 run that opened the second half for Michigan (5-0) in a 72-61 victory over Chattanooga (1-4) at Ann Arbor. . . . Seven-foot center Joel Przybilla had a career-high 18 points and four blocked shots as Minnesota (5-0) was a 57-44 winner over Valparaiso (2-4) at Minneapolis. . . . Guard Keiron Shine scored 39 points--23 in the second half--to lead Memphis (4-2) to an 82-72 home-court victory over Miami (3-1). Shine made 12 of 16 shots--including six of seven from three-point range--and nine of 10 free throws. . . . Forward Eric Coley had the first-ever triple double for Tulsa (6-0) with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in an 88-73 home-court victory over Alabama Birmingham (3-2). Coley also tied the school record with eight steals.

Sophomore guard Senque Carey made all seven of his three-point shots and had 27 points to lead Washington (3-3) to a 78-70 victory over Old Dominion (2-5) at Norfolk, Va. . . . Freshman center Richard Fox had 23 points to lead Colorado (4-1) to an 80-62 victory over California (4-2) at Boulder, Colo. . . . Arizona State (4-2) used a 26-9 run to open the second half to take command against Morgan State (0-5) in a 74-56 victory at Tempe, Ariz. Guard Eddie House, who led the Sun Devils with 18 points, made three of six three-point shots after missing 16 of his previous 17. Forward Chris Crosby made all 11 of his free throws and had 22 points to lead Washington State (3-2) to an 80-77 victory over Southern (2-3) at Pullman, Wash. Sophomore swingman Mike Bush had a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars.