Miami Is Making Itself Right at Home on Road

Second-ranked Connecticut is the latest Big East team to discover that the Miami Hurricanes have gone from road weary to road warriors this season.

No. 15 Miami improved its Big East road record to 8-1 on Saturday with a 73-71 victory over Connecticut at Storrs, Conn.

“This was the game that everybody was waiting for,” said Miami guard Johnny Hemsley, who had a team-high 19 points. “I remember coming here as a freshman and getting mutilated. Now we’re leaving with a win.”

Miami, 18-6 overall and 13-3 in the Big East, also has road victories against two of the conference’s other ranked teams, St. John’s and Syracuse. Not bad for a school that didn’t win a road game until its fourth Big East season and had only 11 before this season.

“We’re more experienced, we’re more talented and have a little more understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Miami Coach Leonard Hamilton, who finally got the Hurricanes into the NCAA tournament last year in his eighth season at the school.

Khalid El-Amid had 24 points for Connecticut (23-2, 14-2) but slipped and fell while attempting what could have been the winning three-point shot at the buzzer.

Also falling has been the shooting percentage of Richard Hamilton, who scored 19 points but made only seven of 22 attempts from the field. Hamilton, last season’s Big East Player of the Year, has made only 20 of his last 69 shots.

No. 1 Duke 92, Clemson 65--The Blue Devils (27-1, 15-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) went on a 26-0 run at Durham, N.C., after guard Trajan Langdon was leveled and bloodied by a screen.

Langdon received seven stitches for a cut lip at halftime and returned to finish with 17 points.

Duke, which tied the ACC record for consecutive home wins at 36, can become the first team to go 16-0 in conference games with a victory over North Carolina next Saturday at Chapel Hill. The ACC went to a 16-game regular-season schedule when Florida State joined the conference in 1992.

Clemson (15-12, 4-10) had won its previous two games by 33 and 23 points.

No. 10 St. John’s 74, Georgetown 66--Erick Barkley scored seven of his 17 points in the final 1:29 as the Red Storm (22-6, 13-3 in the Big East) won at Washington.

There were 51 fouls called, 32 in the second half. St. John’s made 27 of 38 free throws, while Georgetown (13-13, 5-11) was 12 for 19.

No. 11 Ohio State 59, Northwestern 49--Guard Scoonie Penn made eight of nine shots and had 19 points at Columbus, Ohio, to lead the Buckeyes (21-6, 11-3 in the Big Ten) to their sixth consecutive victory.

Center Evan Eschmeyer, averaging 20.2 points and 11 rebounds for Northwestern (14-10, 6-8), had a season-low 10 points and eight rebounds.

No. 12 Utah 88, Fresno State 82--The Utes (22-4, 12-0) overcame a 37-point effort by Courtney Alexander at Fresno to increase the nation’s second-longest win streak to 17 and clinch a division championship in the Western Athletic Conference for the seventh consecutive season.

Alexander made 12 of 21 shots, including four of five from three-point range, to score the most points by a Fresno player since Charles Bailey had 45 against North Texas in 1974. The Bulldogs (18-10, 7-5) scored eight more points than any team had this season against Utah, which has held 11 opponents under 50 points and is third in the nation in average points allowed.

No. 14 North Carolina 67, Virginia 66--Ademola Okulaja made a three-point shot with 1.4 seconds left at Charlottesville, Va., as the Tar Heels (21-7, 9-5) assured themselves of their 35th consecutive finish of third place or better in the ACC.

The lead changed 10 times in the second half, with Virginia (14-14, 4-11) going ahead, 65-64, on Adam Hall’s three-point basket with 49 seconds left and leading by two after Chezley Watson made one of two free throws with 14.3 seconds left.

Penn State 78, No. 17 Purdue 70--The Nittany Lions (11-13, 3-12 in the Big Ten) made 10 of 16 three-point shots (63%) at West Lafayette, Ind., to end a losing streak at four games. Penn State came into the game ranked 10th in the conference in three-point shooting at 34%.

Jaraan Cornell had 24 points for Purdue (18-9, 6-7).

No. 18 College of Charleston 85, Furman 63--Jody Lumpkin had 19 points and 10 rebounds at Charleston, S.C., as the Cougars (25-2, 16-0) became the only team in Southern Conference history to go undefeated in its first season.

The last team to go undefeated in the Southern Conference was Davidson three years ago. Before that, Furman went 12-0 in the 1975. The Paladins are 11-15 and 5-11.

Oklahoma State 84, No. 22 Missouri 68--The Cowboys (18-8, 9-5 in the Big 12) scored the final 13 points on free throws at Stillwater, Okla.

Albert White had 25 points for Missouri (18-7, 9-5).

No. 24 New Mexico 81, Texas El Paso 65--Kenny Thomas made 13 of 15 shots and tied his career high with 31 points in his final home game for the Lobos (21-6, 8-4 in the WAC) at Albuquerque. Thomas also became New Mexico’s second-leading career scorer with 1,864 points.

Texas El Paso (16-9, 8-4) was never closer than seven points to New Mexico in the final 12 minutes.

Bowling Green 69, No. 25 Miami (Ohio) 58--The visiting RedHawks (19-6, 14-3 in the Mid-American Conference) lost their second game in a row since climbing back into the Top 25 for the first time since November.

Reserve Keith McLeod made all eight of his free throws in the final two minutes for Bowling Green (16-9, 11-6). Wally Szczerbiak had 27 points for Miami of Ohio.

OTHER GAMES

Temple (18-8, 12-2 in the Atlantic 10) held Shawnta Rogers to a season-low four points--almost 18 below his average--in a 72-56 victory over George Washington (17-7, 11-3) at Philadelphia. John Chaney became Temple’s winningest coach his 374th victory in 17 seasons, passing Harry Litwack (1952-73). Chaney, who also coached at Cheney (Pa.) State, has 599 college victories. . . Jamel Thomas scored 13 of his career-high 38 points in overtime to lead Providence (15-11, 8-8 in the Big East) to a 90-84 victory over Villanova (18-9, 9-8) at Philadelphia. . . . Freshman Jumaine Jones scored 19 points to become the first Georgia sophomore since Dominique Wilkins to reach 1,000 in his career in leading the Bulldogs (15-11, 6-8) to a 59-57 victory over Louisiana State (11-13, 3-11) at Athens, Ga. . . . Eric Chenowith, scoreless in his previous game, had 24 points and 12 rebounds as Kansas (18-8, 10-4) moved into a tie for second place in the Big 12 with a 60-50 victory over Oklahoma (19-8, 10-4) at Norman, Okla. It was the 300th victory for Kansas’ Roy Williams, who in his 11th season reached the figure faster than any Division I coach. Four other coaches won 300 games in 13 seasons. . . . Texas (17-10, 12-2) clinched at least a tie for the regular-season Big 12 championship with a 63-54 victory over Texas A&M; (11-13, 4-10). . . . New Mexico State Coach Lou Henson won his 699th game in an 84-82 victory for the Aggies (18-9, 10-4 in the Big West) over North Texas (2-22, 2-12) at Denton, Texas. . . . B.J. Bunton had 26 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double this season, to lead UC Santa Barbara (12-12, 10-4 in the Big West) to an 82-74 home-court win over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (10-15, 5-9).