Hurricanes Add St. John’s to Their List of Big Wins

Another year, another victory over a ranked opponent at Miami Arena.

This time it was No. 10 St. John’s which fell, as Miami used 22 points from Tim James to beat the Red Storm, 84-79, for their seventh consecutive victory Wednesday night.

Johnny Hemsley added 19 points as the Hurricanes, 9-2 overall, 3-0 in the Big East, built a 15-point lead late in the first half and held off a frenzied comeback attempt by the Red Storm, whose nine-game winning streak ended.

The Hurricanes have beaten a ranked opponent at Miami Arena in each of the last five seasons. Last year, Miami upset then-No. 8 Connecticut, 76-67, on the way to its first NCAA berth since 1960.

No. 1 Connecticut 91, Boston College 78--Richard Hamilton scored a career-high 39 points in the Big East game at Boston as the Huskies marked Jim Calhoun’s 400th game as its coach with its 20th consecutive victory over the Eagles (3-9, 0-4).

Connecticut (12-0, 4-0) led, 48-39, at halftime then pulled away with a 14-4 run over the first four minutes of the second half.

No. 2 Duke 99, Georgia Tech 58--The Blue Devils made sure from the start there would be no letdown. Three days after beating then No. 4 Maryland, Duke (14-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 64% in the first half to rout the Yellow Jackets (10-5, 1-2) at Durham, N.C.

No. 3 Cincinnati 87, DePaul 64--The Bearcats (14-0, 3-0 Conference USA) became only the second team in school history to win its first 14 games. The 1962-63 team won its first 19 games in a Final Four season.

No. 9 Purdue 70, Penn State 67--The Boilermakers have beaten the Nittany Lions in four of the last five meetings. Jaraan Cornell had 23 points at State College, Pa., to lead Purdue (13-2, 1-0 Big Ten).

No. 11 North Carolina 72, Florida State 54--Fans attending the ACC game at Tallahassee, Fla., bundled up in sweaters and jackets as the temperature courtside was just 55 degrees at tipoff with the Leon County Civic Center open in areas because of construction. The Tar Heels (14-3, 2-1) made 23 of 31 free throws while Florida State (7-6, 1-1) had only two attempts, making one.

No. 24 Wisconsin 66, No. 12 Michigan State 51--The Badgers shot 38% in the first half of the Big Ten game at Madison, Wis., but made 10 of their first 12 attempts in the second half to take a 47-39 lead.

No. 14 Auburn 83, No. 19 Arkansas 66--In winning the Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala., the Tigers (14-0, 2-0) tied the second best start in school history. The Razorbacks are 11-3, 1-1.

Northwestern 58, No. 16 Minnesota 55--Center Evan Eschmeyer had 24 points and a season-high 15 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (8-3, 1-1) to the Big Ten upset at Minneapolis. Minnesota (9-2, 0-1) cut a 13-point deficit to 56-55 with 1:14 to play, but Eschmeyer made two free throws with 49 seconds left.

No. 18 Kansas 66, Baylor 62--The Bears, playing without point guard Tevis Stukes, their leading scorer who quit the team Tuesday, almost upset the Jayhawks (10-3, 2-0) in the Big 12 game at Waco, Texas.

No. 23 Oklahoma State 64, Texas A&M; 59--Desmond Mason scored 24 points, including eight of the Cowboys’ last 11 in the game, and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Cowboys (10-3, 2-0) in the Big 12 game at College Station, Texas.

WOMEN

Rene Hanebutt scored 30 points and Angie Braziel added 25 to help No. 7 Texas Tech (13-1, 2-0) extended its winning streak to 12 games with a 93-69 Big 12 Conference victory over Oklahoma (6-6, 0-2) at Lubbock, Texas. . . . Nebraska opened a 22-2 lead and never were threatened in beating Colorado, 90-49, in a Big 12 game at Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska is 13-2, 2-0; Colorado is 7-5, 0-2.