Henson Moves a Step Closer to the 700 Club

Billy Keys scored 24 points Tuesday night to lead New Mexico State to a 76-55 rout of 12th-ranked New Mexico at Las Cruces, N.M., moving Aggie Coach Lou Henson a step closer to his 700th victory.

New Mexico State (12-5) won its fifth in a row, gave Henson his 693rd victory and handed the Lobos their worst loss in the series in 40 years.

New Mexico (16-3) had won seven in a row in the series but made only 33.9% of its shots, one of its worst shooting games of the season, against a defense that caused havoc on the Lobos’ offense.

Keys, one of five former Northeastern Illinois players who transferred to New Mexico State after that school dropped its basketball program last year, also had seven assists.

Only Kenny Thomas, who finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, made a dent in New Mexico State’s aggressive man-to-man pressure.

No. 4 Maryland 77, Georgia Tech 62--Terence Morris scored 20 points and the Terrapins (17-2, 5-1) forced the Yellow Jackets (11-7, 2-4) into 27 turnovers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

The outcome wasn’t decided, however, until Maryland closed the game with a 21-5 run.

Ohio State 72, No. 16 Purdue 43--Michael Redd broke out of a shooting slump with 30 points as the Buckeyes (14-5, 4-2) routed the Boilermakers (14-5, 2-3) in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

It was Coach Gene Keady’s worst loss to the Buckeyes in 18 years at Purdue, surpassing an 18-point defeat in 1985.

WOMEN

Chamique Holdsclaw, after sitting out most of the first half because of foul trouble, scored 18 points in the second half to lead top-ranked Tennessee (16-1) to a 77-61 victory over Old Dominion (11-3) at Norfolk, Va. . . . Conswella Sparrow, Shera Looney and Tasha Hamilton combined for 63 points to lead No. 20 Auburn (14-3) to a 104-63 rout of Jacksonville State (8-7) at Auburn, Ala.