It’s All Okey-Dokey for Wisconsin

Three years ago, Sam Okey was putting together a season at Wisconsin in which he would become the first Big Ten freshman to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots.

Two years ago, Okey was helping Wisconsin to only the third NCAA tournament berth in its history.

A year ago, Okey wasn’t playing basketball, having left Wisconsin after numerous run-ins with Coach Dick Bennett and a suspension for alleged drug and alcohol use.

Okey transferred to Iowa and became eligible for his senior season this week, playing his first home game for the No. 14-ranked Hawkeyes on Saturday night against No. 15 Wisconsin and Bennett. The Badgers won, 72-52, with Okey coming off the bench to score a modest eight points.

“The frustration was just too much for me to handle and the situation was too much for me to handle,” Okey said at the time he left Wisconsin. “I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I’m ready for the healing process to begin. I need to refind my love for the game of basketball.”

Or, as Bennett said at the time, “The book isn’t over yet--Sam still gets to write the final chapter.”

Part of that chapter will go down as Okey making two free throws in back-to-back one-and-one situations that brought the Hawkeyes, once down by 16 points, within seven at 44-39 early in the second half.

But the outside shooting of Jon Bryant, a transfer from Division II St. Cloud (Minn.) State, and Sean Mason and Ty Calderwood, former teammates of Okey’s, proved too much for Iowa, 13-4 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten.

Bryant made six of 11 three-point shots en route to a game-high 22 points, Mason had 18 points, and Calderwood made a shot from beyond the arc that gave Wisconsin (18-3, 6-2) a double-digit lead at 51-40 that it didn’t relinquish.

The Badgers also helped themselves by committing only eight turnovers against the Hawkeyes’ full-court pressure.

“Wisconsin is very good. I was very impressed with their backcourt and the progress they’ve made,” Iowa Coach Tom Davis said. “They may have the best backcourt in the league and their young inside guys are doing very well. It’s no fluke that they came in here and did well against us.”

No. 1 Connecticut 62, Seton Hall 47--Jim Calhoun became the winningest coach at Connecticut with his 287th victory, as the Huskies (17-0, 9-0) slowly pulled away from the Pirates (11-7, 5-4) in the second half of the Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

Calhoun passed Hugh Greer, who was 286-112 record in 17 seasons from 1946-63. Calhoun, in his 13th season at Connecticut, is 287-118. At Northeastern he was also the winningest coach with a 250-137 record.

Connecticut, coming off a 70-68 overtime victory on Wednesday at Miami, trailed 31-29 at halftime. But Richard Hamilton scored six of his 24 points in an 8-2 run that gave the Huskies the lead for good five minutes into the second half.

No. 5 Cincinnati 55, Saint Louis 44--The Bearcats (18-1, 6-1) had to overcome 18 turnovers, 36% shooting and their third-lowest scoring output of the season in the Conference USA game at Cincinnati.

Melvin Levett led Cincinnati with 20 points.

Saint Louis (9-10, 4-3) used a deliberate offense to stay close until the final three minutes, when it missed all three of its shots and had three turnovers. The Billikens finished with 24 turnovers.

No. 6 Auburn 73, Alabama 58--The Tigers (18-1, 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference), playing without suspended leading scorer and rebounder Chris Porter, won for the first time at Tuscaloosa, Ala., since 1985.

Porter was suspended Friday for three games for violating team rules.

Bryant Smith scored 17 points and had the final seven points of a 16-2 run that gave Auburn a 48-34 lead with 15:40. Alabama (12-8, 2-5) could not get closer than 11 points the rest of the game.

Freshman Mack McGadney, starting in place of Porter, scored 11 points on five-of-16 shooting, and had seven rebounds. Seven-foot junior Mamadou N’diaye broke Charles Barkley’s school record for career blocked shots, getting three to raise his total to 148.

No. 7 Kentucky 76, Mississippi State 49--The Wildcats (17-4, 6-1) took a 15-point lead in the first eight minutes of the SEC game at Lexington, Ky., forcing 11 turnovers while holding the Bulldogs (13-7, 3-4) without a field goal in that time.

In trailing 37-14 at halftime, Mississippi State had as many turnovers as points.

Heshimu Evans led Kentucky with 13 points and freshman Desmond Allison had 11 in his first start, three days after he came off the bench to score 10 in Kentucky’s victory over then-undefeated Auburn. Allison started in place of Scott Padgett, a key contributor in the Wildcats’ NCAA championship run last season.

No. 10 North Carolina 52, Wake Forest 40--The Tar Heels (17-4, 5-2) held the Demon Deacons (11-9, 2-5) to their lowest point total since 1959 in the 197-game series between the Atlantic Coast Conference schools at Winston-Salem, N.C.

North Carolina was playing its second game without freshman starter Jason Capel, who will be sidelined for a month because of mononucleosis. Only two Tar Heels, Ademola Okulaya and Kris Lang, scored in double figures at 10 points.

Wake Forest managed only four baskets in the opening 15 1/2 minutes of the second half and was outrebounded, 46-23, for the game.

North Carolina plays No. 2-ranked and ACC-leading Duke on Wednesday at Durham, N.C,

Texas El Paso 67, No 12 New Mexico 49--The Miners (11-7, 3-2) used a 17-0 run early in the Western Athletic Conference game at El Paso to hand the Lobos (16-4, 3-2) their second consecutive lopsided loss.

New Mexico, averaging 85.2 points but a 76-55 loser at New Mexico State in its previous game, missed 14 of its first 17 shots.

No. 16 Purdue 81, Michigan 71--Carson Cunningham, a sophomore guard making his first start since transferring from Oregon State, scored a season-high 24 points for the Boilermakers (15-5, 3-3) in the Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Cunningham, starting in place of forward Mike Robinson in Purdue’s revamped three-guard lineup, made his first four shots. The Boilermakers, who shot a season-low 32% in a 29-point loss at Ohio State on Tuesday, made 13 of their first 15 shots.

Purdue almost blew a 19-point lead in the second half as Louis Bullock, who became Michigan’s fifth 2,000-point scorer, had 21 of his 25 points after the break. The Wolverines (9-11, 3-4) closed within five points three times before Jaraan Cornell and Cunningham made three-point baskets.

Ohio State 89, No. 17 Minnesota 60--The Buckeyes (15-5, 5-2) had their highest-scoring Big Ten game in more than six years at Columbus and their second-most decisive victory over the Golden Gophers (12-4, 3-3) in the 117 games between the schools. Ohio State has played five consecutive games against Top 25 teams, winning four by an average of 20 points.

Guard Scoonie Penn had to 24 points to lead Ohio State, which made nine of its first 10 shots to take a 21-5 lead. Michael Redd had 19 points, Jason Singleton made seven of eight shots for 16 points and Ken Johnson had 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

Quincy Lewis, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, was the only player in double figures for Minnesota (12-4, 3-3 Big Ten), reaching his average of 23 points.

Nevada Las Vegas 95, No. 21 Texas Christian 88--The Horned Frogs’ Lee Nailon, the WAC’s leading scorer, was ejected 34 seconds into the game at Fort Worth for throwing a punch.

Marquise Gainous picked up the slack for TCU (15-4, 3-2) by scoring 41 points --including 15 free throws without a miss--but UNLV (11-7, 4-1) got 61 points from its frontcourt starters, 29 from Kaspars Kambala before he fouled out with 1:06 left.

No. 22 Arkansas 118, Providence 79--Coach Nolan Richardson used 13 players in the first half and 10 scored as the Razorbacks (14-5) built a 26-point lead at halftime at Fayetteville, Ark.

Brandon Dean, who earlier in the week was said to have a broken bone in his right wrist that would sideline him four to six weeks, scored 13 off the bench in the first half. On Thursday, doctors decided the broken bone was an old break.

Derek Hood had a career-high 25 points and 12 rebounds for Arkansas. Jamel Thomas had 30 points for Providence (12-7).

Texas 73, No. 23 Oklahoma State 70--Seven-footer Chris Mihm had 22 points, 14 rebounds and blocked two three-point shots by guard Joe Adkins in the final seconds at Austin, Texas, as the Longhorns (10-9, 5-1) took over first place in the Big 12’s South Division from the Cowboys (13-6, 4-1).

OTHER GAMES

Isaac Hawkins’ 28 points weren’t enough for troubled Pittsburgh (9-9, 1-7) in a 79-71 Big East loss at home to Georgetown (9-9, 2-7). On Tuesday, Pittsburgh freshman guard Fred Primus was thrown off the team after being arrested on theft charges. Forward Ricardo Greer, held out of Pittsburgh’s previous game against Villanova for violating curfew by accompanying Primus and two teammates where the robbery allegedly occurred, wore a legband with No. 5--Primus’ number--on it. . . . Mark Karcher scored 21 points as Temple (13-6, 7-0) was a 65-57 Atlantic 10 winner over Massachusetts (8-9, 4-2). Monty Mack had 27 points for Massachusetts. . . . Xavier of Ohio (15-4, 7-0) tied a school record with 12 three-point baskets (in 27 attempts) in a 93-69 Atlantic 10 victory over Virginia Tech (6-10, 1-6) at Cincinnati. Xavier has won 10 in a row.

Ron Hale had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Florida State (11-7, 5-2) to a 71-59 ACC victory over North Carolina State at Tallahassee, Fla. The Wolfpack shot 56% but took only 39 shots. . . . Freshman center Udonis Haslem scored a career-high 26 points as Florida (14-3, 5-2) matched its win total of last season with a 93-72 victory over Tennessee (12-5, 4-2) at Gainesville, Fla. The Gators shot 72% in the second half. . . . Keith Carter scored 26 points, including five three-point baskets, for Mississippi (14-6, 4-3) in an 85-76 SEC victory over Georgia (12-7, 3-4) at Oxford, Miss. Carter became Mississippi’s all-time leader in three-point shots made at 218, passing Joe Harvell (214 from 1990-93). . . . Courtney Alexander had 27 points to lead Fresno State (13-6, 3-1) to a 79-75 WAC victory over Brigham Young (8-9, 3-2), the first for the Bulldogs at Provo, Utah. . . . Charles Gosa had 22 points, one of three players with 20 or more for New Mexico State (14-5, 6-0) in an 83-61 Big West victory over UC Santa Barbara (6-10, 4-2) at Las Cruces, N.M. . . . Mike Wozniak had 24 points to lead Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to a 93-86 Big West victory over North Texas (1-15, 1-5) at Denton, Texas.