Connecticut Gets a Little Help in Win

Trailing by eight points at home with 3:10 to play usually means a lot of sad faces and hunched shoulders when the building clears.

No. 15 Connecticut, with the aid of a controversial goaltending call with 1.8 seconds to play, closed Saturday’s game against No. 5 Arizona with a 12-2 run for a 71-69 victory that set off a student stampede onto the court in Gampel Pavilion at Storrs, Conn.

“We were down eight in our own building after giving them two easy hoops,” Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said. “We called a timeout, settled in and ended up making some good plays.”

The last of those plays was a drive to the basket by Tony Robertson that was blocked off the backboard by Arizona center Loren Woods. Referee Rich Ballesteros called it goaltending, but replays showed that the block appeared to be good.

“I don’t goaltend shots,” said Woods, a preseason All-America who playing in his first game of the season after a six-game suspension for accepting aid from a family friend. “I feel if I can block a shot I’ll block a shot. That’s what I thought. The ref had a different angle.”

Arizona assistant coach Jim Rosborough, who was in charge of the Wildcats as Coach Lute Olson remained in Tucson to be with his wife as she underwent a medical procedure, didn’t see a replay but talked to those who did.

“I only heard. . . . I’ve had people tell me, I haven’t seen it yet, and the word I got was that it was worse than terrible,” he said.

The Huskies improved to 7-1 and the Wildcats dropped to 6-2.

No. 1 Duke 104, Michigan 61--The Wolverines danced on the Blue Devils’ emblem during pregame introductions at Durham, N.C., then were routed.

Duke (9-0) started with a mind-numbing 34-2 run en route to the thumping of Michigan (2-5), which is off to its worst start in 19 seasons.

It was the fourth-worst loss in school history for the Wolverines, who also lost to Duke by 44 points in 1998.

No. 2 Michigan State 103, Loyola Illinois 71--Charlie Bell had 19 points and seven assists and Jason Richardson added 17 points as the Spartans routed the Ramblers (2-5) at Chicago.

Andre Hutson and Zach Randolph added 16 points apiece, and Marcus Taylor had 15 for the Spartans (7-0), who extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 games.

No. 8 Florida 79, Rutgers 65--Udonis Haslem had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the Gators bullied their way past the Scarlet Knights (5-2) at Gainesville, Fla.

The Gators (4-1) advanced their school-record streak to 51 games without back-to-back losses.

Miami (Ohio) 73, No. 10 Notre Dame 64--The RedHawks grabbed 18 offensive rebounds compared to only eight for the Irish and controlled the tempo to win at South Bend, Ind.

The RedHawks (4-4) outhustled the Irish (4-2) throughout, especially on the boards, where they had a 44-26 advantage.

No. 14 North Carolina 82, Texas A&M; 60--Joseph Forte scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half as the Tar Heels (5-2) were never threatened by the Aggies (3-3) at Houston.

No. 17 Wisconsin 65, Ohio 46--Roy Boone scored a season-high 17 points to lead the Badgers (5-1) to victory at Madison, Wis.

Ohio (2-2) was led by Anthony Jones with 11 points.

No. 19 Maryland 87, Penn 81--Juan Dixon scored 23 points and Byron Mouton had 19 of his 20 in the first half at College Park, Md., as the Terrapins (5-3) won their fourth in a row.

Lamar Plummer scored 23 points for Penn (0-6), which is off to its worst start in 16 years.

No. 20 Oklahoma 100, North Texas 72--Aaron McGhee scored 28 points at Norman, Okla., and the Sooners (6-1) used a 30-2 first-half run and routed the Mean Green (1-6).

Oklahoma State 74, No. 21 Arkansas 73--Maurice Baker scored 25 points and made crucial free throws in the last seconds to lead the Cowboys (4-1) over the Razorbacks (6-2) at Tulsa, Okla.

Weber State 79, No. 22 Utah 77--Jermaine Boyette scored 27 points as the Wildcats (4-3) ended the nation’s longest home-court winning streak at 54 games.

Utah’s Jeff Johnsen missed a shot in the lane just before the buzzer for the Utes (4-4).

No. 23 Alabama 73, Akron 59--Freshman reserve Gerald Wallace scored 26 points as the Crimson Tide (6-0) defeated the Zips (2-3) at Birmingham, Ala.

Fordham 68, No. 24 St. John’s 67--Bevon Robin’s driving jump shot with 3.7 seconds to play gave the Rams (5-1) the victory over the Redmen (4-3) at New York.

Iowa 80, No. 25 Iowa State 68--Luke Recker scored 28 points, Dean Oliver 22 and Reggie Evans had 13 points and 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double in a row as the Hawkeyes (7-0) toppled the Cyclones (6-1) at Iowa City.

OTHER GAMES

Ryan Carroll scored 40 points and Myron Anthony had 38 to lead Texas Christian (5-2) to a 141-92 rout of Central Oklahoma (5-1) at Tulsa, Okla. The Horned Frogs broke a record for first-half points with 75. . . . Sean Lampley scored all 15 of his points in the second half as California (3-3) rolled to a 75-63 victory over Colorado (5-3) at Berkeley. . . . Ali Thomas’ three-point basket with 12 seconds left gave host San Francisco (5-4) a 71-68 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (3-2). . . . Eddie Miller scored 19 points and Washington State (3-2) pulled away from Maryland Eastern Shore (0-4) for an 80-54 victory at Pullman, Wash. . . . Shaun Fein’s 10-foot shot from the left baseline with 1.3 seconds remaining gave Georgia Tech (5-2) an 86-84 victory over Kentucky (3-4) at Atlanta. . . . Kareem Rush scored 24 points and Missouri (6-1) rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit in a 77-73 victory over Saint Louis (5-2) at Columbia, Mo.

Titus Ivory scored 21 points as Penn State (5-1) defeated Temple, 66-60, at State College, Pa. The Owls (4-5) dropped their fifth in a row. . . . Minnesota’s frontcourt combined for 51 points to lead the Gophers (8-1) to a 93-70 victory over Bethune-Cookman at Minneapolis. . . . Corey Moore and Matt Freije combined to ignite a 16-3 run that opened the second half as Vanderbilt (8-1) defeated Florida State, 72-60, at Nashville. The Seminoles are 1-7. . . . Marckell Patterson’s 20 points lifted Mississippi State (5-2) to an 81-63 victory over Montana State (4-4) at Starkville, Miss. . . . Ezra Williams scored 19 points as Georgia (6-3) beat North Carolina State, 68-63, at Atlanta. The dropped the Wolfpack to 5-3.

Cordell Henry made a driving lay-up with 18.5 seconds left to lift Marquette (4-2) to a 48-46 victory over Arkansas Little Rock (5-2) at Milwaukee. . . . David Wall had 19 points and 10 rebounds as Southern Mississippi (7-1) defeated New Orleans, 82-68, at New Orleans. . . . Louisville (2-5) lost its fourth in a row, 68-65, to Western Kentucky (4-3) at Louisville, Ky. . . . Marvin O’Connor scored 19 points and St. Joseph’s (7-1) held off a late rally to defeat Drexel, 68-54, at Philadelphia. . . . Jeryl Sasser’s jump shot in the lane with 3.7 seconds remaining gave Southern Methodist (5-1) a 66-64 victory over Navy (4-4) at Annapolis, Md.

Rashon Burno and Imari Sawyer each scored 15 points as DePaul (4-3) beat Chicago State, 78-69, at Rosemont, Ill. . . . Guard Adam Harrington made six three-point shots and scored 32 points to lead Auburn (7-3) to a 75-72 victory over Detroit (5-3) at Birmingham, Ala. . . . Abe Jackson had 29 points as Boise State (6-2) routed Gonzaga, 94-69, at Boise, Ida. The Bulldogs are 6-2. . . . Rahim Lockhart scored 15 points at Memphis, Tenn., as Mississippi (7-0) rolled to a 64-56 victory over Memphis (2-6). . . . Kirk Haston had 14 points as Indiana (6-3) defeated Ball State, 65-50, at Bloomington, Ind.