Longhorns’ Kelly Knocks Out No. 5 Illini

Darren Kelly is showing Texas opponents the domination only his teammates had seen until recently this season.

Kelly, in his second game back from academic suspension, scored 21 points and provided some clutch foul shooting Saturday as the Longhorns knocked off No. 5 Illinois, 72-64, at Austin, Texas.

In two victories since his return, Kelly has averaged 22 points for Texas (8-2).

“He is a difference maker,” Texas Coach Rick Barnes said. “I said earlier in the year we were a different team in practice than we played. He’s not doing anything I don’t expect him to.”

Maurice Evans had 14 points and Brian Boddicker added 12 as Texas (8-2) won its 18th consecutive home game. It was the Longhorns’ first home win over a top-five team since 1991.

Texas led 59-52 before Maurice Griffin made a layup and Brian Cook converted a three-point play to pull the Fighting Illini (9-3) within two.

The Illini appeared to have stopped the Longhorns when Frank Williams forced Kelly into a wild three-pointer with just five seconds left on the shot clock.

But Kelly drew a foul on Williams and swished three consecutive free throws to push the Texas lead back up to 62-57. After Williams and Bradford threw up wild three-pointers on Illinois’ next two possessions, Texas freshman James Thomas put back his own missed layup and made one of two free throws to make the score 65-57 with 2:40 left.

Bradford extended his NCAA record of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 76, but the Illini went just four of 25 from long range as a team.

“Our game plan wasn’t to shoot threes,” Illinois Coach Bill Self said. “Our game plan was to attack them inside. It was frustrating.”

No. 7 Florida 76, American 33--Udonis Haslem had 14 points as the Gators (8-1) tied a school record for consecutive nonconference home wins with 21.

Florida also won 21 consecutive nonconference home game from 1983-88. Overall, the Gators have won 12 in a row at the O’Connell Center.

American (5-5) shot only 22%--five of 23--and had 11 turnovers during the opening 20 minutes. The Eagles were outscored 26-4 in the paint and 17-0 on fastbreak points in falling behind, 41-14, at halftime.

Florida has opened the season 8-1 for the third consecutive season. The Gators have won five consecutive games by an average margin of almost 38 points, since a 99-83 loss at No. 2 Michigan State on Dec. 6.

No. 9 Kansas 69, Ohio State 68--Kenny Gregory had 17 points in a return to his hometown and the Jayhawks (10-1) survived Brian Brown’s two shots in the last 11 seconds at Columbus, Ohio.

Kansas misfired on the front end of three consecutive bonus situations while Ohio State (8-3) ran off the final nine points.

Brown, who led the Buckeyes with 17 points, drove the lane but his off-balance shot in heavy traffic with 11 seconds left ended up bouncing out of bounds off a Kansas player. With 7.6 seconds left, the Buckeyes again gave the ball to Brown who drove the left wing.

He faked and tried to get Gregory in the air to draw a foul, but Gregory forced Brown to alter his shot. The ball went up near the basket and was batted to midcourt by Kansas’ Drew Gooden.

No. 14 Virginia 85, Maryland Baltimore County 69--Roger Mason scored 23 points and Travis Watson had 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Cavaliers easily defeated the Retrievers at Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers (8-0) used a balanced scoring attack and stingy defense to smother the Retrievers (6-3) and continue their best start since 1992-93 when they opened the season with 11 wins.

Adam Hall scored 18 points, including two slam dunks in the second half during a 17-7 run that deflated the Retrievers. Chris Williams finished with 13 points.

No. 16 Wisconsin 52, Marquette 47--Roy Boone scored a season-high 18 points to help the Badgers (8-1) to a victory over the Golden Eagles at Milwaukee.

Wisconsin won its eighth consecutive game for the first time since 1998 and third in a row against Marquette (5-4). The game was the first of the season for Wisconsin senior forward Maurice Linton and junior point guard Travon Davis. They were suspended for eight games by the NCAA for receiving extra benefits in purchases of discount shoes.

Linton, who started most of last season, had seven points and a rebound in 14 minutes. Davis had four points and a rebound in 13 minutes.

Marquette got 11 points from Oluoma Nnamaka and 10 from Brian Wardle, but the Golden Eagles failed to make a three-pointer for the first time since Feb. 2, 1989, a span of 355 games.

No. 18 Oklahoma 88, No. 25 Arkansas 79--Hollis Price scored all 21 of his points after halftime, nine of them in overtime, as the Sooners (9-1) pulled away to beat the Razorbacks (7-3) at Norman, Okla.

Daryan Selvy had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Sooners, including a follow shot with 10.9 seconds remaining to tie the score at the end of regulation and cap a rally from a 12-point deficit.

Arkansas had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Carl Baker’s jumper from the right corner came up short. The Razorbacks led once in overtime, but didn’t score in the final 2:06.

Kansas State 86, No. 19 Iowa 78--Larry Reid scored 31 points and the Wildcats got its first victory over a ranked opponent in almost seven years.

Phineas Atchison sank four consecutive free throws in the final 20 seconds as the Wildcats (5-4) withstood a late rally by the Hawkeyes (9-1), who were playing their second road game and first outside the state of Iowa.

After Richie Terry’s free throws made it 82-74, Iowa’s Dean Oliver drove in for a layup to cut the lead back to six. Ryan Hogan closed the lead to 82-78 with a driving layup, but Kansas State scored its last four points at the free-throw line.

Kansas State, projected to finish last in the Big 12 a second consecutive year, had not beaten a top 20 team since upsetting No. 1 Kansas, 68-64, on Jan. 17, 1994.

No. 20 Maryland 123, Norfolk State 79--Lonny Baxter scored a career-high 32 points, making 12 of 14 shots, as the Terrapins routed the Spartans and extended their nonconference home winning streak to 74 games at College Park, Md.

Juan Dixon had a season-high 26 points for the Terrapins (7-3), whose six-game winning streak is their longest since a seven-game run in 1999.

Iowa State 73, No. 24 Mississippi 68--Jamaal Tinsley scored eight of his 14 points during a big second half run that carried the Cyclones to a win over the Rebels in the championship game of the Yahoo! Sports Invitational at Laie, Hawaii.

The Cyclones (10-1) trailed 48-34 after Emmanuel Wade converted a three-point play with 14:43 to play. But Iowa State went on a 21-5 run that knocked the Rebels (11-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten.

ELSEWHERE

Dayton 91, Louisville 68--In the Cardinals’ loss at Louisville, Ky., Muhammed Lasege finally made his first appearance for Louisville in two seasons while the NCAA ruled on his eligibility.

Lasege, at 6-foot-11 the Cardinals’ tallest player, played 12 minutes and finished with six points, one rebound and three fouls.

“It felt great, but you have to understand, I haven’t practiced in six weeks,” Lasege said afterward. “It’s been pretty hectic. I had finals, I’ve been in court. I couldn’t find time to practice.”

Temple 73, Cleveland State 46--Kevin Lyde scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, both career highs, and Alex Wesby had a career-high 17 points as the Owls (5-7) snapped a seven-game losing streak, the longest in John Chaney’s 19 years as coach.

It was the first coaching visit to Philadelphia for Cleveland State Coach Rollie Massimino, who spent 19 years at nearby Villanova before leaving after the 1991-92 season.

Boston College 88, Quinnipac 55--Xavier Singletary scored 23 points and the Eagles improved to 8-0 for the first time in 16 seasons with a victory at Boston.

Uka Agbai added 14 points, Kenny Harley had 11 and Brian Ross and Troy Bell both scored 10 for the Eagles.

Washington State 75, Sacramento State 63--David Adams led five Cougars in double figures at Pullman, Wash., as Washington State (5-3) handed the Hornets their seventh consecutive loss.

Adams had 18 points and Eddie Miller added 17 for Washington State. J Locklier, Marcus Moore and Jerry McNair also contributed 10 points each.

Oregon State 62, South Carolina State 46--Jason Heide scored 18 points to lead the Beavers to a victory at Corvallis, Ore.

Oregon State (6-5), ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense, held South Carolina State (4-6) to fewer than 50 points for only the second time this season. It was the fifth time the Beavers have held an opponent to 50 points or less.

California 75, Coppin State 59--Sean Lampley scored 18 points and Ryan Forehan-Kelly added 13 as the Golden Bears (6-3) won easily at Berkeley for their fifth consecutive victory.

Cal won its eighth consecutive home game by taking a big early lead against the Eagles and hanging on easily. Shantay Legans hit three three-pointers and had eight assists for the Golden Bears, while Solomon Hughes had 12 points and six rebounds.

Pacific 71, San Francisco 53--Jono Metzger-Jones scored 14 points off the bench to help the Tigers (7-3) defeat the Dons (6-6) at Stockton.

Mike Hahn and Peter Heizer each finished with 11 points for Pacific, which shot 50% from the field (27 of 54).

Wisconsin Milwaukee 58, San Diego 55--Chad Angeli scored 15 points and Clay Tucker added 13 as the Panthers ended the Toreros’ six-game winning streak at Milwaukee.