Michigan State Rolls by Connecticut

Guard Charlie Bell opened each half with a three-point basket as No. 8-ranked Michigan State easily defeated No. 7 Connecticut, 85-66, in a game between two of last season’s Final Four teams Saturday at East Lansing, Mich.

“Just simply put, I’m astounded by the way we played--or didn’t play,” said Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun, whose team beat the Spartans by 14 in a game last season at Storrs, Conn. “Michigan State played sensational basketball. They had such a high energy level.”

The Spartans, aided by a 15-9 edge in offensive rebounds, scored 25 second-chance points and got 20 points off turnovers.

It was a school-record 24th consecutive home victory for Michigan State (17-5), breaking a mark set during the early 1930s and matched during the mid-1960s.

Forward Morris Peterson led the Spartans with 16 points. Khalid El-Amin scored 21 for cold-shooting Connecticut (16-5). The Huskies made only 26 of 60 shots.

No. 1 Cincinnati 93, Alabama Birmingham 80--Center Kenyon Martin had a career-high 31 points, 16 rebounds and seven blocked shots at Birmingham, Ala., as the Bearcats (22-1, 10-0 in Conference USA) increased their winning streak to 14.

Alabama Birmingham (12-8, 5-4) made only five of 20 shots in the first eight minutes in falling behind, 25-1.

No. 3 Duke 106, Virginia 86--The Blue Devils (17-2, 9-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) shot 68.4% in reaching a season-high point total in the first half (65) at Durham, N.C. The victory was the 17th in a row for Duke, which also has winning streaks of 46 for home games, 31 in regular-season ACC games and 60 against nonconference opponents.

Forwards Chris Carrawell and Carlos Boozer both had 25 points, and another front-court player, Shane Battier, had 21.

Virginia (15-7, 5-4) lost to Duke 109-100 in overtime a month ago at Charlottesville, Va.

No. 4 Syracuse 74, Providence 58--The Orangemen (19-0, 9-0 in the Big East) made 38 of 51 free throws--both school records--at Providence, R.I., in remaining the only unbeaten team in Division I and equaling their longest win streak in a season since 1978-79. Providence (8-14, 1-8) has lost eight in a row, its longest streak since 1948-495.

Center Etan Thomas had 19 points and 14 rebounds for Syracuse, which plays at Louisville Thursday before taking on UCLA next Sunday at the Carrier Dome.

No. 10 Auburn 73, Arkansas 55--Guard Scott Pohlman scored 13 of his 21 points for the Tigers (19-3, 7-2 in the Southeastern Conference) during a 26-5 run to start the second half at Auburn, Ala.

Arkansas (11-10, 3-5) made only four of 27 shots in the second half and had 28 turnovers for the game that Auburn converted into 34 points.

No. 12 Florida 85, Georgia 66--The Gators (17-4, 6-2 in the SEC) used their full-court press and deep bench to wear down the Bulldogs (9-13, 2-7) at Gainesville, Fla.

Georgia had 30 turnovers and its reserves were outscored by those of Florida, 52-10. Gator freshman Brett Nelson, coming in for struggling starter Teddy Dupay, 17 points and five steals.

No. 13 Oklahoma State 87, Texas A&M; 55--The Cowboys (18-2, 7-1 in the Big 12) avenged a Jan. 22 loss to the Aggies (6-14, 2-7) as forwards Glendon Alexander and Desmond Alexander scored 25 and 23 points, respectively, at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma led 12-2 after four minutes, 24-6 after seven minutes, 42-14 after 14 minutes and 46-18 at halftime. They never led by less than 22 points in the second half.

No. 14 Kentucky 76, South Carolina 63-- Center Jamaal Magloire had 23 points and 10 rebounds at Lexington, Ky., as the Wildcats (17-5, 7-1 in the SEC) won for the 13th time in 14 games.

South Carolina (9-13, 1-8) took 32 three-point shots, making 11 to stay close until Kentucky went on a game-ending 11-3 run. The Wildcats made 16 of 18 free throws.

No. 15 Kansas 87, Texas Tech 62--The Jayhawks (17-5, 6-2 in the Big 12) had three freshmen start for the first time since 1982-83 but it was junior swingman Kenny Gregory who made the biggest impact against the Red Raiders (9-10, 0-8) at Lawrence, Kan., making all eight of his shots and scoring 19 points.

Coach Roy Williams, after consecutive losses to Missouri and Iowa, changed his starting lineup for the first time this season, with freshman Kirk Hinrich taking over for sophomore Jeff Boschee at guard, and freshman replacing Drew Gooden replacing junior center Eric Chenowith. Gooden had 13 points, Hinrich had nine, and forward Nick Collison--the third freshman starter--had 11 rebounds.

No. 16 Texas 68, Massachusetts 57--Center Chris Mihm had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Longhorns (15-6) past the Minutemen (11-10) at Amherst, Mass.

No. 17 Tulsa 103, Texas Christian 70--Reserve forward David Shelton scored 20 of his season-high 24 points in a first half at Tulsa, Okla., that ended with the Golden Hurricane (22-2, 7-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) leading by 30.

Tulsa shot 55.2% and had a 45-27 rebounding advantage. Texas Christian (13-11, 4-4)--the nation’s highest-scoring team at 90.9 points a game--shot 34.5% and had 20 turnovers.

No. 18 Oklahoma 68, Baylor 59--The Sooners (18-3, 6-2) overcame at seven-point halftime deficit at Waco, Texas, as forward Eduardo Najera scored 14 of his 20 points and got 10 of his 16 rebounds in the second half.

Baylor (11-9, 2-7) has lost 12 in a row to Oklahoma.

Nevada Las Vegas 72, No. 19 Utah 66--Center Kaspars Kambala had 20 points and 11 rebounds at Las Vegas as the Rebels (14-5, 5-2 in the Mountain West Conference) defeated a top 25 team for the first time in four tries this season. Las Vegas had lost to North Carolina, Oklahoma State, and Cincinnati.

Alex Jensen led Utah (17-4, 6-1) with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 21 Temple 74, Rhode Island 40--The Owls (16-4, 9-1 in the Atlantic) took a 36-9 lead at halftime at Providence, R.I., as the Rams made only two of their first 20 shots.

Temple has won seven in a row, holding each of its opponents to 50 points or less in the streak.

No. 22 Louisiana State 93, Alabama 60--Forward Stromile Swift had 21 points and 12 rebounds at Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Tigers (17-4, 4-4 in the SEC) ended a conference road losing streak at 16. It was the most-lopsided home loss since 1968 for Alabama (10-10, 3-5).