No. 14 Cyclones’ Victory at Kansas Is First Since ’82

Iowa State had not won at Lawrence, Kan., since 1982, but the Cyclones maintained their poise down the stretch Wednesday night and defeated the No. 24 Jayhawks, 64-62.

The victory broke a losing streak at 17 games in Allen Fieldhouse and allowed the No. 14 Cyclones to take over first place in the Big 12 Conference.

Iowa State, 22-3 overall and 10-1 in the Big 12, is two victories shy of the school record and its best conference start in school history.

“For us to come in here and do it, it tells a lot,” Cyclone Coach Larry Eustachy said.

The Jayhawks (18-7, 7-4) took a 59-53 lead with 3:06 to play when Jeff Boschee, who was two for 17 from the field, made two free throws.

But Kansas lost its cool, committing three consecutive turnovers.

Jamaal Tinsley stole the ball and drove the length of the court for layups twice over the final 1:40 and Marcus Fizer, the Big 12’s scoring leader, made an improbable off-balance 16-foot jump shot with six seconds left for what turned out to be the winning margin.

“Those last three turnovers were mental turnovers,” Boschee said. “I thought we were close to putting them away. Then they made some big shots.”

Fizer’s off-balance jump shot gave Iowa State a 63-59 lead before Boschee made a three-point shot with 1.5 seconds to play.

Paul Shirley made a free throw in the final second to secure the victory and give the streaking Cyclones their first road victory over a ranked opponent since 1987.

After Tinsley made his two big plays, Shirley scored from inside and Michael Nurse made a jump shot to give Iowa State a 61-59 lead with 1:11 to go.

No. 3 Duke 101, Florida State 68--The Blue Devils inched closer to a record-tying fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship at Durham, N.C.

Jason Williams had 19 points Nate James and Carlos Boozer each added 17 for Duke (20-3, 11-1 in the ACC), which defeated Florida State for an 11th consecutive time.

Duke can tie for the conference title with a victory Saturday at North Carolina State.

Duke’s five starters were in double figures with 15:55 left as Coach Mike Krzyzewski notched his 15th 20-win season in 20 years with the Blue Devils.

The Seminoles (9-13, 4-7) are 1-5 since beating North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Jan. 22, and have lost seven of nine. Nigel Dixon led Florida State with a season-high 12 points.

No. 17 Texas 68, No. 8 Oklahoma State 57--Gabe Muoneke scored 17 points, including eight in a row during a key second-half run, to lead the Longhorns to victory at Austin, Texas.

Texas (18-6, 9-2 in the Big 12) led, 40-33, early in the second half when Muoneke went on his scoring spree, getting all of his points by muscling close to the basket for jump shots and layups to push the Longhorns’ lead to 48-35 with 13:55 left to play.

Oklahoma State (20-3, 9-2) cut the lead to 48-44 on a three-point play by Desmond Mason but got no closer. Center Chris Mihm had 15 points and 16 rebounds for Texas, which also got 14 points from Darren Kelly. Texas shot 47% from the field against the Big 12’s best defense.

No. 9 Syracuse 83, Pittsburgh 62--Etan Thomas had 21 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocked shots as the Orangemen withstood the scoring ofRicardo Greer at Syracuse, N.Y.

Greer had a career-high 33 points and kept the Panthers (10-12, 2-9 in the Big East) in the game for the first 30 minutes before Syracuse (21-2, 10-1) got rolling behind Thomas and reserve Preston Shumpert, who had 18 points.

No. 12 Auburn 86, Vanderbilt 80--Daymeon Fishback, Doc Robinson, Chris Porter and Mamadou N’diaye each scored 15 points and the Tigers won in Nashville, Tenn., for the first time in 10 years.

Auburn (20-4, 8-3 Southeastern Conference) had lost five in a row to Vanderbilt (16-6, 6-5) in Nashville.

No. 16 Louisiana State 97, Mississippi 53--Stromile Swift scored 18 points and Lamont Roland added 17 at Oxford, Miss., as the Tigers reached 20 victories for the first time since 1992-93 and extended their winning streak to four games.

Brian Beshara added 17 points for the Tigers (20-4, 7-4 Southeastern Conference). It was the worst home loss for Mississippi (15-9, 3-8) since 1965, when it lost 96-50 to Tennessee, and its worst loss ever at Tad Smith Coliseum, which opened in 1966.

No. 19 Kentucky 66, Alabama 54--Jamaal Magloire scored 16 points and Tayshaun Prince added 14 in the Wildcats’ SEC victory at Lexington, Ky.

The victory moved Kentucky (18-7, 8-3) into a second-place tie with Florida in the Eastern Division, a game behind Tennessee.

Freshman guard Rod Grizzard scored 20 points for Alabama (11-12, 4-7).

No. 22 Maryland 92, Georgia Tech 70--Juan Dixon scored 18 of his career-high 33 points in the opening 12 minutes and the Terrapins rebounded from Sunday’s nonconference loss at Temple in an ACC victory at College Park, Md.

The Terrapins (18-7, 7-4) have won seven of eight in the ACC after an 0-3 start that included a 69-68 defeat at Georgia Tech (11-13, 3-8) last month.

No. 25 Purdue 67, Iowa 59--Brian Cardinal had 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Boilermakers (18-7, 9-3 Big Ten) won their fifth game in a row at West Lafayette, Ind.

Both teams had more turnovers than field goals and Purdue scored its final 13 points on free throws. The Boilermakers had 22 turnovers and 21 field goals. Iowa (11-13, 4-8) had a season-high 23 turnovers and only 19 field goals.

ELSEWHERE

Wisconsin (13-11, 5-7 in the Big Ten) tied an NCAA record by making 11 consecutive three-point baskets in a 75-59 victory over Michigan at Madison, Wis. The Wolverines 12-10, 3-8) have lost seven games in a row. . . . Joe Crispin had 28 points as Penn State (13-9, 5-6 in the Big Ten) ended a losing streak at three by defeating Northwestern, 73-64, at State College, Pa. The Wildcats are 5-19 and 0-11. . . . Miami (15-9, 8-3 in the Big East) had its chances of getting an NCAA tournament bid dwindle with a 47-45 loss to Providence (9-16, 2-10) at Miami.

DePaul (17-8, 7-5), led by Quentin Richardson with 16 points and 17 rebounds, set a Conference USA record for fewest points given up in a league game in a 55-35 victory over Marquette (13-10, 6-6) at Milwaukee. . . . Altron Jackson had 21 points as South Florida (15-9, 6-5) scored a 65-54 victory over Tulane (17-7, 6-6) at Tampa, Fla., in a showdown for first place in Conference USA’s National Division. . . . Marques Maybin scored 19 points as Louisville (15-9, 6-5 in Conference USA) defeated North Carolina Charlotte, 67-51 at Charlotte, N.C. The 49ers (13-12, 5-7) have lost four of their last five games.