Through It All, St. John’s Beats Syracuse

St. John’s had a lot going against it in Saturday night’s game with No. 9-ranked Syracuse in New York.

First, there was the cloud of the NCAA’s second investigation into possible rules violations in two weeks. Then point guard Erick Barkley, who was suspended two games during the first investigation and is the focus of the second, was in obvious discomfort over the final minutes of the game because of dehydration. Lastly, there was some recent history of a big blown lead to contend with.

St. John’s managed to stave off all that for a 76-75 victory--its fifth in a row--in front of a sellout crowd of 19,410 at Madison Square Garden.

“Any victory is good, some are extra special,” St. John’s Coach Mike Jarvis said. “This is extra special.”

St. John’s, 18-6 overall and 10-3 in the Big East, had an 11-point lead with 4:48 to play but scored only two more points--on Reggie Jessie’s rebound basket with 28 seconds to play. It was eerily similar to last month’s 65-64 loss to Ohio State at Madison Square Garden when the Buckeyes scored the final 11 points of the game.

Syracuse (21-3, 10-2) took a 75-74 lead on Preston Shumpert’s free throw on the front end of a one-and-one with 51 seconds to play. After Shumpert missed the second free throw, St. John’s worked the ball to Lavor Postell. His fallaway jumper was well off the mark but it bounced off the backboard and to Jessie, who laid it in for his fifth and sixth points of the game.

Syracuse, which didn’t have a timeout, worked the ball around but Allen Griffin’s drive to the basket resulted in a shot that missed badly with six seconds left.

Jessie grabbed his eighth rebound of the game and was fouled with 5.6 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one but the rebound bounced long and as Syracuse’s Jason Hart fell to the floor trying to control the ball, it bounced away as the buzzer sounded.

Barkley, who got sick to his stomach during one timeout, was doubled over in pain quite a bit as the game wound down. When the game ended, he fell to the floor near midcourt and was carried to the locker room.

“It happened to me once in high school,” said Barkley of the dehydration moments after receiving IV treatment. “I guess it’s just my adrenaline pumping.”

Barkley had 16 points and nine assists while playing 40 minutes.

“Everything we’ve been through the last couple of weeks just shows the character of our team and that only the strong survive,” Barkley said. “I’m just happy most of this stuff off the court is starting to end and the rumors about me are over a little bit.”

Neither St. John’s nor the NCAA has offered any kind of timetable for a result of a second investigation. Reports have indicated Barkley’s possible involvement with an agent is among the things being looked at by the NCAA. The first investigation centered around Barkley swapping ownership of cars with a family friend.

No. 3 Duke 71, North Carolina State 66--The Blue Devils (21-3, 12-1) clinched at least a share of their fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference championship despite being held 19 points below their season scoring average by the Wolfpack (15-9, 5-8) at Raleigh, N.C.

Duke (1963-66) and North Carolina (1976-79 and 1982-85) are the only other ACC schools to win or share four consecutive regular-season titles.

Chris Carrawell had 22 points for the Blue Devils, who also increased their ACC road win streak to 18.

Vanderbilt 85, No. 5 Tennessee 72--Anthony Williams had 22 points and 12 rebounds at Nashville, Tenn., to lead the Commodores (17-6, 7-5 in the Southeastern Conference) to a regular-season sweep over the Volunteers (21-4, 9-3) for the first time in six years.

Vanderbilt shot 53% and had only seven turnovers. SEC scoring leader Dan Langhi, who had 31 points in the first game at Knoxville, scored 17 this time but had a monstrous dunk at the buzzer that touched off a wild on-court celebration by Vanderbilt students.

Tennessee shot 39%, with leading scorer Tony Harris making only one of 14 shots and scoring three points.

No. 6 Michigan State 59, Wisconsin 54--The Spartans (20-6, 10-2 in the Big Ten) increased their home-court win streak to 26 despite shooting only 34% and getting only three baskets in the final 14:21 at East Lansing, Mich.

Morris Peterson and Charlie Bell each had 15 points for Michigan State, which has put together three consecutive 20-victory seasons for the first time in school history. Mateen Cleaves’ two free throws with 4.1 seconds sealed the victory for the Spartans.

Wisconsin (13-12, 5-8) shot 39% but made seven of 15 three-point attempts. The Badgers tied an NCAA record by making 11 consecutive three-point shots in their previous game.

No. 7 Ohio State 82, No. 10 Indiana 71--Michael Redd had a season-high 28 points for the Buckeyes (18-5, 9-3 in the Big Ten), including five free throws in the final two minutes of a game at Bloomington, Ind., in which 58 fouls were called.

Ohio State had four players foul out but made 30 of 43 free throws. Indiana (18-5, 8-4)--the Big Ten’s top free-throw shooting team at 80%--missed 17 of 44 attempts.

A.J. Guyton led Indiana with 27 points, becoming the fifth player in school history to score 2,000 points. Guyton matched his career high of 11 free throws in 12 attempts but had only one point in the final 13 minutes.

No. 8 Oklahoma State 94, Nebraska 55--The Cowboys (21-3, 10-2) went on an 18-1 run to start the second half at Stillwater, Okla., in moving into a three-way tie for the Big 12 lead with Iowa State and Texas. Nebraska (10-15, 3-9) didn’t score its first basket of the second half until 11:44 remained.

Brian Montonati had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma State.

No. 11 Florida 88, Mississippi State 58--Teddy Dupay made seven of nine three-point shots in scoring a season-high 21 points to lead the Gators (20-5, 9-3 in the SEC) at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida made its first five three-point shots and finished 12 for 19. Mississippi State (12-13, 3-9) made only three of 20 three-point shots.

No. 12 Auburn 75, Mississippi 72--Reserve guard Reggie Sharp made his only two baskets of the game in the final 1:27 to help the Tigers (21-4, 9-3 in the SEC) increase their home-court win streak to 30.

Sharp, a junior walk-on, made a three-point shot and a running jumper after Mississippi (15-10, 3-9) had twice moved within two points. He missed his other five shots in playing 19 minutes.

No. 13 Tulsa 64, San Jose State 56--Brandon Kurtz had 18 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Golden Hurricane (25-2, 10-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) past the Spartans (13-13, 4-7) at San Jose.

Colorado 102, No. 14 Iowa State 90--Jaquay Walls, whose 35-foot shot sent the game into overtime, scored 15 of his career-high 42 points in the extra period as the Buffaloes (15-10, 5-7 in the Big 12) defeated the Cyclones (22-4, 10-2) for the fourth consecutive time at Boulder, Colo.

Walls, who averages 17 points, took over in the final two minutes of regulation and the five-minute overtime, making all 10 of his shots. He finished with 16-for-24 shooting, including seven for 10 on three-point attempts, and his point total was the fifth-highest in school history.

Marcus Fizer, the conference’s leading scorer at 20.9 points a game, had 30 points for Iowa State.

No. 16 Louisiana State 78, Arkansas 67--Ronald Dupree’s dunk on a back-door play midway in the second half started a 10-0 run that carried the Tigers (21-4, 8-4 in the SEC) past the Razorbacks (13-12, 5-7) at Fayetteville, Ark.

Lamont Roland had 23 points for Louisiana State, which never trailed.

No. 17 Texas 60, Baylor 38--The Longhorns (19-6, 10-2) held the Bears (12-11, 3-9) to 13 points in the second half, and a Big 12-low point total and 25% shooting for the game at Waco, Texas.

Texas led only 35-31 with 13:44 left when it went on a 16-0 run.

Miami 63, No. 18 Connecticut 57--Elton Tyler had 22 points as the Hurricanes (16-9, 9-3 in the Big East) boosted their hopes for an NCAA tournament bid by defeating the defending national champion Huskies (18-7, 7-5) at Storrs, Conn., for the second consecutive season.

No. 19 Kentucky 70, Georgia 64--Sophomore guard J.P. Blevins, making his first start since December, scored a career-high 14 points at Lexington, Ky., for the Wildcats (19-7, 9-3 in the SEC) in their 14th consecutive victory over the Bulldogs (10-15, 3-9).

Blevins had two three-point baskets in a 13-2 run midway in the second half that allowed Kentucky to overcome a seven-point deficit.

New Mexico 72, No. 21 Utah 65--Damion Walker, a 6-foot-7 center, constantly drove around 6-11 Nate Althoff in the second half to score all of his 21 points for the Lobos (15-11, 7-4 in the Mountain West) at Albuquerque, N.M.

Walker made six of seven shots and seven of eight free throws to help New Mexico overcome a three-point halftime deficit. The Lobos made 13 of their first 17 shots in the second half.

Utah (19-5, 8-2) again played with injured leading scorer Hanno Mottola.

No. 22 Maryland 73, Wake Forest 67--The Terrapins (19-7, 8-4 in the ACC) made nine of 18 three-point shots at Winston-Salem, N.C., to sweep the Demon Deacons (14-12, 5-8) during the regular season for the first time since 1994.

Maryland’s Juan Dixon had 20 points, while Robert O’Kelley--Wake Forest’s leading scorer at 14.7 points a game--scored two on one-for-nine shooting.

Notre Dame 76, No. 23 Seton Hall 74--David Graves grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a 10-foot jumper with three tenths of a second left to give the Irish (16-10, 7-5 in the Big East) the victory over the Pirates (18-6, 10-4) at East Rutherford, N.J. Seton Hall made the Top 25 this week for the first time since 1993.

Troy Murphy matched a season-high with 35 points for Notre Dame.

No. 25 Purdue 97, Minnesota 61--The Boilermakers (19-7, 10-3 in the Big Ten) shot 65% at West Lafayette, Ind., in winning their sixth consecutive game. Minnesota (12-11, 4-9) lost its secondconsecutive game since leading scorer and rebounder Joel Przybilla was suspended because of academic problems.

All 11 players scored for Purdue, with all but one getting at least two baskets. Mike Robinson, one of four Boilermakers to score in double figures, had a game-high 18 points.

OTHER GAMES

Illinois (17-7, 9-4 in the Big Ten) scored the game’s first 23 points in a 63-30 victory over Northwestern (5-20, 0-12) at Evanston, Ill. The Wildcats, who had only six points in the first half, also have game point totals of 26 and 28 this season. . . . Marques Maybin scored 17 points for Louisville (16-9, 7-5 in Conference USA) in a 71-54 victory over DePaul (17-9, 7-6) at Chicago--its fifth consecutive win and eighth in a row over the Demon Deacons. . . . Kareem Rush scored 19 points and Missouri (16-8, 9-3 in the Big 12) made six of its first seven three-point shots in an 84-74 victory over Kansas State (8-15, 1-11) at Manhattan, Kan.