Time Runs Out on Kansas’ Comeback Bid

Kantrail Horton made all four of his three-point shots and scored 19 points to help No. 12-ranked Iowa State take over the Big 12 Conference lead Monday night with a 79-77 victory over No. 5 Kansas at Lawrence, Kan.

Iowa State, 20-3 and 8-2 in the Big 12, held off a late surge to beat Kansas (18-3, 7-2) for the fourth consecutive time.

Kansas trailed, 73-62, with 4 1/2 minutes remaining, but cut Iowa State’s lead to two points on Eric Chenowith’s two free throws with 1:04 left. The Jayhawks then had a chance to force overtime or win the game after Nick Collison rebounded a missed shot by Horton with 44 seconds remaining.

Guard Kirk Hinrich missed a three-point shot with 16 seconds left, but Kenny Gregory rebounded for Kansas. After a timeout, Luke Axtell shot an air ball from three-point range as time expired.

“We’d get a layup and they’d get a three. We’d knock two free throws down and they’d get a three,” said Chenowith. “It just seemed like we were chipping away and they were chipping away a little more.”

Kansas had six double-figure scorers, led by Drew Gooden at 14 points.

No. 15 Georgetown 81, Pittsburgh 67--Mike Sweetney scored 24 points in a Big East game at Pittsburgh as the Hoyas (19-3, 6-3) avoided losing to the Panthers (12-9, 4-6) for the second time in a month. That loss ended Georgetown’s season-opening game winning streak at 16 games.

Pittsburgh began the game with the Big East’s top-ranked defense, but with senior forward Ricardo Greer hobbled defensively by foot and back problems, couldn’t defend against Sweetney’s strong inside play or the Hoyas’ quick transition baskets.

“I told our guards, ‘You can see what I see, get him [Sweetney] the ball,” Georgetown Coach Craig Esherick said. “We haven’t done a good job all season of getting him the ball enough.”

No. 20 Notre Dame 83, St. John’s 73--Troy Murphy scored 34 points to help the Fighting Irish (15-5, 7-2) beat the Red Storm (12-9, 6-4) in a Big East game at South Bend, Ind.

Murphy had 14 points in a second-half stretch in which Notre Dame overcame a 10-point deficit and outscored St. John’s, 39-10.

OTHER GAMES

Dalron Johnson made a last-second three-point shot to give Nevada Las Vegas (13-9, 4-3) an 80-78 victory over Mountain West Conference-leading Wyoming (15-5, 6-2) at Laramie, Wyo. Johnson had 20 points to lead UNLV. Wyoming’s Josh Davis had 28 points. . . . Kevin Bradley scored 19 points to help Utah (13-9, 5-3) beat New Mexico (13-7, 3-4), 80-69, in a Mountain West game at Salt Lake City.