Florida’s Nelson Has Last Laugh in Victory

It was only a coincidence that Brett Nelson ran right in front of the student section that had taunted him all night after making the game-winning shot.

That’s Nelson’s story, and he’s sticking to it.

Nelson sank a jumper with 0.5 of a second to play Wednesday night to give eighth-ranked Florida a 81-80 victory over Mississippi State at Starkville, Miss.

Nelson’s jumper put the exclamation point on a 19-point second half and silenced a small but loud group of fans that heckled the spindly sophomore mercilessly during the first half.

After making the jumper off the dribble that broke a 79-79 tie, Nelson ran to midcourt and pumped his fist in full view of the hecklers.

“I was just running back down the floor,” he said.

Aside from the usual insults that were hurled at Nelson, Bulldog fans also ragged on the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder’s less-than-muscular physique.

“Actually, I heard them talking all game,” acknowledged Nelson, who finished with 21 points. “It’s nice to hit the shot. You don’t say anything, you just let you’re actions do your talking.”

But in the midst of the celebration, Florida, 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference, failed to realize that there was still time left on the clock. Players ran off the Gators’ bench and a one-shot technical foul was assessed on Major Parker for leaving the bench.

Antonio Jackson made the free throw, but the Bulldogs (9-3, 1-1) couldn’t convert a desperation heave at the buzzer.

The one-shot foul call left Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury befuddled and fans irate. A couple of soda bottles were thrown on to the court as the players filed out, and one fan was seen being handcuffed by police.

Stansbury said he had never heard of a one-shot technical, but his first comment after the game was: “Officiating did not beat us. Florida won this basketball game.”

No. 2 Duke 84, North Carolina State 78--Shane Battier and Jason Williams each scored 22 points to lead the Blue Devils (14-1, 3-0) over the Wolfpack (8-5, 0-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

The victory extended Duke’s ACC-record road winning streak to 21 in a row, and the Blue Devils have lost only two of their last 51 regular-season conference games.

Battier made six of 11 three-point shots, and Williams scored all his points in the second half as Duke won its eighth in a row over the Wolfpack.

No. 3 Michigan State 84, Northwestern 53--Andre Hutson had 19 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five assists to lead the Spartans (13-1, 2-1) to a Big Ten victory over the Wildcats (7-8, 0-3) at East Lansing, Mich.

The Spartans extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 37 games, one game after Indiana ended their 23-game winning streak.

No. 9 North Carolina 86, No. 14 Maryland 83--Joseph Forte scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to help the Tar Heels (12-2, 3-0) hold off a furious rally by the Terrapins (11-4, 2-1) at College Park, Md.

It was the ninth consecutive victory for Tar Heels, who let a 19-point lead dwindle to 80-77 with 27 seconds to play.

Forte then made two free throws and a layup to secure the victory. The sophomore guard scored 11 of the Tar Heels’ final 13 points.

No. 12 Georgetown 86, Morgan State 68--Ruben Boumtje Boumtje had 19 points and the Hoyas (14-0) scored the game’s first 18 points in routing the Bears (2-10) at Washington.

Georgetown’s 14-0 start is the second-best start in team history, matching the mark set by the 1989-90 team. It is second only to the 1984-85 Hoyas, who won their first 18 games and advanced to the NCAA national championship game before losing to Villanova.

Boumtje Boumtje scored only two of his points during the 18-0 run at the start but dominated play in the paint throughout. He made seven of nine shots, pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and had three blocks and a steal.

No. 13 Connecticut 73, Pittsburgh 53--Taliek Brown had 10 points and 10 assists to lead the Huskies (13-2, 2-1) over the Panthers (9-5, 1-2) in a Big East game at Hartford, Conn.

With his double-double, Brown became the second freshman in school history to record consecutive games with 10 or more assists. He had 12 assists in Connecticut’s overtime victory over St. John’s on Saturday.

The first freshman to reach that mark was teammate Caron Butler, who had consecutive double-digit assist games this season. Butler had 11 points Wednesday and has scored in double figures in all 12 of his games this season.

Purdue 73, No. 17 Wisconsin 67--Rodney Smith scored 19 points, including a go-ahead 15-foot jump shot with 1:47 to play, to lead the Boilermakers (11-3, 3-0) over the Badgers (10-3, 1-2) in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Smith’s jumper gave the Boilermakers a 66-64 lead.

They had tied the score, at 64-64, on a Carson Cunningham bank shot, and Cunningham followed Smith’s shot with a layup and a free throw for a 69-64 edge.

Kirk Penney’s three-point baskets with 18 seconds remaining brought the Badgers to within 70-67, but Purdue secured the victory with free throws.

No. 20 Mississippi 53, Arkansas 48--Jason Holmes beat the shot clock with a three-point basket from the corner that put the Rebels (14-1, 2-0) ahead to stay as they survived horrendous first-half shooting to win the SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Holmes’ basket came with 4:16 to play and put a damper on a crowd that got worked up after Jannero Pargo’s three-point basket tied the score at 42-42.

Mississippi trailed by 12 points in the first half after missing 19 of its first 23 shots. Arkansas (9-5, 0-2) went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the second half before Pargo made his three-pointer.

No. 23 Texas 63, Kansas State 41--Chris Owens had 14 points and 15 rebounds and the Longhorns (12-2, 2-0) recovered from poor first-half shooting to overtake the Wildcats (7-6, 1-1) in a Big 12 game at Austin, Texas.

After making only six of 36 shots in the first half, Texas broke the game open in the second with a 12-0 run that turned a close game into a 37-21 Texas lead.

Texas won its seventh in a row, its longest winning streak in three seasons under Coach Rick Barnes. The Longhorns have won 22 in a row at home.

St. John’s 73, No. 24 Boston College 71--Omar Cook had 19 points and 13 assists to help the Red Storm (8-6, 2-1) hand the Eagles (11-1, 2-1) their first loss of the season in a Big East game at New York, leaving top-ranked Stanford and Georgetown as the nation’s only unbeaten teams.

ELSEWHERE

Marquette 47, Cincinnati 44--Brian Barone assured the Bearcats they won’t be returning to the top 25 next week.

Brian Barone made a three-point shot with 1:27 to play that tied the score, grabbed a key rebound with 49 seconds to play and finally forced Kenny Satterfield to take an off-balance three-point shot that banged off the rim at the buzzer as the Eagles (7-5, 2-0) held off the Bearcats (10-4, 1-1) in a Conference USA game at Milwaukee.

Cincinnati, which fell out of the top 25 on Sunday for the first time in nearly three years, had won nine consecutive road games and 21 consecutive regular-season conference games.

But the Bearcats scored their fewest points since Jan. 23, 1993, when they defeated Alabama Birmingham, 40-38.

Kentucky 69, South Carolina 63--Marquis Estill and Keith Bogans each scored 11 points to help the Wildcats (8-5, 2-0) defeat the Gamecocks (9-4, 1-1) in an SEC game at Lexington, Ky.