There’s a Pitt-fall for Georgetown

A spectacular first-half dunk by a freshman got Pittsburgh believing it could end Georgetown’s unbeaten run. A shutout performance by the Panther defense at the end of the game made it happen.

Julius Page, a 6-foot-3 guard, scored two of his 18 points with a jaw-dropping one-handed stuff over 7-foot center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, and the Panthers held the ninth-ranked Hoyas without a point over the final 3:48 in their 70-66 victory Saturday at the MCI Center in Washington.

“His dunk was a huge play,” said Pittsburgh Coach Ben Howland, even though it came only six minutes into the game and gave the Panthers a modest 11-8 lead. “It gave us a lot of confidence. I think a dunk’s the same--it’s all two points--but the players get jacked up.”

Ricardo Greer had 15 points in only the second road victory of the season for Pittsburgh, 11-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big East Conference.

Demetrius Hunter had all 11 points of his points in the first half to lead the scoring for Georgetown (16-1, 4-1), which had its lowest point total of the season. The Hoyas’ 16-game winning streak to open a season was two short of the longest in school history.

“In this league, to go undefeated, I would have thought would have been near impossible,” Georgetown Coach Craig Esherick said. “We have a lot of good teams in this league, and they scout us very well. Pittsburgh came in with the thought in mind of playing a certain way, and they executed it perfectly.

“I told the guys we’ve had a good year, and there’s no reason now for them to think we have not had a good year because we lost a game. Sixteen-and-one’s a pretty good record, and they need to know it.”

Pittsburgh won by slowing the game down, using a timeout and a deliberate offensive set after each time Georgetown force a faster tempo. The Panthers’ zone defense worked well in the first half when the Hoyas weren’t making three-point shots, while a man-to-man defense was effective down the stretch.

In the final 90 seconds, Greer blocked a three-point attempt by Gerald Riley, a double-team inside forced Mike Sweetney to lose the ball, and Isaac Hawkins forced Sweetney to throw up a short air ball.

No. 4 Tennessee 84, Mississippi State 79--Tony Harris scored 22 points and Ron Slay had 15 as the Volunteers (17-2, 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference) withstood a late rally by the Bulldogs (10-5, 1-3) at Knoxville, Tenn.

Antonio Jackson cut the Volunteers’ lead to two with a three-point basket with 27.8 seconds to go.

But Mississippi State, which trailed by as many as 19 points, didn’t get any closer as Vincent Yarbrough made four free throws and Jon Higgins had one.

Tennessee, which lost at Kentucky on Tuesday, made 13 of 16 free throws in the final two minutes. Harris was 11 of 12 from the line.

The Volunteers have won 17 in a row at home and haven’t lost consecutive games since February 1999.

No. 5 Kansas 100, Texas A&M; 70--Drew Gooden had 19 points and 10 rebounds for his team-leading sixth double-double of the season to lead the Jayhawks (15-1, 4-0 in the Big 12) past the Aggies (6-11, 0-5) at Lawrence, Kan.

The Jayhawks shot 52% and had five players score in double figures. Nick Collison made nine of 11 shots and scored 19 points, while Kirk Hinrich had 10 assists.

Kansas has not lost in six games with Texas A&M.;

No. 6 North Carolina 80, Florida State 70--Joseph Forte scored 28 points, including 14 in the final 7:11 at Tallahassee, Fla., as the Tar Heels won their 12th consecutive game.

North Carolina (15-2, 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) jumped ahead 33-13 on its way to a 49-30 halftime lead, but had to survive a rally by the Seminoles.

Florida State (5-13, 0-5) pulled to 60-57 with 7:42 left on a steal and breakaway layup by point guard Delvon Arrington. But Forte scored North Carolina’s next 12 points in a span of 4:08, climaxed by a dunk that gave the Tar Heels a 72-61 lead with 3:03 remaining.

Center Brendan Haywood had seven blocked shots in the game to become North Carolina’s career leader in that category with 246, one more than Sam Perkins--a teammate of Tar Heel Coach Matt Doherty in the 1980s.

Vanderbilt 63, No. 7 Florida 61--Freshman Brendan Plavich sank the injury-plagued Gators deeper into despair by making two three-point shots in the final 57 seconds to lift the Commodores (13-4, 3-2 in the SEC) at Gainesville, Fla.

Plavich, who initially committed to Georgia Tech but transferred when Bobby Cremins resigned, made the second three-point shot with 29 seconds remaining to give the Commodores only their second lead of the game at 62-61.

Florida’s Major Parker missed a wild shot, then after Greg LaPointe made one free throw to put Vanderbilt ahead by two, Orien Greene left a layup on the front of the rim and the Gators (11-4, 1-3)--down to seven scholarship players--lost their second in a row at home.

The Gators are playing without Teddy Dupay, Justin Hamilton and Brent Wright. All three sustained injuries in the last three weeks.

No. 11 Illinois 92, Penn State 60--Sergio McClain had 15 points, while the Fighting Illini (15-4, 5-1 in the Big Ten) had its highest-scoring game of the season and shut down the conference’s top scorer at Champaign, Ill.

Joe Crispin, averaging 22 points, was held scoreless in the first half for Penn State (11-5, 2-4). He finished with 13 while his brother, Jon Crispin, had 11.

Illinois’ Cory Bradford, who had 13 points, extended his NCAA-record streak of making a three-point shot in a game to 82.

No. 13 Virginia 85, No. 20 Missouri 72--Travis Watson’s slam dunk and free throw with 4:10 left gave the Cavaliers the lead, and they held off the Tigers in a nonconference game that was close until the final minutes at Charlottesville, Va.

Watson, held out of the starting lineup because of a strained right hamstring, took a pass from Donald Hand and dunked while being fouled, with his free throw giving the Cavaliers (13-3) a 71-69 lead.

Virginia made 18 of 21 free throws in the second half and was 34 for 41 for the game. Missouri (12-5) was only 12 for 19 overall on free throws.

Michigan 70, No. 14 Iowa 69--LaVell Blanchard scored a career-high 30 points and the Wolverines (8-8, 2-3) withstood a furious Hawkeye rally at Iowa City, Iowa.

Michigan ended a road losing streak at 10 and Iowa (14-4, 3-2) lost for the first time his this season in 10 home games.

The Hawkeyes trailed 54-39 with 11:31 to play but pulled within 70-69 on Luke Recker’s driving layup with 46.6 seconds to play.

Iowa had a chance to win the game in the final 10.4 seconds, but Reggie Evans missed a lay-in with 2.6 seconds remaining and Oliver misfired on an off-balance baseline jumper at the buzzer.

Evans had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Recker had 18 points. The Hawkeyes lost their second for the Oliver scored 14 for the Hawkeyes, who dropped their second in a row and lost at home for the first time in 10 games this season.

Arkansas 87, No. 15 Alabama 58--Jannero Pargo had 24 points and Joe Johnson broke out of a shooting slump with 17 points as the Razorbacks (11-6, 2-3 in the SEC) scored the final 22 points in a surprising rout of the Crimson Tide (14-3, 3-2) at Fayetteville, Ark.

Johnson, one of the SEC’s top players as a freshman last season, made seven of nine shots. In his previous three games, he made nine of 30 shots.

Miami 77, No. 15 Connecticut 74--Marcus Barnes scored 24 points and John Salmons had 16 at Miami as the Hurricanes (10-7, 3-2 in the Big East) dealt the Huskies (13-5, 2-3) their third consecutive loss.

Salmons clinched the victory with two free throws and a slam dunk in the final 11 seconds. The dunk, with 2.7 on the clock, was Miami’s only field goal in the final 6:18.

The Hurricanes led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and Connecticut couldn’t get closer than three points in the second half.

No. 21 Mississippi 65, Kentucky 55--Jason Harrison scored 16 points and had two key three-point baskets during a decisive 11-2 run in the second half for the Rebels (15-3, 3-2 in the SEC) at Oxford, Miss.

Kentucky (10-6, 3-1) shot 38.5% in having its win streak end at seven. Keith Bogans, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, made only four of 15 shots--missing all seven of his three-point attempts.

No. 22 Oklahoma 64, Kansas State 63--Hollis Price stole Quentin Buchanan’s pass with 10 seconds left in overtime and drove for a layup that was decisive for the the Sooners (12-4, 1-3 in the Big 12) in their victory over the Wildcats (9-8, 2-3) at Manhattan, Kan.

Travis Reynolds, who scored 12 of Kansas State’s last 14 points in regulation, missed a shot at the buzzer.

Price, who had 13 points, scored the last six points in overtime. The Sooners’ J.R. Raymond led all scorers with 25 points.

No. 25 Boston College 77, Rutgers 51--Troy Bell, Kenny Harley and Ryan Sidney each scored 16 points for the Eagles (13-2, 4-1 in the Big East) at Boston.

Boston College is off to its best start since going 22-9 in 1996-97, the last time the Eagles made the NCAA tournament.