Williams Moves Beyond Pain

Georgia Coach Jim Harrick wasn’t sure what to expect from Ezra Williams in the Bulldogs’ big game against Kentucky on Saturday.

Williams had been grieving the death of his brother, Antwonne, who was shot in the Atlanta area the Saturday before.

“Maybe Ezra won’t snap out of it,” Harrick said. “Without him, we’re certainly not nearly as good as we should be and could be.”

As it turned out, No. 21 Georgia got plenty from Williams as the junior guard, who averages 17.2 points, made sure he was a factor by scoring 20 points in a 78-69 victory over No. 10 Kentucky at Athens, Ga.

“It’s been real emotional this week,” Williams said. “I spent a lot of time with my family and some of them were at the game today.

“I had to focus on basketball. That’s what my brother would have wanted me to do. I wasn’t going to let us lose the game.”

The Bulldogs (19-7, 8-5 Southeastern) avoided losing their third consecutive and completed a regular-season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since 1986-87.

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No class at all: As Iowa’s season slips away, it would be easy for Coach Steve Alford to lose his focus.

But it’s apparent that he hasn’t and he made it clear Saturday that he won’t allow his players to do so either despite a 72-66 loss at home to Ohio State.

Alford benched Reggie Evans, the Big Ten’s leading rebounder (11.5) and the Hawkeyes’ No. 2 scorer (16.3), because the senior has been skipping class.

“I hope the message is simple and clear,” Alford said. “If you are going to play in our Iowa basketball program, you are a student before an athlete. I thought that message had to be sent. I messed up by not sending it earlier.”

Alford certainly earned the praises of Ohio State Coach Jim O’Brien.

“I tip my hat to Steve Alford,” O’Brien said. “There was absolutely no question about the importance of this game to Iowa, and for him to demonstrate, I think, courage for standing by what he thinks is the right thing by not playing his best player is a credit to him.”

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Right at home: If nothing else, Coach Bo Ryan has the proper pedigree for success at Wisconsin, having coached previously at Wisconsin Platteville and Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Dick Bennett, who coached the Badgers from 1996-2000 and led them to three NCAA tournament appearances including a Final Four, paid his dues at Wisconsin Stevens Point and Wisconsin Green Bay before coming to Madison.

As Bennett eventually did, Ryan seems to be pushing the right buttons in his first season. On Saturday, the Badgers used a 30-point effort from Kirk Penney in a 67-62 victory over Minnesota at Minneapolis.

Wisconsin (16-11, 9-5 Big Ten), which upset Indiana on Wednesday, is in third place behind Ohio State and the Hoosiers, and seems to be gearing toward a strong finish after a 3-6 start.

In addition to the Badgers’ first victory at Indiana in 25 years, Wisconsin also ended Michigan State’s 53-game home winning streak earlier this season.

Even before the big week of victories, Ryan already was making his case for a tournament bid.

“I just think that if you’re 9-7 in a league that is one of the best leagues in the country year in and year out, it’s got to make some kind of statement for you,” Ryan told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when the team was 7-5 in conference.

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A real long shot: It’s becoming more and more apparent that Luke McDonald is a streaky shooter.

The Drake sophomore, who was the Missouri Valley Conference freshman of the year last season, scored 27 points and made all 12 of his free throws Saturday in a 68-54 victory over Bradley. He even scored 12 points in a row in a 4:45 span of the first half.

McDonald has made 25 consecutive free throws, but more impressively he extended his school-record streak of making a three-point basket to 53 consecutive games.

The NCAA record is held by Cory Bradford of Illinois, who made at least one three-point shot in 88 consecutive games from Nov. 10, 1998, to Feb. 10, 2001.

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Pure and simple: After the Pacific 10 Conference succumbed to the dollar signs of what a conference tournament can bring, it left the Ivy League as the nation’s only Division I holdout.

The Ivy still determines its automatic NCAA tournament bid on winning the regular-season championship.

And with two weeks left, Yale remains in the driver’s seat for its first Ivy League title since 1962 after a 76-56 victory at Columbia. The Bulldogs were led by freshman Edwin Draughan, a former Lakewood Mayfair High standout, who scored 20 points as Yale (17-7, 9-1) won its seventh in a row.

But the big test comes next Friday and Saturday when the Bulldogs go on the road to play Princeton and Pennsylvania, teams they already have defeated.

Between them, Princeton and Penn account for the last 13 Ivy League championships and 32 of the last 34.

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Home cooking: We all know how tough it is to be the road team in places like Durham, N.C., Eugene, Ore., and Lawrence, Kan.

But Boiling Springs, N.C.?

That might be college basketball’s next hot spot after Gardner Webb won its 29th in a row at home in an 86-79 victory over Texas Pan American.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs streak, which dates to the 1999-2000 season, is the second longest active streak in Division I behind Brigham Young’s 33 in a row.

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Block party: Louisiana Monroe center Wojciech Myrda broke the NCAA record for career blocked shots in a 90-73 victory over Nicholls State.

Myrda, a 7-foot-2 senior from Rzeszow, Poland, had 11 and raised his career total to 502, breaking the mark of 492 set by Colgate’s Adonal Foyle from 1995-97.

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Out of action: Utah Coach Rick Majerus missed Saturday’s game against Air Force because of a bronchial infection and high fever.

Assistant coach Dick Hunsaker ran the team as the Utes defeated the Falcons, 59-51.

Majerus also missed Friday’s practice and made a brief appearance at the shootaround Saturday before deciding an hour before tipoff not to stay for the game.

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Performance of the day: Brandon Hunter of Ohio scored 27 points and had a career-high 22 rebounds in the Bobcats’ 71-66 victory against Marshall. It was Ohio’s first victory at Huntington, W.Va., since 1984.

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Performance of the weak: Chicago State slipped to 2-22 after a 57-35 loss to Southern Utah. The Cougars made only 14 of 45 shots and had 27 turnovers. The 35 points was a school-record low.

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Jim Barrero