Texas Wins to Beat of Scuffle

Texas survived a tussle in the stands to once again get the better of Oklahoma State.

The Longhorns defeated No. 5 and previously unbeaten Oklahoma State for the fifth consecutive time, 70-61, Saturday in a Big 12 Conference game at Stillwater, Okla. marred by a fight with a fan in the closing seconds.

The trouble started with 18.1 seconds left and Texas leading 70-60. The Longhorns’ Royal Ivey and T.J. Ford wound up out of bounds while chasing a loose ball, and Ford collided with a pregnant fan. Ford then was grabbed near the throat by a man identified by Oklahoma State officials as the woman’s husband.

Ivey grabbed the man and tried to pull him away from Ford. Meanwhile, teammate James Thomas ran in and threw some overhand punches and Brandon Mouton made his way into the melee.No players were ejected, but Texas, 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12, was assessed a technical foul because Fredie Williams left the bench.

“I think things did get out of hand,” Mouton said. “I don’t think that fans should put their hands on players. I think we were all just trying to protect each other and keep things safe.”

The spectator took his wife to the hospital as a precaution, Oklahoma State sports information director Steve Buzzard said.

“What the refs told me was, they looked at the tape and definitely T.J. had been put in a headlock by an Oklahoma State student, but they assessed the technical foul because Fredie Williams left the bench, which he can’t do,” Texas Coach Rick Barnes said. “I think when that happened, James and the players went over there and obviously were trying to get him out of there.”

Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton said it was an unfortunate end to a good game. “That’s disappointing,” he said. “Our fans, I don’t care, have got to be better behaved than that.”

Oklahoma State (13-1, 0-1) shot 33%.

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No. 2 Kansas 97, Colorado 85--Drew Gooden had 27 points and 14 rebounds at Boulder, Colo. to lead the Jayhawks (12-1, 1-0 in the Big 12) to their 25th victory in a row over the Buffaloes (8-3, 0-1).

No. 3 Florida 69, South Carolina 60--Udonis Haslem had 24 points and 10 rebounds at Gainesville, Fla. as Gators (12-1, 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference) increased their win streak to a school-record 11 games. South Carolina (10-4, 0-1) made only nine of 32 shots in the first half.

North Carolina State 81, No. 4 Virginia 74--Julius Hodge made seven of eight shots and scored 21 points at Charlottesville, Va., to help the Wolfpack (11-3, 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) end their University Hall losing streak at 13 games. Virginia (9-1, 0-1) trailed 65-64 with 9:57 left but went without a field goal the next 7:47.

Mississippi State 74, No. 6 Kentucky 69--Mario Austin, a sophomore center, made his first career three-point shot with seven seconds left in regulation and scored five of his career-high 32 points on free throws in overtime for the Bulldogs (14-1, 1-0 in the SEC) at Starkville, Miss. Tayshaun Prince had 18 points for Kentucky (9-3, 0-1).

Wisconsin 72, No. 7 Illinois 66--Charlie Wills had 19 points--including two free throws with 25 seconds left for the the game’s final points--as the Badgers (8-7, 1-1 in the Big Ten) defeated the Illini (12-3, 1-1) at Madison, Wis. for the 10th time in 12 games.

Ohio State 72, No. 9 Iowa 62--Brian Brown scored 19 points, including 10 in a row in the second half, to lead the Buckeyes (10-2, 2-0 in the Big Ten) past the Hawkeyes (12-4, 1-1) won at Columbus, Ohio. Iowa’s Luke Recker, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 19.2 points a game, had 11 points.

No. 10 Oklahoma 89, Texas A&M; 63--Aaron McGhee scored 22 points at Norman, Okla. to lead the Sooners (11-1, 1-0 in the Big 12) to their 10th consecutive victory. Texas A&M; (6-9) had 22 turnovers.

Pittsburgh 77, No. 11 Boston College 74--Brandin Knight scored 20 points as the Panthers (14-1, 2-0 in the Big East) won their ninth in a row and ended a 25-game home win streak for the Eagles (12-2, 1-1).

No. 13 Cincinnati 72, East Carolina 62--Steve Logan scored 24 points and made eight consecutive free throws in the final three minutes at Greenville, N.C. as the Bearcats (13-1, 1-0 in Conference USA) won their 13th game in a row. East Carolina is 6-7 and 0-1.

No. 16 Syracuse 73, Providence 66--Kueth Duany scored all 16 of his points in the second half as the Orangemen (13-2, 2-0 in the Big East) overcame an 11-point deficit at Providence, R.I. Christopher Anrin had six three-point baskets for Providence (9-6, 0-2).

No. 17 Missouri 60, Nebraska 53--Clarence Gilbert had five three-point baskets and scored 17 points to lead the Tigers (11-3, 1-0 in the Big 12) past the Cornhuskers (7-5, 0-1) at Columbia, Mo.

No. 18 Alabama 76, Louisiana State 74--Terrance Meade had four points in the final 38 seconds--including two free throws with 1.3 left--and the Crimson Tide (13-2, 1-0 in the SEC) overcame an eight-point deficit in the last four minutes at Tuscaloosa, Ala. LSU is 10-4 and 0-1.

Minnesota 70, No. 19 Michigan State 67--Reserve Jerry Holman scored 16 points, including a dunk with 50 seconds left that put the Gophers (8-5, 1-1 in the Big Ten) the lead for good at Minneapolis. Michigan State (9-5, 0-1) got 25 points from Chris Hill, who replaced injured leading scorer Marcus Taylor (back spasms).

Connecticut 76, No. 21 Miami 75--Johnnie Selvie made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left at Storrs, Conn. as the Huskies (8-2, 2-0) knocked the Hurricanes (14-1, 1-1) from the unbeaten ranks. Darius Rice had 22 points and made a three-point shot with 36.5 seconds that gave Miami a 75-74 lead.

No. 23 Wake Forest 84, North Carolina 62--Josh Howard scored 20 points as the Demon Deacons (11-3, 2-0 in the ACC) handed the Tar Heels (5-6, 1-1) their worst defeat at the Smith Center at Chapel Hill, N.C. It was Wake Forest’s biggest margin of victory at Chapel Hill, surpassing a 20-point win in the 1938-39 season.

Rutgers 89, No. 24 Georgetown 87--Sophomore forward Herve Lamizana scored six of his career-high 19 points in overtime to lead the Scarlet Knights (10-4, 1-1) at Piscataway, N.J. Mike Sweetney had 26 points and 13 rebounds for Georgetown (9-5, 0-2).

Charlotte 76, No. 25 Marquette 68--Jobey Thomas scored 26 points--including two off-balance shots in the final four minutes--to lead the 49ers (7-5, 1-0 in Conference USA) past the Golden Eagles (11-3, 0-1) at Charlotte, N.C.