Hester Comes Through In Ot To Lead Illinois Past Missouri

Jerry Hester hit two 3-pointers in overtime and Kiwane Garris scored 23 points as No. 14 Illinois beat No. 15 Missouri 96-85 Wednesday night in St. Louis.

It was the second overtime game in three years and third in the 15 years of the annual neutral-court game. Illinois (8-0) snapped a four-game losing streak in the series and is 10-5 overall.

Kelly Thames scored a career-high 25 points for Missouri (7-2), which stumbled against its first ranked opponent.

The game drew a crowd of 21,901, the largest to watch a basketball game in Missouri.

Hester had 11 of his 14 points after the half and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Garris made only 4 of 17 shots, but was 15 of 16 at the foul line and also led Illinois with eight rebounds and eight assists.

Richard Keene had 14 points and seven assists before fouling out with 36 seconds left in regulation. Reserve Kevin Turner added 12 points and Chris Gandy 11.

Corey Tate and Kendrick Moore added 10 points for Missouri.

(6) Georgetown 104, Morgan St. 60

At Landover, Md., Allen Iverson had 20 points, seven assists, nine rebounds and six steals to lead the Hoyas (9-1) past the Bears (1-6).

Iverson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then dished off three fast-break assists in a 15-0 run to blow the game open for Georgetown.

(9) Cincinnati 77, (24) Cal 70

At Oakland, Calif., Damon Flint had 20 points and Darnell Burton added 17 as the Bearcats (7-0) beat the Golden Bears (4-1).

Cincinnati weathered a game-high 25 points from Cal star Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Cincinnati was trailing 62-57 after a 3-pointer by Cal’s Randy Duck, who finished with 16. But Cal was outscored 20-8 over the final 6:23, including missing 3-of-5 free throws in the last 1:25.

(10) Iowa 93, Western Illinois 41

At Iowa City, Iowa, Jess Settles and Russ Millard scored 15 points each and the Hawkeyes (9-1) made 10 3-pointers in the second half of a win over the Leathernecks (3-4).

Iowa won its seventh straight game and dominated Western Illinois despite sloppy play from both teams.

The Leathernecks had 27 turnovers and Iowa had 20, and the two teams combined for 38 personal fouls.

(11) North Carolina 66, Pitt 49

At Pittsburgh, Antawn Jamison scored 17 points to lead a balanced attack that carried the Tar Heels (8-1) to an easy win over the Panthers (3-3).

North Carolina won its sixth consecutive game as it headed into its holiday break.

Shammond Williams scored 13, Dante Calabria had 11 and Jeff McInnis 10 for the Tar Heels. Jamison was 7 of 8 from the field as he scored in double figures for the eighth consecutive game.

(20) Duke 107, W. Carolina 67

At Durham, N.C., Jeff Capel scored 27 points and Greg Newton hit all nine of his shots in adding 22 points as the Blue Devils (7-2) downed the Catamounts (1-6).

Carmen Wallace and Matt Christensen came off the bench to add 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Duke. Chris Collins hit all three of his 3-point tries and scored 10 points.

(25) Louisville 81, Murray St. 72

At Louisville, Ky., the Cardinals (7-3) overcame a 36-point performance by Marcus Brown to pull away from the Racers (5-3).

Murray State shot just 40 percent (28 of 70) from the field, but turned the ball over only 11 times and held a 39-36 edge in rebounds.

UCLA 83, Notre Dame 58

At South Bend, Ind., Toby Bailey scored 16 points and four other Bruins (5-3) finished in double figures as UCLA defeated the Fighting Irish (2-4).

USC 118, George Mason 97

At Los Angeles, Brandon Martin scored a career-high 29 points and the Trojans (6-1) contained the nation’s highest scoring offense to beat the Patriots (3-3) for USC’s fourth straight victory.

Oregon 65, Boise St. 54

At Eugene, Ore., Kyle Milling had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Ducks (5-3) downed the visiting Broncos (2-5).

San Jose St. 87, Portland 79

At San Jose, Calif., Sam Allen scored a career-high 23 points as the Spartans (1-5) beat the Pilots (6-1).