Jayhawks Whip Bruins
Top 25
Another road game, another victory for No. 1 Kansas.
The Jayhawks rolled to their sixth road win and seventh consecutive overall with a 96-83 defeat of 17th-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday.
Raef LaFrentz had a career-high 31 points and 11 points for Kansas, which led by 28 points late in the first half despite the foul trouble of Paul Pierce and Scot Pollard, who fouled out with 10 points.
“It’s been a tough road trip,” LaFrentz said.
The Bruins (1-2), playing a No. 1 team for the first time since losing to Duke at Pauley Pavilion in 1992, self-destructed with 26 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, and a lack of defense.
“They put on a clinic,” first-year UCLA coach Steve Lavin said of Kansas. “They got the ball from one side of the court to the other without ever using the dribble.”
Kansas (7-0) beat UCLA for the second straight year despite the absence of point guard Jacque Vaughn. Vaughn is out with a broken wrist at least until the end of this month.
Last season in Lawrence, the Bruins had Kansas down 19 points in the first half before the Jayhawks rallied behind Vaughn’s career-high 22 points for an 85-70 victory.
This time, LaFrentz and Jerod Haase teamed to carry Kansas, whose depth allowed Kansas coach Roy Williams to substitute at will. LaFrentz scored seven of the Jayhawks’ first 14 points in the second half as they stayed ahead by 20.
“You can’t be discouraged,” said Charles O’Bannon, who led the Bruins with 20 points. “You just have to look at the positives, but there weren’t many.”
Jelani McCoy had 15 points for UCLA, which shot 55 percent to snap Kansas’ string of holding 19 consecutive opponents under 50 percent.
UCLA was outrebounded 39-28.
(2) Wake Forest 53, NC State 45
At Raleigh, N.C., Tony Rutland led Wake Forest’s otherwise weak offensive showing, hitting two key 3-pointers down the stretch as the Demon Deacons escaped with a victory over the Wolfpack.
Wake Forest (6-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), with its highest ranking in school history, was in danger of being upset by pesky N.C. State (5-1, 0-1) before wearing down the foul-troubled Wolfpack over the final 10 minutes.
(15) Arizona 69, (3) Utah 61
At Anaheim, Calif., although outsized, the Wildcats dominated the Utes over the final 10 minutes. One of the heroes had a simple explanation.
“I think it was defensive intensity,” Jason Terry said. “Team quickness and conditioning caught up with them in the end.”
Terry scored six of his career-high 19 points in a 16-second span to put Arizona (3-1) ahead for good as the Wildcats rallied for the victory over the Utes (4-1) in the John Wooden Classic.
Terry, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, made a 3-pointer with 5:35 remaining to snap a 55-all tie and give the Wildcats their first lead of the game.
(5) Villanova 82, St. John’s 70
At New York, Alvin Williams scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half when Jason Lawson scored all of his 11 as the Wildcats beat the Red Storm.
The Wildcats (5-0, 2-0 Big East) were finally able to take control in the second half with Williams hitting from the outside, Lawson dominating inside and some solid defense that held the Red Storm (2-2, 1-1) without a field goal for a stretch of 5:45.
(6) Kentucky 99, (8) Indiana 65
At Louisville, Ky., Derek Anderson scored 30 points and the Wildcats used their pressing defense to overwhelm the Hoosiers from the opening tipoff.
It was the second-worst loss in the 26 seasons that Bob Knight has coached the Hoosiers. His worst came in 1994, when Minnesota beat Indiana 106-56.
Kentucky (5-1) forced Indiana (6-1) into a season-high 28 turnovers, 19 coming in the first half when the Wildcats ran out to a 30-point lead over their rattled border rival.
(11) New Mexico 86, NMSU 72
At Las Cruces, N.M., Charles Smith shook off an early shooting slump to score 22 points and the visiting Lobos connected on 12 3-pointers to beat New Mexico State. New Mexico (6-1) put up 31 shots - half of all its attempts - from behind the arc in dissecting the Aggies’ (3-2) matchup zone defense.
(12) Clemson 62, (25) Virginia 52
At Charlottesville, Va., Greg Buckner scored 13 points in the second half and the Tigers (6-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) held the Cavaliers (4-2, 0-1) to 18 points over the final 20 minutes for the victory.
Buckner finished with 15 points and Terrell McIntyre added 20 for Clemson.
Oregon 87, (13) Fresno St. 75
At Eugene, Ore., Jamal Lawrence broke out of an early season shooting slump with 23 points, including five 3-pointers, and Kenya Wilkins added 21 points and six assists as the Ducks handed the Bulldogs their first loss. Oregon, off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1977-78, took the lead for good midway through the first half and built a 17-point lead early in the second half.
Fresno State (5-1), playing the first of 10 consecutive road games, cut the lead to five before Lawrence and Wilkins lifted the Ducks out of trouble.
(14) N. Carolina 86, S. Carolina 75
At Charlotte, N.C., Vince Carter helped North Carolina (5-1) open the second half with a 15-2 run that sent the Tar Heels to a victory over the Gamecocks (4-2) in the championship of the Harris Teeter-Pepsi Challenge tournament.
(18) Texas 71, North Texas 56
At Austin, Texas, Reggie Freeman scored 22 points to lead the Longhorns past North Texas (3-4).
Texas (4-0) started the second half with a 21-4 run, including 16 straight points.
Miami 67, (19) Syracuse 63
At Miami, Tim James’ free throw with 50 seconds left broke a tie, and the Hurricanes rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat the Orangemen.
The Hurricanes improved to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big East. The Orangemen, who finished second in the NCAA Tournament last season, are 3-3 and 0-2.
UConn 61, (20) Boston College 54
At Storrs, Conn., freshman Richard Hamilton had 18 points and the Huskies outscored the Eagles 11-2 over the final 4 minutes for the victory.
Boston College (3-1, 1-1 Big East) had rallied midway through the second half behind senior Danya Abrams to grab a 52-50 lead. Hamilton then hit a 3-pointer to regain the lead and the Huskies (4-2, 1-1) held it the rest of the way.
St. Joseph’s 67, (21) Tulsa 64
At Atlantic City, N.J., reserve guard Terrell Myers nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with one-tenth of a second remaining to lift the Hawks (2-1) to a victory over the Golden Hurricane (4-3).
Myers scored seven of his 23 points in the final minute.
(22) Arkansas 80, Missouri 76
At Columbia, Mo., Pat Bradley scored 30 points, including two clutch free throws in the final minute, to lead the Razorbacks to a victory over the Tigers.
The Razorbacks (3-1) opened the second half with a 14-2 run, holding the Tigers (4-2) to only one field goal in the first 4 minutes after the break. The run gave Arkansas a 49-32 lead - the largest margin of the game.
(24) Stanford 81, Manhattan 59
At Sacramento, Calif., Pete Sauer had 19 points and Brevin Knight added 14 points, seven assists and six steals as the Cardinal used a huge edge at the foul line to defeat the Jaspers.
Stanford (3-1) was 30 of 35 on free throws while the Jaspers (2-1) took only nine foul shots and hit seven. The Cardinal used its height advantage to get the ball underneath, leading to the big discrepancy in fouls. Sauer scored 11 of Stanford’s first 14 points.