No. 1 Umass Comes Back On La Salle

Massachusetts coach John Calipari doesn’t like to rely on fire and brimstone halftime speeches. And if he did, he would have run out of them long ago.

The top-ranked Minutemen survived another scare on Thursday night in Amherst, Mass., getting 26 points and a career-high 15 rebounds from Marcus Camby to rally from a 10-point second-half deficit and beat La Salle 70-53.

After the game, UMass (24-0, 12-0 Atlantic 10) boarded a bus to the airport for the charter flight to Blacksburg, Va., where it will play No. 10 Virginia Tech on Saturday in what may be the biggest remaining roadblock to a perfect season.

“I just told them ‘It’s going to be a long trip to Virginia if we lose. Figure out how you’re going to win,”’ Calipari said of his halftime sermon.

Donta Bright scored 19 and Dana Dingle had 10 points and 10 rebounds to protect the nation’s only unblemished record. Romaine Haywood scored 13 for La Salle (5-19, 2-9), which became the 10th team this season to tie or lead UMass at the half, only to lose.

(7) Utah 69, Hawaii 59

At Salt Lake City, Keith Van Horn scored 19 points and Brandon Jessie added 17 as the Utes hammered the Rainbows.

Jessie tallied 13 of his points in the second half. The 6-foot-4 senior forward hit a key 3-pointer in a 9-0 run that gave Utah (20-4, 12-2 Western Athletic Conference) a 58-42 lead with 6:05 remaining.

Hawaii (7-14, 4-9) had closed the Ute advantage to 49-42 after Anthony Harris converted a 3-point play with 9:25 left.

(11) Purdue 63, Ohio St. 55

At Columbus, Ohio, Porter Roberts had 14 points, including five of the last seven for Purdue, and the Boilermakers held off the Buckeyes.

Purdue (20-4) won its sixth in a row. It moved to 10-2 in Big Ten play to maintain a one-game lead over Penn State heading into their meeting Saturday in West Lafayette. Ohio State dropped to 9-12, 2-10.

(24) Louisville 67, N.C. Charlotte 64

At Charlotte, N.C., DeJuan Wheat scored Louisville’s final four points and finished with 18 as the Cardinals held on for a win over the fading 49ers.

Tick Rogers added 15 points and Alvin Sims 13 as the Cardinals (18-7, 9-2 Conference USA) won for the eighth time in nine games.

North Carolina Charlotte (11-12, 4-6) has dropped six of seven since losing starting center Alexander Kuehl to a fractured left foot.