Unbeaten Umass Stopped By Gw

Top 25

If anyone was going to beat No. 1 Massachusetts this season, it figured to be George Washington.

The Colonials made it four straight victories over UMass on Saturday when Vaughn Jones scored 21 points to hand the Minutemen their first loss of the season, 86-76.

George Washington (18-5, 11-2 Atlantic 10) has won its last five games against Top 10 teams and two in a row at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Mass.; no other visitor has won there even once.

“It’s probably more amazing that we can’t play that way against everybody,” Colonials coach Mike Jarvis said of the enigmatic stat. “If we could, we’d be undefeated.”

The last unbeaten team in Division I, UMass (26-1, 14-1) lost its chance to become the first undefeated national champions since Indiana in 1976. Since 1979, only UNLV in 1991 was even able to make it as far as the NCAA Tournament without a loss.

The victory strengthens the Colonials’ case for an NCAA Tournament bid, which eluded them last year despite an 18-win season.

GW led by as much as 55-32 with 16:36 remaining before UMass began to whittle away at the margin. It was 71-53 with 5:12 left in the game when UMass scored eight consecutive points, getting a four-point play from Carmelo Travieso to cut the deficit to 10.

UMass reduced it to nine points at 73-64 with 2:36 left before Kwame Evans hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to make it a 12-point game. It was 84-76 after another 3-pointer by Travieso, but by then there were only 14 seconds to play.

(2) Kentucky 94, Florida 63

At Gainesville, Fla., Kentucky didn’t waste its long-awaited shot at No. 1 as Antoine Walker had 20 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Wildcats to a win over the Gators.

The Wildcats (24-1, 14-0 Southeastern Conference), No. 1 at the start of the season, were beaten 92-82 by UMass in the second game of the season. Since then, they have beaten every team but two - Indiana and Georgia - by at least 10 points. The Gators dropped to 10-14, 5-9.

(5) Kansas 77, Kansas St. 66

At Manhattan, Kan., Jacque Vaughn scored 20 points and seemed to stop every Kansas State rally with a timely 3-pointer as the Jayhawks beat the Wildcats (15-9, 6-6) to clinch the final Big Eight championship.

Kansas (23-2, 11-10) closed the Big Eight era by winning five of the last six titles. The Big Eight becomes the Big 12 next year with the addition of Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

(8) Utah 74, Air Force 50

At Air Force Academy, Colo., Keith Van Horn scored 23 points and the Utes used a second-half burst to beat the Falcons, clinching at least a share of its second straight Western Athletic Conference title.

The Utes (22-5, 14-3) shot just 39 percent in the first half in taking a 29-24 lead over the league’s last-place team (5-20, 1-15).

Virginia 67, (10) Wake Forest 49

At Charlottesville, Va., Chris Alexander had one of his best games in his last appearance at University Hall, frustrating Tim Duncan in helping the Cavaliers beat the Demon Deacons (18-5, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).

Alexander, the Cavaliers’ senior captain, was honored before and after the game. In between, he gave fans one last look at the tireless defense that marked his four years at Virginia. He held Duncan, his All-American counterpart, to 15 points on 6-for-20 shooting and blocked two shots. The Cavs improved to 12-13, 6-8.

(9) Texas Tech 75, Texas 75

At Austin, Texas, Tony Battie had 22 points and nine rebounds as the Red Raiders ended eight years of frustration at Texas (17-7, 10-3) with a win that clinched the final Southwest Conference regular-season title.

Tech (24-1, 13-0), a senior-laden team, extended several school records, including most wins in a season, consecutive wins (17) and consecutive road wins (11) in clinching its first outright league title since 1985.

(11) Georgetown 67, (20) BC 64

At Landover, Md., the Hoyas, their home invincibility under threat, rallied from an eight-point deficit by holding Boston College to two field goals over the final 8:15 in a lackluster win.

Allen Iverson led the Hoyas (23-5, 12-4 Big East) with 16 points, but was often frustrated by the Eagles’ halfcourt defense. Boston College (16-8, 9-7), which led 48-37 after a 14-6 run to start the second half, shot 44 percent while holding the Hoyas to 38 percent.

(15) Syracuse 77, Pittsburgh 60

At Syracuse, N.Y., J.B. Reafsnyder scored 12 of his career-high 18 points during a 20-6 second-half run as the Orangemen overcame poor shooting in the first half.

Syracuse (20-7, 10-6 Big East), rebounding from a stinging one-point loss at Seton Hall, defeated Pittsburgh for the 10th straight time, sending the Panthers (9-15, 4-12) to their seventh consecutive loss and 12th in their last 13 games.

Florida St. 84, (17) No. Carolina 80

At Chapel Hill, N.C., James Collins scored 27 points as the Seminoles all but ended the Tar Heels’ hopes of winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

The eighth-place Seminoles (13-11, 5-9) broke a nine-game losing streak against the Tar Heels (19-8, 9-5), who have uncharacteristically lost three of their last four ACC games at home.

Illinois 91, (18) Iowa 86

At Champaign, Ill., Richard Keene scored 25 points, including two free throws with 2.6 seconds left, as the Fighting Illini survived a white-knuckle comeback bid by the Hawkeyes.

More stunning than the victory was Illinois coach Lou Henson’s announcement afterward that he would retire after this season.

Iowa’s Andre Woolridge had a chance to tie the score at 89 with 4 seconds left, but his 3-point attempt bounced off the rim. Jess Settles then fouled Keene, who nailed the two free throws to seal the upset for the Illini (17-9, 6-8 Big Ten). Iowa fell to 19-7, 8-6.

(22) Iowa St. 78, Missouri 74

At Columbia, Mo., Dedric Willoughby scored 25 points and ignited a second-half rally with four 3-pointers in less than 4 minutes as the Cyclones beat the Tigers.

Iowa State (19-7, 8-4 Big Eight) swept Missouri in the regular season for the first time since 1978 and won for the first time in Columbia since 1985.

Missouri (16-11, 6-6) had been 13-0 at home this season and had won 14 straight there since a 78-75 loss to Nebraska on Feb. 22, 1995.

(25) Wis.-GB 73, Butler 66 (OT)

At Green Bay, Wis., Ben Berlowski scored six of his 23 points in the closing seconds of overtime as the Phoenix defeated the Bulldogs for their 22nd straight win.

The winning streak is the secondlongest in the nation, behind No. 2 Kentucky, which has won 23 straight.

Green Bay (24-2, 16-0 Midwestern Collegiate Conference) will be the top seed in next weekend’s league tournament. Butler (19-7, 12-4) is No. 2.

Berlowski was one of four seniors who made up the Phoenix’s own version of the “Fab Four,” undersized overachievers who played all 118 games in their college careers.