Umass, Camby Don’t Miss A Beat

Top 25

It’s still hard to find anything wrong with Marcus Camby. His teammates also are doing quite well.

Thirteen days after his unexplained collapse, Camby returned Saturday to a top-ranked Massachusetts team that’s better than the one he left and led them to a 72-47 victory over St. Bonaventure in Amherst, Mass.

He ran hard, leaped high and endured contact with a smile as he got 19 points and seven rebounds and tied a school record with nine blocks in 26 minutes.

“The crowd was going crazy. I had a lot of blocks,” Camby said. “It’s a great day for me.”

Camby reached 1,003 career points in the game.

It also wasn’t a bad day for Massachusetts’ Donta Bright, who stretched his school record streak to 39 straight successful free throws, and Edgar Padilla, whose nine assists pushed him to 304 for his career. Each scored 15 points.

Massachusetts (18-0, 6-0 Atlantic 10) remained the only major unbeaten team, while St. Bonaventure (5-11, 1-6) suffered its fifth straight loss and 16th in a row to the Minutemen.

(2) Kentucky 89, S. Carolina 57

At Lexington, Ky., Walter McCarty scored seven points during a devastating 30-2 run that powered the Wildcats to a win over the Gamecocks.

It was the 16th consecutive victory for Kentucky (17-1, 7-0 SEC) and the 300th career win for coach Rick Pitino. South Carolina (11-5, 5-3), which had won five of six games since losing 89-60 to Kentucky on Jan. 3, appeared poised for an upset after slicing a 42-34 halftime deficit to 46-45 on Bud Johnson’s rebound basket with 17:30 to go.

Then Kentucky caught fire.

Mark Pope hit a 15-footer and, following South Carolina turnovers, McCarty scored on an alley-oop dunk and Derek Anderson connected on a 3 from the top of the key for a 53-45 lead at 16:19.

St. John’s 83, (6) Georgetown 71

At New York, Felipe Lopez scored 25 points and Zendon Hamilton added 20 as the Red Storm (8-8, 2-6 Big East) took advantage of a horrible second half by the Hoyas, ending a three-game losing streak.

The Red Storm maintained a double-figure lead from the 7:04 mark until there were 30 seconds to play as they withstood another outstanding performance by Allen Iverson at Madison Square Garden.

The sophomore guard finished with 39 points and has averaged 31.3 in his six games there. The 39 points were one off his career high. The Hoyas dropped to 17-3, 7-2.

(7) Villanova 90, Miami 62

At Villanova, Pa., Kerry Kittles opened the second-half with consecutive 3-pointers as the Wildcats survived a late first-half rally by the Hurricanes.

Kittles finished with 25 points as the Wildcats (16-3, 7-2 Big East) won their third straight and fourth in the last five. Miami, 1-9 overall against Villanova, dropped to 10-7, 4-5.

(8) Virginia Tech 81, Fordham 57

At Blacksburg, Va., Shawn Good, playing despite a separated shoulder, sparked the Hokies to a win.

Good scored nine points, grabbed six rebounds and had a game-high six assists.

Shawn Smith led the Hokies (13-2, 6-1 Atlantic 10) with 12 points. Damon Watlington added 11.

The Rams (2-14, 0-7) shot only 41.7 percent (20 of 48) and were outrebounded 36-24.

(11) UNC 65, (9) Wake Forest 59

At Chapel Hill, N.C., Jeff McInnis’ steal and shot in the lane with 1:09 left helped cap one of the Tar Heels’ greatest comebacks.

North Carolina (15-4, 6-1 ACC) trailed by 18 points with 17:23 left after shooting a season-low 27 percent in the first half. The Tar Heels went on a 26-10 run to get back into the game, and then made all the key plays down the stretch to knock the Demon Deacons (13-3, 5-2) out of a tie for first place in the league.

The Tar Heels’ best comeback ever was also against Wake Forest on Feb. 8, 1992, rallying from 20 points down with 14:49 left to win by two.

(10) Utah 82, New Mexico 64

At Albuquerque, N.M., Keith Van Horn scored 25 points and the Utes mixture of offensive proficiency and defensive pressure paced Utah to a win over the Lobos.

Western Athletic Conference leader Utah (16-3, 8-1 WAC) won its seventh straight, taking control with a 24-8 run in the first half.

The Lobos (16-3, 6-3) had an 11-game homecourt winning streak snapped and for the second time in less than a year were overmatched against the Utes. Utah beat the Lobos 86-50 in last year’s WAC tournament.

(12) Memphis 81, So. Miss. 68

At Hattiesburg, Miss., Cedric Henderson had another big game against Southern Mississippi, scoring 26 points as the Tigers beat the Golden Eagles.

Henderson scored nine of his points as Memphis (14-3, 5-1 Conference USA) took the lead for good with a 14-2 run. His 3-pointer with 12:16 left gave the Tigers a 57-48 lead and ended the 5-minute spurt.

Southern Miss (8-8, 2-4) was within 73-68 when Damien Smith hit a 3-pointer with 1:38 left. But the Golden Eagles didn’t score again.

(14) Penn St. 82, Indiana 68

At State College, Pa., Pete Lisicky controlled the game with his outside shooting, scoring 23 points as the Nittany Lions remained atop the Big Ten race with a win over the Hoosiers.

Lisicky made all five of his 3-point attempts in the second half, and Dan Earl dominated a run that turned a seven-point lead by the Nittany Lions (11-1, 6-1) into an easy victory.

Brian Evans led Indiana (11-8, 4-3) with 21 points.

(17) Syracuse 88, (20) BC 73

At Syracuse, N.Y., led by Todd Burgan’s career-high 23 points, the Orangemen ended a three-game skid, taking their frustration out on the Eagles.

The Orangemen (14-5, 5-4 Big East) scored 10 of the game’s first 11 points and eventually pushed the lead to 24 points while holding Boston College (12-4, 5-3) to 9-of-28 shooting in the first half.

The Eagles, who had won three in a row and eight of nine, rallied in the second half behind Danya Abrams, who scored 19 of his 26 points after intermission.

N.C. State 64, (18) Clemson 61

At Clemson, S.C., Todd Fuller had 20 points, including the Wolfpack’s last six, and North Carolina State finally won a close Atlantic Coast Conference game.

North Carolina State (12-8, 2-5) had lost its previous three league games by a total of nine points and, with Clemson leading 55-52 with 7 minutes left, a similar fate seemed possible.

But Fuller, who scored the Pack’s first 10 points and then four in the next 25 minutes, hit six consecutive foul shots.

Clemson (12-4, 3-4) missed five of its final six shots, including 3-point tries by Tony Christie and Greg Buckner in the final 10 seconds.

Terrell McIntyre led the Tigers with 19 points, but missed his final four shots, all with North Carolina State ahead 62-59.

(19) Purdue 70, Ohio St. 53

At West Lafayette, Ind., Roy Hairston scored 20 points and the Boilermakers beat the Buckeyes to end a two-game losing streak in the Big Ten, their longest in three years.

Herb Dove had 10 points for Purdue (15-4, 5-2). Rick Yudt led the Buckeyes (8-8, 1-6) with 15 points.

After freshman Luther Clay scored the final four points of the first half to give Purdue a 36-25 lead, the Boilermakers ran off the first five points in the second half and took a 41-25 lead.