Hoosiers shoot way past Charlotte, 71-54

Marco Killingsworth had 17 points and Robert Vaden and Marshall Strickland each made four of Indiana’s 13 3-pointers as the 18th-ranked Hoosiers pulled away from Charlotte for a 71-54 victory Monday night at Charlotte, N.C.

Vaden finished with 14 points and Strickland added 12 as Indiana (6-2) showed little rustiness from a nine-day layoff for exams. D.J. White saw his first action of the season after sitting out the first seven games with a broken left foot, and he contributed eight points and five rebounds.

The Hoosiers lost a heartbreaker in this series last season, when Brendan Plavich made a heave from halfcourt just before the buzzer to give the 49ers a one-point victory.

The 49ers’ fans wasted little time reminding their guests of that, with a sign in the student section reading, “All I need 4 X-Mas is 0.7 seconds” – the amount of time Plavich had to get off his shot.

The Hoosiers were 13 of 23 on 3-point field goals for the game, leaving Charlotte (5-5) with few options on defense. Cover the perimeter and leave Killingsworth alone in the paint, or double-team down low and allow open perimeter shots?

Stanford 71, Denver 49: At Stanford, Calif., Matt Haryasz had 24 points and 13 rebounds and the Cardinal (3-4) ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Pioneers (5-4).

Arizona 87, Sam Houston St. 51: At Tucson, Ariz., out of the regular-season national rankings for the first time in 18 years, the Wildcats (6-3) routed the Bearkats (6-3) in the first round of the Fiesta Bowl Classic.

Women

(2) Duke 110, Ball St. 24: At Durham, N.C., Allison Bales and Monique Currie each scored 18 points to lead the Blue Devils (8-0) to the largest margin of victory in school history, with a rout of the Cardinals (6-3). … (8) Connecticut 81, Holy Cross 54: At Hartford, Conn., Mel Thomas tied her career-high with 23 points and Barbara Turner had 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies (8-1) to a win over the Crusaders (3-6). … (12) Arizona St. 78, Texas-San Antonio 64: At Tempe, Ariz., Emily Westerberg (Central Valley HS) had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Sun Devils (9-1) to a victory over the Road-runners (5-4). … (25) Temple 69, (15) Georgia 66 (OT): At Philadelphia, Jennifer Owens hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left in overtime to lead the Owls (7-2) to a victory over the Lady Bulldogs (7-3). … (21) Purdue 70, Centenary 48: At Starkville, Miss., Erin Lawless scored 16 of her 18 points in the first half to help the Boilermakers (7-2) beat the Ladies (1-8).