Kansas Holds Off Virginia

College basketball

Kansas went without a basket the final 3:25 of the game, but Jerod Haase, Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce hit clutch free throws and the No. 2 Jayhawks held off No. 15 Virginia for a 72-66 victory in the Great Eight basketball festival Wednesday night at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Cavaliers (2-1) trailed by as many as 19 early in the second half. But they came back behind the shooting of Harold Deane, who scored 20 of his 23 points in the second half.

Deane’s free throw narrowed the gap to 65-64 with 1:52 remaining, but Haase scored two of his 10 points on free throws with 1:23 left and LaFrentz, who finished with 18 points, gave Kansas (2-0) a 69-64 lead with two free throws with 46 seconds showing.

Jamal Robinson’s basket drew Virginia within three points with 39 seconds left and it appeared that Robinson’s dunk had made it a one-point game with 16 seconds remaining. But Deane was called for charging while making the pass that put the ball in Robinson’s hands.

(3) Villanova 70, Bradley 63

In Villanova, Pa., Kerry Kittles scored 22 points as the Wildcats (4-0) survived a scare in a game marred by a fight.

Kittles, scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the first half, and Eric Eberz combined to score 10 of the Wildcats’ last 12 points as Bradley (0-2) managed only one basket after taking a 61-60 lead with 1:56 left to play in Villanova, Pa.

A fight near the end of the first half led to the ejection of three players - Bradley’s Ben Coupet and Villanova’s Jason Lawson and Chuck Kornegay. All three face one-game suspensions.

The fight occured with 1:06 left in the first half and Bradley leading 26-24.

(9) UConn 86, Northeastern 39 In Hartford, Conn., Ray Allen scored 13 points and Kirk King and Rashamel Jones each added 11 as the Huskies (3-1) opened at home with an easy victory over Northeastern (0-2).

(24) Michigan 80, Ball St. 52 In Muncie, Ind., Louis Bullock hit all three of his 3-point attempts and scored 14 points to lead five players in double figures as the Wolverines (4-2) pulverized the Cardinals (0-1).

(14) Utah 70, Texas 69 In Austin, Texas, Ben Caton took an inbounds pass under the basket from Terry Preston and hit a layup with 2.5 seconds left, capping a furious second-half comeback that carried the Utes (1-1) - without two suspended starters - over the Longhorns (1-1).

(6) Georgetown 96, Southern 65 In Landover, Md., the Hoyas (4-1) handled the Knights (6-1) despite shooting poorly, turning the ball over frequently and standing around lethargically on defense for most of the game.

Allen Iverson had 25 points, eight assists, seven steals, seven rebounds and eight turnovers for Georgetown.

(12) Duke 71, N.C.-Greensboro 57 In Durham, N.C., Greg Newton’s career-high 22 points capped coach Mike Krzyzewski’s regular-season return to his home bench as the Blue Devils (4-0) stopped the Spartans (0-2).

(10) W.Forest 69, Oklahoma St. 53 In Auburn Hills, Mich., Tim Duncan had 22 points and 17 rebounds as the Demon Deacons (2-0) ripped the Cowboys (1-1) at the Great Eight basketball festival.

(21) Cincinnati 101, Wyoming 51 In Cincinnati, Danny Fortson scored 26 points and had 12 rebounds as the Bearcats opened their season with a rout of the Cowboys (2-1).

West Coast Conference

San Diego 82, Pomona-Pitzer 63 In San Diego, reserve Andre Speech scored 20 points to lead the Toreros (2-1) over over the Sagehens (2-2).

Big Sky Conference

N. Arizona 83, Cal Poly-SLO 71 In Flagstaff, Ariz., Mike Chapman scored 16 points as the Lumberjacks (1-1) beat the Mustangs.