Kansas Cruises Past St. Peter’s

Top 25

No matter how poorly Kansas is playing or what the score might be, there are certain things coach Roy Williams will not tolerate.

Just ask Jacque Vaughn. The star point guard picked up the first technical four of his college career 3-1/2 minutes into the game and sat out the rest of the first half of No. 4 Kansas’ 85-71 victory over St. Peter’s Monday night in Lawrence, Kan.

“I just decided I’d let Jacque sit there,” said Williams, who admitted the Jayhawks (13-1) suffered a nearly team-wide letdown against the Peacocks (9-4). “I said I don’t care what the score is, Jacque is sitting the rest of the half.”

As Vaughn and a sellout crowd watched, the Jayhawks played one of the sloppiest 10 minutes of their season, missing six of their first seven shots and 11 of their first 19 free throws before an 11-1 run gave them a solid 45-26 halftime lead.

Vaughn, Kansas’ most popular player, will probably own just about every assist record by the end of his college days next year. A few minutes before putting up an air ball and then getting the technical, he took a shot in the eye that seemed to set the tone for the rough, physical game.

(6) Wake Forest 71, Richmond 60

At Winston-Salem, N.C., the Deamon Deacons (11-1) blew an 18-point lead before Tony Rutland scored all 13 of his points in the last 9:30 to rally past the Spiders (4-9).

Wake Forest overcame a 24-2 Richmond run to win its eighth consecutive game. The Spiders got 16 points each from Adam Mobley and Eric Poole, but lost their sixth in a row.

(8) Georgetown 74, Notre Dame 69

At South Bend, Ind., Allen Iverson scored 26 points and the Hoyas (15-4, 5-1 Big East) overcame poor shooting to beat the Irish (5-8, 0-6).

The Hoyas shot just 39 percent and were outrebounded 43-34. But Georgetown turned the ball over 13 times, five less than the Irish, and had three more steals.

(11) Va. Tech 79, George Wash. 71

At Roanoke, Va., Ace Custis scored 18 points, including a key tip-in with 47 seconds left, and Travis Jackson tied his career high with 17 points as the Hokies (10-1, 3-0 Atlantic-10 Conference) beat the Colonials (8-4, 2-1). Virginia Tech took sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with its seventh consecutive victory.

(15) Utah 67, San Diego St. 59

At San Diego, Brandon Jessie tied his career high with 28 points as the Utes (12-3, 4-1 Western Athletic Conference) beat the Aztecs (8-5, 4-2). Coach Rick Majerus returned to the Utah sideline after missing Saturday’s 82-46 win at Hawaii with an inner-ear infection.