Knight Praises Mohammed As Kentucky Drops Indiana

Top 25

Nazr Mohammed won another game for Kentucky and won another admirer in Indiana coach Bob Knight.

The 6-foot-10 center came off the bench and scored 21 points Saturday, his second straight game with a career high, as the seventh-ranked Wildcats survived a late Indiana comeback and defeated the Hoosiers 75-72 in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

“These guys have done an incredible job with Mohammed. That’s as good a job that I’ve ever seen done to a kid,” Knight said of the junior, who also had 12 rebounds and two steals. “He can play. They have done a fantastic job with that kid.”

Jeff Sheppard also had 21 points for Kentucky, which won its fourth straight game against the Hoosiers. It was the Wildcats’ first game in the RCA Dome since they lost the NCAA championship to Arizona in overtime last spring. They also lost to Clemson in the Dome in the Black Coaches Association Classic at the beginning of last season.

The Wildcats (6-1) lost almost all of an 11-point second-half lead against the Hoosiers (3-3), who had a chance to tie after Wayne Turner missed the second of two free throws with 6 seconds to go. But A.J. Guyton, who led the Indiana rally with 14 of his 19 points in the second half, missed a 3-pointer just ahead of the final buzzer.

(1) Duke 103, Virginia 59

At Durham, N.C., Trajan Langdon scored 22 points and Duke turned 28 Virginia turnovers into 34 points in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

William Avery added 15 points and Mike Chappell had 11 for Duke (8-0), which is 69-7 as a top-ranked team under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Norman Nolan led Virginia (4-2) with 19 points. Curtis Staples had 16.

The 44-point margin was the most lopsided in the series since a 136-72 Duke win in 1965.

The Blue Devils won three games this week by an average of 53 points, with a 98-40 victory over South Carolina State and a 93-37 win over North Carolina-Greensboro.

(3) N. Carolina 78, Va. Tech 57

At Charlotte, N.C., Vince Carter and Shammond Williams made up for a rare poor shooting game by Antawn Jamison and powered the Tar Heels (9-0) past the Hokies (3-2).

Carter had 16 of his 21 points in the second half and Williams had 12 of his 16 in the first as North Carolina (9-0) matched the start of the 1994-95 Tar Heels, who made it to the Final Four.

Jamison, a career 58-percent shooter who came in averaging a team-leading 22 points, missed all six of his field-goal attempts in the first half. He wound up with 19 points on 5-for-13 shooting.

(5) So. Carol. 67, Chattanooga 55

At Charlotte, N.C., Ryan Stack had 16 points and BJ McKie added 15 as the Gamecocks (5-0) held the Mocs (4-3) to 28 percent shooting.

South Carolina is off to its best start in five seasons under coach Eddie Fogler.

(6) Purdue 87, Louisville 69

At Louisville, Ky., Brad Miller scored 12 of his 27 points during a 27-5 run and the Boilermakers (6-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with their victory over the Cardinals (2-3).

Gene Keady became Purdue’s winningest coach, passing Ward Lambert’s 371 victories. In his 20th season, Keady’s record is 372-162.

Purdue was coming off losses to No. 3 North Carolina and No. 7 Kentucky.

(9) Xavier 93, W. Kentucky 60

At Bowling Green, Ky., T.J. Johnson and Darnell Williams scored six points each during a 23-0 run that broke the game open early as the Musketeers (5-0) routed the Hilltoppers (2-2).

(11) Utah 62, (24) Wake Forest 53

At Winston-Salem, N.C., the Utes (7-0) matched their best start in 17 seasons and ended the Demon Deacons’ (6-1) 23-game non-conference homecourt winning streak in the process.

Utah, which outrebounded Wake Forest 43-31, also used the clutch play of guard Andre Miller, who scored nine of his 20 points over the final 5 minutes, 36 seconds.

Ball St. 70, (14) Mississippi 66

At Muncie, Ind., Bonzi Wells scored 34 points as the Cardinals (5-1) upset the Rebels (4-1) in the championship game of the Cardinal Varsity Classic.

(17) Clemson 71, Furman 62

At Clemson, S.C., Terrell McIntyre had 19 points and Tom Wideman added a career-high 17 as the Tigers (5-2) sweated out their 22nd consecutive victory over the Palladins (1-6).

The Tigers, with McIntyre scoring eight consecutive points, turned a 22-14 deficit into a 15-point lead.

Furman got within 68-62 on Bubba Smith’s layup with 29 seconds left, but Clemson made three foul shots to put the game away.

(18) Arkansas 75, Missouri 46

At Fayetteville, Ark., the Tigers (2-4) missed 12 of their first 15 shots and committed nine turnovers over the first 7 minutes. The Razorbacks (6-0), meanwhile, shot 9 of 19 in the first 12 minutes while building a 22-7 lead.

Arkansas led 37-13 at halftime. During the first 20 minutes of its 14th straight loss on the road, Missouri was 6 of 28 from the field and committed 18 turnovers.

(19) Florida St. 74, Jacksonville 44

At Tallahassee, Fla., the Seminoles (6-1) held the Dolphins (1-4) without a field goal for the opening 8:11 while taking a 21-2 lead.

The Seminoles built their lead to 41-10 at halftime, the fewest points ever allowed by Florida State in a half.

(20) Temple 59, Wisconsin 49

At Madison, Wis., Rasheed Brokenborough scored five of his 24 points in the final minute and the Owls (4-1), who led by as many as 22 points in the second half, defeated the Badgers (3-4).

It was Temple’s third win this season over a Big Ten Conference team. The Owls, who play in the Atlantic 10, also have beaten Indiana and Michigan State.

(22) Ga. Tech 84, Delaware St. 63

At Atlanta, freshman Dion Glover had 28 points and eight rebounds and the Yellow Jackets (5-1), playing without injured Matt Harpring, routed the Hornets (2-3).

Floyd started in place of Harpring, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s scoring and rebounding leader who saw his consecutive game streak end at 90 because of a sprained ankle.

(25) Princeton 73, Lafayette 48

At Princeton, N.J., Brian Earl scored all 19 of his points in the first half and keyed an early spurt that led the Tigers (6-0) over the Leopards (4-3).

The start is the best for Princeton since it went 7-0 to begin the 1990-91 season and it’s the second-best start since the Tigers’ 8-0 mark in 1966-67. Princeton’s best start was nine straight wins to open the 1914-15 and 1918-19 seasons.