Spartans Trip Boilermakers
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Mateen Cleaves scored 25 points to lead Michigan State to a 74-57 victory over No. 5 Purdue on Tuesday in the Big Ten opener for both teams at West Lafayette, Ind.
The Spartans (8-3) used a 13-2 run - with Cleaves and Charlie Bell scoring five points each - to take a 14-point lead with 3:07 left in the first half. The Boilermakers (11-3) pulled within 49-38 on a 3-pointer by Alan Eldridge midway through the second half, but Michigan State went on an 8-2 run to put the game out of reach. Andre Hutson scored six of his 13 points in that run.
“Our plan was to keep the ball out of Cleaves’ hands and keep Antonio Smith off the boards (15 rebounds), and we didn’t do either of those things,” Purdue coach Gene Keady said.
Cleaves was 9 of 18 from the field and 6 for 9 from the free throw line while adding eight assists.
“He had the best game of his career,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said of the sophomore guard.
(3) Duke 89, Portland St. 39
At Durham, N.C., Chris Burgess scored 14 points in his first collegiate start as the Blue Devils (11-1) defeated the Vikings (5-5) in Duke’s first game without injured Elton Brand.
Portland State is in only its second year as a Division I school after a 15-year hiatus for the basketball program.
(6) Kentucky 95, Ohio 58
Nazr Mohammed scored 15 points and Scott Padgett added 13 as the Wildcats (11-2) beat the Bobcats (2-8) in Athens, Ohio.
(10) Connecticut 90, Fairfield 63
At Hartford, Conn., Richard Hamilton opened the game with a personal 9-0 run and finished with a career-high 35 points, leading the Huskies (12-1) over the Stags (5-3) for coach Jim Calhoun’s 500th victory.
(11) South Carolina 65, Towson 55
At Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks (8-1) saw life without injured star point guard Melvin Watson and it wasn’t pretty, needing BJ McKie’s 18 points and a late second-half run to beat the Tigers (2-8).
(12) New Mexico 69, Yale 44
At Albuquerque, N.M., the Lobos (9-1) opened the game with an 18-2 run then were ontent to trade bad shots and sloppy play with outmanned Bulldogs (3-7) in the championship game of the Lobo Invitational.
New Mexico ran its homecourt winning streak to 34 straight games - second longest in the nation.
(13) Xavier 93, Butler 66
Darnell Williams scored 21 points to lead the Musketeers (8-2) to victory, snapping the Bulldogs’ (9-4) five-game winning streak.
(16) Miss. 99, NW Louisiana 52
At Oxford, Miss., - Ansu Sesay scored all 19 of his points in the first half and the Rebels (9-1) went on to a easy victory over the Demons (3-7).
(19) Syracuse-Pittsburgh. ppd.
The Big East game between visiting Pittsburgh and Syracuse was postponed after a storm dumped more than 1-1/2 feet of snow in the area.
Missouri 83, (20) Maryland 79
At Columbia, Mo., Brian Grawer scored 15 points to lead five Tigers (7-4) players in double figures as they beat the Terrapins (7-4).
(21) Clemson 71, W. Kentucky 52
At Bowling Green, Ky., Johnny Miller sparked the Tigers (10-3) to their fifth consecutive victory, scoring five points in an early 9-0 run that helped beat the Hilltoppers (3-6).
(24) Rhode Island 96, Penn 89
At San Jose, Calif., Preston Murphy and Antonio Reynolds-Dean scored 21 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the Rams (7-2) to victory over the Quakers (3-6) in the third-place game of the Cable Car Classic.