Kansas Passes Test In Ot Top 25

Raef LaFrentz scored 11 points in overtime and No. 1 Kansas beat Nebraska 82-77 Saturday at Lawrence, Kan., giving the undefeated Jayhawks their 22nd win of the season and the best start in the school’s 99 years.

Tied at 60-60, Nebraska (11-9, 3-5 Big 12) held the ball for the last shot in regulation. But Tyronne Lue missed a long 3-pointer.

LaFrentz then led Kansas (22-0, 8-0), playing without injured center Scot Pollard, to its 40th consecutive home win.

(2) Wake Forest 74, (5) Maryland 69

At College Park, Md., Tim Duncan scored 25 of his season-high 29 points in the second half, blocked a shot with less than 10 seconds to play, then made the clinching free throws as the Demon Deacons avenged their only loss of the season.

Wake Forest (18-1, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed 43-31 at halftime as Duncan had only four points on 1-of-4 shooting. The second half was totally different as the 6-foot-10 All-America went inside and took advantage of Maryland’s (17-4, 6-3) foul trouble. He finished 9 for 17 from the field and had 15 rebounds.

(3) Kentucky 82, Georgia 57

At Lexington, Ky., the Wildcats overcame the Bulldogs’ torrid early shooting with a 23-3 run to take control of the game and got 20 points from Ron Mercer.

Georgia (15-5, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) made its first seven shots in taking a 17-7 lead over the first 5-1/2 minutes. Then Kentucky (20-2, 8-1) turned up the defensive pressure in a run that produced a 10-point lead late in the half.

(6) Minnesota 75, Northwestern 56

At Evanston, Ill., John Thomas scored 17 points and the Golden Gophers started the second half with an 11-0 run as they pulled away and routed the Wildcats.

At 19-2, the Golden Gophers are one victory shy of tying the school record for the best start set in 1972-73 and 1976-77. Minnesota is 8-1 in the Big Ten and has beaten Northwestern (6-14, 1-8) 16 consecutive times.

(11) Iowa State 71, Texas A&M 57

At College Station, Texas, Kelvin Cato scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked five shots in the Cyclones’ win over the Aggies (8-10, 2-6 Big 12 Conference).

Kenny Pratt added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Cyclones (15-3, 6-2).

(13) New Mexico 87, (4) Utah 71

At Albuquerque, N.M., Charles Smith’s quickness and jump shooting produced 28 points - 18 of them in the decisive first half.

New Mexico (16-3, 5-2 Western Athletic Conference) extended the nation’s third longest homecourt winning streak to 22 games. Utah dropped to 15-3, 7-1.

Utah forward Keith Van Horn finished with 28 points and forward Michael Doleac had 22. The two scored 24 of the Utes’ 28 first-half points, as Utah fell behind 43-28.

NC State 58, (7) Clemson 54

At Raleigh, N.C., the Wolfpack (9-9, 1-8) broke their 15-game Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season losing streak in dramatic fashion, stunning the Tigers (17-4, 6-3) behind Jeremy Hyatt’s career-high 18 points.

Clemson, playing without leading scorer C.C. Harrison, became the 23rd school in NCAA history to win 1,300 games, doing it on its seventh try to give coach Herb Sendek his first ACC victory.

(8) Cincinnati 90, DePaul 53

At Cincinnati, All-America forward Danny Fortson and forward Ruben Patterson served one-game suspensions and sat at the end of the bench in team warmups as the Bearcats (15-4, 4-1 Conference USA) took an early lead and pulled away in the second half to their 12th consecutive victory over the Blue Demons (3-16, 1-7).

(14) Villanova 70, Syracuse 60

At Syracuse, N.Y., Tim Thomas scored 20 points and keyed a second-half rally as the Wildcats (16-5, 7-4) overcame a poor shooting performance and beat the Orangemen (13-8, 4-6).

(16) Michigan 85, Michigan St. 65

At Ann Arbor, Mich., Michigan’s Travis Conlan and Louis Bullock, both had big games as the Wolverines (16-5, 6-3 Big Ten) crushed the Spartans (11-7, 4-5).

Michigan’s Brandun Hughes was on the bench in a suit and tie, serving a one-game suspension for breaking an unspecified team rule.

(19) North Carolina 99, MTSU 49

At Chapel Hill, N.C., Shammond Williams scored 19 points and Serge Zwikker added 17 as the Tar Heels (13-6) easily defeated Middle Tennessee State (13-9).

(20) Xavier 87, UMass 84 (OT)

At Amherst, Mass., James Posey’s basket sent the game into overtime and his 3-pointer and two free throws in the extra period helped the Musketeers (15-3, 6-2) down the Minutemen (11-10, 5-3) in the Atlantic 10.

(21) Tulsa 96, Texas Christian 79

At Tulsa, Okla., Michael Ruffin had 16points and 21 rebounds as the Golden Hurricane overpowered the WAC’s highest-scoring team.

TCU (13-8, 2-6) led the WAC with an average of 86.3 points, but Tulsa (17-5, 7-1) limited the Horned Frogs to 39 percent shooting.

Oklahoma 83, (23) Texas 69

At Norman, Okla., Nate Erdmann scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half the Sooners held the Longhorns to a season-low 32 percent shooting. Erdmann went 10 for 10 from the foul line, where the Sooners (12-7, 4-4 Big 12) made 20 of 22 in the final 7:57 to offset making only one field goal during that time.

Texas (11-7, 5-3) lost its second straight game, both on the road.

Tulane 54, (24) Marquette 53

At Milwaukee, Jerald Honeycutt scored 17 points, including two crucial free throws with 24 seconds left as the Green Wave extended their winning streak to 11.

Tulane (16-5, 7-0 Conference USA) held the cold-shooting Eagles to just two field goals in the final 15:25, including Chris Crawford’s tip-in with two-tenths of a second left. The Eagles (14-4, 5-2) shot just 33 percent, including 23 percent in the second half.

(25) South Carolina 80, LSU 65

At Baton Rouge, La., Larry Davis scored 22 points, 15 in the second half, as the Gamecocks beat the Tigers (9-13, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) for their 10th consecutive victory.

It was the first game for South Carolina (15-5, 9-0) as a ranked team since Jan. 28, 1991, when it also was ranked No. 25.

Women’s Top 25

(14) LSU 84, (5) Alabama 74

At Baton Rouge, La., Pietra Gay scored 22 points as the Tigers (18-1, 6-1) upset the Crimson Tide (17-4, 5-2) to remain tied with Georgia atop the Southeastern Conference standings.

(10) Texas 68, (17) Clemson 53

At Boulder, Colo., double-figure runs keyed by Angela Jackson and Angie Jo Ogletree lifted the Longhorns (15-3) to a win over the Tigers (14-6) in the ACC-Big 12 Challenge.

The Longhorns forced 24 turnovers, and held Clemson to 38-percent shooting from the field.