Gophers Chase Down Title

Top 25 men

Revenge was sweet but exhausting for second-ranked Minnesota.

The Gophers avenged their only Big Ten loss of the season and clinched a tie for the league title Saturday with a hard-fought 67-66 victory over No. 23 Illinois at Minneapolis.

“We don’t want a share of the title, we want the whole thing,” said John Thomas, who sank two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to rescue the Gophers, who trailed for most of the game.

“To win it outright has been our goal the entire year,” Thomas said. “We’re not going to stop until we get it.”

Thomas, a senior center who had been shooting only 59 percent from the line this season, was fouled by Chris Gandy and sank both shots for Minnesota (24-2, 13-1).

“I wasn’t nervous,” said Thomas, who was 6 of 9 from the line. “I knew I had to make the first one, and I didn’t want it to go into overtime. I wanted to end it. Everyone was pulling for me.”

Kiwane Garris led all scorers with 23 points for Illinois (18-8, 9-6).

Bobby Jackson scored 18 points for Minnesota, which can win the Big Ten title outright for the first time since 1982 by beating Michigan on Wednesday.

Minnesota tied the school record for most victories in a season, set by the 1976-77 team that featured Mychal Thompson, Kevin McHale and Ray Williams.

The Gophers have won 19 of their last 20 games, with the loss coming at Illinois 96-90 on Jan. 14. Their only other defeat this season was at Alabama in early December.

(1) Kansas 78, Kansas St 58

At Lawrence, Kan., Raef LaFrentz took charge as the Jayhawks went on one of their vaunted scoring runs at the start of the second half to turn back the Wildcats and win the first Big 12 regular-season championship.

On an emotional Seniors Day, Kansas (27-1, 13-1 Big 12) completed its third consecutive undefeated season in Allen Fieldhouse and extended its home winning streak to 44 games.

Kansas State (9-15, 2-12) has lost 10 straight in the series.

(3) Kentucky 82, Vanderbilt 79

At Nashville, Tenn., Ron Mercer scored 17 of his 23 points in an 8-1/2-minute span of the second half and the Wildcats edged the Commodores despite a 22-point deficit in the first half.

Kentucky (26-3, 12-2 SEC) pulled within 10 points at halftime on Wayne Turner’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

A 3-pointer by Pax Whitehead, who led Vanderbilt (19-9, 8-6) with 27 points, gave the Commodores a 53-41 lead with 18 minutes left before Kentucky began inching back.

(4) Wake Forest 66, Virginia 60

At Charlottesville, Va., Tim Duncan had 21 points, 23 rebounds and became the ACC’s career shot-blocking leader the Demon Deacons ended their two-game losing streak.

Wake Forest (21-4, 10-4 ACC) won despite two turnovers by Tony Rutland in the final minute that gave the Cavaliers a chance to tie. Rutland atoned by sinking two free throws to seal the victory.

Virginia (16-11, 6-9) lost for the fifth time in six games.

Duncan’s first of three blocks broke a tie for the ACC career lead with Virginia’s Ralph Sampson, who had 465.

(5) Utah 56, Tulsa 54

At Tulsa, Okla., Andre Miller hit a long jumper with .4 seconds on the clock as the Utes (20-3, 12-1 WAC) defeated the Golden Hurricane (20-8, 10-4).

In a matchup of All-America candidates, Utah’s Keith Van Horn was held to 10 points and Tulsa’s Shea Seals 13.

Nebraska 74, (7) Iowa St. 69 (OT)

At Ames, Iowa, Nebraska’s Tyronn Lue frustrated the Cyclones (18-6, 9-5 Big 12) with his quickness and clutch shooting, scoring 21 of his 30 points after halftime

Down by five points with a little more than a minute to play in regulation, Nebraska (15-12, 6-8) sent the game into overtime on Bernard Garner’s 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, then scored on five of its six possessions in the extra session.

(9) South Carolina 69, Tennessee 58

At Knoxville, Tenn., Larry Davis led South Carolina with 19 points as the Gamecocks (21-6, 13-1 SEC) defeated the Volunteers (11-13, 4-10) for their third victory in five days.

(10) New Mexico 89, Hawaii 69

At Albuquerque, N.M., Charles Smith scored a career-high 37 points and Kenny Thomas had 20 in the second half as the Lobos (21-5, 10-4 WAC) rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to defeat the Rainbows (19-5, 11-3).

(11) Cincinnati 83, DePaul 54

D’Juan Baker scored a career-high 19 points as the Bearcats 22-5, 10-1 Conference USA) got 45 points from their bench to defeat the Blue Demons (3-21, 1-12) at Chicago.

(12) N. Carolina 93, (14) Maryland 81

Antawn Jamison scored 29 points and Serge Zwikker a career-high 24 as the Tar Heels continued their climb up the ACC standings by defeating the Terrapins at College Park, Md.

Jamison and the 7-foot-3 Zwikker dominated the inside in leading the Tar Heels (19-6, 9-5) to their seventh consecutive victory. After starting 0-3 in the conference, North Carolina is tied for third with Maryland (20-7, 9-5), which was led by Keith Booth’s 20 points.

(15) Louisville 75, Southern Miss 72 (OT)

At Hattiesburg, Miss., Alvin Sims’ basket sent the game to overtime, and his two free throws put the Cardinals (21-6, 8-4 Conference USA) ahead of the Golden Eagles (12-12, 6-6).

The Cardinals have gone into overtime a school-record six times this season, winning five of them.

The Division I record for overtime wins in a season is six.

(16) Xavier 79, La Salle 67

At Cincinnati, Gary Lumpkin scored a career-high 28 points, 22 in the first half, and the Musketeers (20-4, 11-3 Atlantic 10) coasted to victory over the Explorers (9-15, 4-10).

(22) College of Charleston 94, Centenary 73

At Charleston, S.C., Thaddeous Delaney had 30 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Cougars (25-2, 16-0 TAAC) over the Gentlemen (9-17, 6-10) and extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 19 games.

(21) Colorado 84, Missouri 75

At Boulder, Colo., Chauncey Billups scored 31 points and the Buffaloes (19-7, 10-4 Big 12) made 32 free throws in the second half to defeat the Tigers (13-14, 5-9).

(24) Indiana 64, Northwestern 49

At Bloomington, Ind., Indiana coach Bob Knight was ejected in the first half of his 699th career victory, and Richard Mandeville scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Hoosiers (21-8, 8-7 Big Ten) defeated the Wildcats (7-19, 2-13).

Knight picked up two technicals while arguing that Northwestern center Evan Eschmeyer was holding Haris Mujezinovic inside the key. The ejection occurred one day short of the 12th anniversary of Knight throwing a chair across the court against Purdue.