Friars Top Texas For 4th In Row

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Providence coach Pete Gillen jokingly called his triangle-and-two defense “junk.” It was anything but that in holding Texas’ Reggie Freeman in check.

With point guard God Shammgod and several other players following his every move, the Longhorns guard made just 3 of 15 shots and scored seven points, 18 below his average, as Providence (9-3) defeated Texas (6-3) 74-66 Tuesday night at Providence, R.I.

“It was a tall order for Shamm,” Gillen said. “He’s got to guard an All-American and still run the team and handle their pressure defense. We asked him to be Superman and tonight he was.”

Shammgod, who scored eight points and dished out seven assists, said he was ready for the challenge of playing against Freeman, a fellow New Yorker.

“I told Coach I wanted to guard Reggie and I thought I was the best defensive player on the team,” he said.

Derrick Brown scored 19 points and Austin Croshere added 18 to lead the Friars to their fourth straight victory. Ruben Garces added 10 points.

Texas got a career-high 17 points from senior guard Al Coleman, who made several key 3-pointers in the second half to keep the Longhorns close. He entered the game averaging 2.7 points.

Brandy Perryman and Nnabudem Muoneke each scored 10 points for Texas, but Muoneke failed to score in the second half.

Texas coach Tom Penders said it was a gamble for Gillen to play the triangle-and-two, but that it paid off because no one could pick up the slack for Freeman. He specifically cited Kris Clack, DeJuan Vazquez and Sheldon Quarles, who shot a combined 8 for 26.

“They had a guy in Reggie’s shirt and a guy in Brandy’s shirt,” he said. “It’s the kind of defense I would try against us and hope it works.”

Providence shot just 44 percent but held Texas to 37 percent, including 10 of 37 3-pointers.

The Friars won the game at the foul line, converting 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:33 after Texas was within 66-62.

For the game they made 21 of 31 while the Longhorns hit just 2 of 9.

(2) Wake Forest 70, (7) Utah 59 Tim Duncan scored 23 points in his 18th straight double-double game, outdueling fellow All-American Keith Van Horn as the Demon Deacons (9-0) pulled away late to beat the host Utes (8-2).

(3) Kentucky 74, (14) Louisville 54 Derek Anderson scored five of his 19 points during a decisive 12-0 run that spurred the Wildcats (11-1) to victory over the host Cardinals in a defensive battle.

(6) Cincinnati 84, Nebraska 73 Darnell Burton scored 24 points and Ruben Patterson and Danny Fortson had 19 each as the Bearcats (7-2) beat the Cornhuskers (7-3) in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

(15) Minnesota 94, Mercer 53 Eric Harris led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as the host Gophers (11-1) chewed up the Bears (1-7) for their sixth straight win.

The Gophers are off to their best start since the 1976-77 team went 16-1 and finished 24-3, the best record in Minnesota history.