For Once, Mississippi Beats Kentucky

There haven’t been many landmark victories in Mississippi’s 63 seasons of Southeastern Conference basketball, but defeating third-ranked and defending national champion Kentucky, 73-69, Saturday at Oxford, Miss., certainly qualifies as one.

Mississippi, 11-3 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, figures to crack the national rankings for the first time after defeating Kentucky (14-2, 2-1) for only the ninth time in 91 games.

The Rebels built a 13-point lead early in the second half, then withstood the Wildcats’ full-court pressure, with reserve guard Joezon Darby’s two free throws with six seconds left sealing the victory.

“To be able to defeat a team the caliber of Kentucky is big for us,” said Mississippi Coach Rob Evans, whose team is off to the school’s best start since 1937. “We had a tremendous effort on the defensive end and executed our offense like we wanted to.”

Mississippi had four double figure scorers, led by Darby with 19 points. The Rebels also put the clamps on Kentucky’s leading scorers, guard Derek Anderson and forward Ron Mercer, who managed a combined 10 points--28 below their season average.

“This [Mississippi] is a fine basketball team,” said Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino. “They certainly have my respect and admiration for the building process that they have gone through.”

Consider the tradition from which Evans, in his fifth season at Mississippi, has built the team:

--A .346 winning percentage in the SEC, with only eight winning records and one second-place finish in 62 previous seasons.

--One NCAA tournament appearance, that coming in 1981 during an improbable run by a 13-13 team led by Elston Turner and Carlos Clark through the SEC tournament. The Rebels were bounced in the first round by Kansas.

Mississippi, with no player over 6 feet 9, has adopted a tough-as-nails attitude on defense under Evans and is particularly feisty on its home court. The Rebels had a school-record home-court winning streak end at 15 games in a 59-46 loss to Alabama Wednesday and weren’t about happy about it.

“After that loss, we had something to show,” said junior forward Anthony Boone, who has come back from reconstructive surgery on both knees to be a solid player for Mississippi. “We’re pretty good, aren’t we? We proved to the nation we’re not a fluke.”

Kentucky certainly discovered that in having its winning streak ended at 14 games.

It was the second time in three seasons that Mississippi has defeated the defending national champion at Oxford. Two years ago, the Rebels beat Arkansas, which also was ranked No. 3 at the time, 76-71.

No. 1 Kansas 87, Baylor 68--The Jayhawks (16-0, 3-0) held the Bears (12-3, 1-2) without a basket in their first 10 possessions to start the second half to key a 16-0 run that broke open the Big 12 game at Waco, Texas.

Forward Raef LaFrentz had 19 points for Kansas while guard Jacque Vaughn had 13 to become the fourth Jayhawk this season to go over 1,000 in his career. Kansas shot 64% in the first half but finished with 21 turnovers and only five assists.

Baylor’s leading scorer, 6-10 center Al Skinner, had to work hard against a 1-3-1 defense for 16 points before fouling out with 4:43 left.

No. 2 Wake Forest 81, No. 10 Duke 69--The Demon Deacons (12-0, 4-0) shot 63% and made seven of eight three-point shots in the second half against the Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

“I think it’s a team that can win our league and any team that can win the ACC can go all the way,” said Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team shot 33% in losing to Wake Forest for the ninth consecutive time.

Center Tim Duncan had a season-high 26 points on nine-of-12 shooting, 14 rebounds and four blocks for Wake Forest, which has held each of its opponents under 37% shooting. Duncan has made 45 of his last 62 shots and has double figures in scoring and rebounding in 70 games.

Wake Forest has beaten three nationally ranked opponents, No. 9 Utah, No. 13 North Carolina and Duke, the last 12 days. The Demon Deacons also became the first team in 20 years to beat the Blue Devils five consecutive times at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

No. 4 Iowa State 82, Oklahoma 55--The Cyclones (11-1, 2-0) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Marquette with a strong defensive performance against the Sooners (9-3, 1-1) in a Big 12 game at Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State held Oklahoma’s three top scorers to nine-of-31 shooting and 31 points--16 below their combined average.

Guard Dedric Willoughby had 21 points and center Kelvin Cato had 15 points and 15 rebounds for Iowa State, which plays Kansas at Lawrence on Monday.

No. 5 Clemson 76, Florida State 70--Guard Merl Code made six free throws in the final 1:31 as the Tigers (14-1, 3-0) increased their winning streak to 10 in an ACC game at Tallahassee, Fla.

Forward Greg Buckner had 21 points for Clemson, which made 17 of 22 free throws and outrebounded its taller opponent, 35-31.

Florida State (9-3, 1-3) shot 50% but had 17 turnovers in losing its second ACC home game this week. Guard James Collins had 23 points.

No. 9 Utah 61, Brigham Young 51--Forward Keith Van Horn had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Utes (10-2, 2-0) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Provo, Utah.

BYU (1-11, 0-2) shot 33% and was outrebounded, 38-26.

No. 11 Minnesota 70, No. 16 Michigan 64--Guard Bobby Jackson had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Golden Gophers (15-1, 4-0) increased their winning streak to 10 in a Big Ten game at Minneapolis.

Minnesota is off to its best start since the Mychal Thompson-led 1976-77 team opened at 16-1 and finished 24-3 but had to forfeit all of its victories.

Guard Louis Bullock had 16 points for Michigan (11-4, 2-2).

No. 12 Xavier (Ohio) 75, Fordham 64--The Musketeers (11-1, 2-1) bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Dayton by forcing the Rams (5-7, 0-2) into 27 turnovers in an Atlantic 10 game at New York.

Xavier also made eight of 10 three-point shots and was led in scoring by freshman reserve forward James Posey, who had 21 points. Another reserve forward, Torraye Braggs, had five of the Musketeers’ 14 steals.

Virginia 75, No. 13 North Carolina 63--The Tar Heels (9-4) dropped to 0-3 for the first time in the 44-year history of the ACC in losing to the Cavaliers (11-4, 2-2) at Charlottesville, Va.

North Carolina shot 39% and its two leading scorers, forwards Antawn Jamison and Ademola Okulaja, played most of the second half with four fouls. Both finished with 19 points. Center Serge Zwikker had 11 points and fouled out.

Virginia led the entire game and didn’t allow North Carolina closer than six points in the second half. Forward Norman Nolan had 20 points for the Cavaliers.

North Carolina Coach Dean Smith is 16 victories away from Adolph Rupp’s all-time record of 876. The Tar Heels have 14 games remaining before the ACC tournament.

No. 14 Louisville 60, Georgia Tech 56--Denny Crum became the 19th major college coach to get 600 victories as the Cardinals (13-1) struggled to a nonconference victory over the Yellow Jackets (6-7) at Louisville. Crum has a 600-225 record in 26 seasons at Louisville.

Louisville missed 14 of 23 free throws and was outrebounded, 52-34, but scored 27 points off a season-high 25 turnovers.

No. 18 New Mexico 78, Southern Methodist University 58--The Lobos (13-2, 2-1) regained their three-point shooting touch, making nine of 16, to increase their home-court winning streak to 20 in a WAC game at Albuquerque.

Freshman guard Lamont Long made eight of nine shots and had 19 points while center Kenny Thomas had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

SMU (10-3, 2-1) was led by freshman center Jay Poerner with 22 points, while it leading scorer, guar Stephen Woods, had five.

Colorado 80, No. 20 Texas Tech 78--Guard Chauncy Billups made a leaning jump shot in the lane with less than a second left as the Buffaloes (12-3, 3-0) ended a 35-game winning streak for the Red Raiders (10-3, 2-1) in a Big 12 game at Lubbock, Texas.

Texas Tech guard Corey Carr threw away an inbounds pass with 11 seconds left to set the stage for Billups, who finished with 29 points.

Center Tony Battie had a career-high 31 points for Texas Tech, which had entered the game with the nation’s third-longest home winning streak to Coppin State and Kansas.

No. 23 Boston College 73, Notre Dame 61--Guard Scoonie Penn and forward Antonio Granger, who usually play in the shadow of All-Big East forward Danya Abrams, combined for 41 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles (10-2, 5-1) in South Bend, Ind.

Penn and Granger made 13 of 18 shots, including seven of nine three-point attempts in a first half in which Boston College led by as many as 21 points. Abrams had a subpar game, missing 10 of 13 shots and scoring 13 points.

Forward Pat Garrity had 18 points for Notre Dame (7-6, 1-4).

No. 25 Illinois 85, Penn State 70--Guard Kiwane Garris had 22 points and made all seven of his free throws for the Illini (12-4, 2-2) in a Big Ten game at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois shot only 31% in the first half but held a 31-27 halftime lead as Penn State (7-5, 0-3) continued to struggle with its outside shooting. The Nittany Lions, one of the nation’s top three-point shooting teams last season, missed 11 of 13 from behind the arc.

OTHER GAMES

Freshman guard Shaheen Holloway had 24 points to lead Seton Hall (7-7, 2-4) to a 73-66 victory over Providence (11-4, 3-2) at East Rutherford, N.J. The Friars had 24 turnovers in having a winning streak end at six. . . . Connecticut (11-3, 4-2) overcame 38% shooting and 20 turnovers in a 69-54 Big East victory over Georgetown (10-4, 3-3) at Landover, Md. The Hoyas shot 25%, missing 17 of 19 three-point attempts, and made only half of their free throws. . . . Center Adonal Foyle had 28 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead Colgate (4-9, 2-0) to a 64-60 Patriot League victory over Navy (8-7, 1-1) at Hamilton, N.Y. Foyle reached double figures in points and rebounds for the 23rd consecutive game by halftime. . . . Center Mark Jackson had 23 points and 13 rebounds as Temple (6-4, 1-1) increased its record against St. Bonaventure to 32-2 with a 68-53 Atlantic 10 victory at Philadelphia.

Iowa (13-3, 4-0) retained a share of the Big Ten lead with a 78-53 victory over Wisconsin (8-5, 1-3) at Iowa City. Guard Andre Woolridge at 21 points for the the Hawkeyes, who scored 25 points more than the season-average the defensive-minded Badgers had been allowing. . . . Freshman forward Mike Robinson had 21 points and Purdue shot a season-high 59% in a 78-53 Big 10 victory over Northwestern (5-9, 0-3) at West Lafayette, Ind. . . . DePaul (3-10, 1-1) increased a winning streak at its on-campus Alumni Hall to 53 with a 64-54 Conference USA victory over South Florida (6-6, 0-2). The Blue Demons, who play most of their games at the Rosemont Horizon arena, have not lost at Alumni Hall since March 1977.

Center Otis Hill had a career-high 34 points and Syracuse (9-6) overcame a 16-point deficit in a 70-66 victory over Alabama (11-4) in a nonconference game at Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Crimson Tide shot 24%. . . . South Carolina (9-5, 3-0) is the only Southeastern Conference team left with an unbeaten record with a 72-65 victory over Mississippi State (7-9, 1-2) at Starkville, Miss. . . . Guard Pat Bradley made a three-point shot for the 31st consecutive game and was one of five double-figure scorers for Arkansas (8-4, 2-2) in an 82-57 victory over Louisiana State (8-8, 1-2) in an SEC game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Reserve guard Chad Alexander made a running, left-handed hook shot as the buzzer sounded to give Oklahoma State (8-5, 1-2) a 68-67 Big 12 victory over Missouri (8-7, 0-3) at Stillwater, Okla. Alexander had taken just two other shots in the game. . . . Guard LaDrell Whitehead scored 24 of his 36 points in the final 15 minutes but Wyoming (5-8, 1-1) still lost, 78-71, to Colorado State (11-3, 1-1) at Fort Collins, Colo.