College Basketball Roundup : Georgetown Returns to Top Form, 85-44

After being extended to overtime in two of its previous three games, top-ranked Georgetown returned to form Wednesday night, handing Providence an 85-44 drubbing in a Big East Conference game at Landover, Md.

“I prefer them this way, nice and easy,” Hoya forward Bill Martin said after Georgetown improved its record to 15-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big East. “After those two overtime games, one like this is good for the heart.”

In extending its winning streak to 27 games, best in the nation, Georgetown held Providence scoreless for the opening four minutes and built a 21-7 lead before the game was 13 minutes old. The Friars never cut the gap below 12 points the rest of the way.

The key to the victory was a relentless defense that forced Providence into 15 turnovers, many of which were turned into fast break baskets by Georgetown’s speedy guards.

“They turned the ball over a lot and created plenty of opportunities for our offense,” Martin said. “That’s the way our defense should be.”

Patrick Ewing, who had 21 points and 12 rebounds, said the Hoyas still have not reached their peak.

“We’re improving on defense, but we still have a long way to go,” he said. “I think we still have to work on playing defense as a team.”

Ewing, who sat on the bench for the game’s final eight minutes, dominated the first half, collecting 13 points and nine rebounds in addition to blocking two shots as Georgetown built its lead to 27-10 before settling for a 35-20 advantage at intermission.

Georgetown opened the second half with a 16-2 scoring streak that increased its lead to 51-22 with 15 minutes remaining. Finally, with seven minutes left and the Hoyas ahead, 66-31, Georgetown Coach John Thompson emptied his bench.

The Friars never scored consecutive baskets throughout the entire game in suffering their worst loss since they lost a 38-point decision to Virginia in the 1978-79 season.

Alabama 60, Auburn--55 Mark Gottfried made a 25-foot shot from the right side with 2:55 remaining to give the Crimson Tide a lead it never relinquished in a Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

The victory lifted the Crimson Tide to 12-3 and 4-2 in the SEC, moving them into a second-place tie with idle Louisiana State, one-half game behind Kentucky. Auburn fell to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference.

Georgia 71, Florida 60--Horace McMillan scored 16 points to lift the Bulldogs (10-4, 2-3) to the SEC win at Gainesville, Fla.

Kentucky 58, Mississippi St. 57--Richard Madison and Roger Harden each sank two free throws with less than a minute to play as the Wildcats survived a late scare to hold off Mississippi State in the SEC game at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky improved to 4-1 in the conference and 9-5 overall. MSU, which has not won at Lexington in 18 years, fell to 3-2 and 7-7.

Maryland 94, Clemson 84--Len Bias scored 27 points and Jeff Adkins added 24 as the Terrapins (13-4) beat the Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

North Carolina 86, North Carolina St. 76--Guard Steve Hale and reserve center Warren Martin led a furious second-half rally that gave the Tar Heels (13-2, 4-0) the Atlantic Coast Conference win over the Wolfpack (9-5, 2-3) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina trailed, 51-36, with 16:58 left, but the Tar Heels applied defensive pressure and took the lead with a 20-4 scoring spurt. North Carolina hit 14 straight free throws in the last four minutes to preserve the victory.

North Carolina’s second-half surge overshadowed a superb performance by Wolfpack forward Lorenzo Charles, who scored 33 points, including 20 in the first half.

Purdue 50, Northwestern 49--Troy Lewis hit a 17-foot jumper with 11 seconds to go to lead the Boilermakers to a Big Ten victory over the Wildcats at Evanston, Ill.

Northwestern had rallied midway in the second half to take the lead, and the Wildcats remained in front until Lewis hit the game-winner.

The triumph snapped a two-game Purdue losing streak and gave the Boilermakers an 11-4 record, with a 2-3 mark in the conference. Northwestern lost its fifth straight and dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten.

Oklahoma 92, Missouri 65--Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale found himself in foul trouble, having to go to the bench after his fourth personal at 18:02 of the second half, but the Sooners still rolled to a Big Eight Conference win at Norman, Okla.

“It must be Big Eight time again--they seem to start calling fouls much quicker,” Tisdale said afterward. “But I guess I’d better get used to it.”

The victory upped the Sooners’ record to 12-4. Missouri fell to 10-6.

Houston 77, Rice 73--Renaldo Thomas sank three free throws and Eric Dickens added two in the final 46 seconds to lift the Cougars to the Southwest Conference victory at Houston.

Houston, 11-4 for the season, upped its SWC record to 3-1. The Owls dropped to 8-7 and 1-3. Houston leads the series, 28-1.

Syracuse 90, Seton Hall 80--Mike Brown scored 23 points and Wendell Alexis added 21 at South Orange, N.J., as the Orangemen, 11-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big East Conference, handed the Pirates their fifth straight loss.

Tennessee 87, Vanderbilt 79--Sophomores Tony White and Anthony Richardson each scored 21 points to key the Volunteers’ second-half surge in an SEC game at Knoxville, Tenn.

White, a 6-foot-2 guard, and Richardson, a 6-6 power forward, combined for 30 second-half points as Tennessee raised its overall record to 12-5 and 3-2 in the SEC.

Phil Cox’s game-high 29 points was not enough to prevent Vanderbilt from falling to 8-6 and 1-4.

Texas A&M; 65, Texas Christian 60--Junior guard Kenny Brown hit 22 points and key baskets down the stretch to power the Aggies in a Southwest Conference game.

Brown hit 10 of 18 from the field, mostly from 18 feet or more along the baseline to lead the A&M;, 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the SWC. The Aggies shot 61% from the field. TCU slipped to 9-7 and 1-4.

Oklahoma State 94, Colorado 76--Win Case scored 25 points as the Cowboys (10-4) opened Big Eight Conference play with a victory at Stillwater, Okla.

Nevada Las Vegas 93, UC Santa Barbara 76--Armon Gilliam scored 27 points to lead the Rebels to an easy Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory at Santa Barbara.

Gilliam connected on 12 of 16 shots from the field as the Rebels improved their conference mark to 5-0, 11-2 overall. UCSB fell to 2-3 in conference, 6-8 overall.

Pacific 61, New Mexico St. 59--Freshman forward Domingo Rosario sank a nine-foot shot with 59 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the PCAA win at Stockton.

New Mexico State was ahead by as many as 11 points in the second half, but led by Rosario and junior forward Karlwin Matthews, the Tigers came back to tie the score with 2:34 remaining, setting up Rosario’s game-winner.