College Basketball Roundup : Minnesota Gets a New Start With 70-65 Win

John Shasky scored 19 points and Minnesota capped a week of scandal with a 70-65 Big Ten victory over Ohio State Thursday night at Minneapolis.

Minnesota was playing its first game since the arrests of Mitch Lee, Kevin Smith and George Williams for the alleged rape of an 18-year-old Madison, Wis., woman one week ago.

Coach Jim Dutcher resigned when the school forfeited Sunday’s game at Northwestern. After two days of deliberations, Minnesota officials decided to complete the rest of schedule.

The squad was further reduced Wednesday when acting Coach Jimmy Williams suspended guard Todd Alexander and forward Terence Woods for violating team rules.

Freshman Ray Gaffney, who played very little before this game, added 17 points for the Gophers (14-7, 4-4), who received a standing ovation at the outset from the crowd of 13,343.

Williams had a squad of nine players, only two who played on a regular basis before the turmoil began. Two of the reserves--Tim Juneau and Roselle Richardson--were recruited from the football team.

Ohio State (10-8, 4-4) held a 28-27 halftime lead, but Gaffney’s basket at 15:20 gave Minnesota a 40-36 lead. The Gophers went on a 9-2 surge for a 61-50 lead with 5:06 left.

Brad Sellers had 22 points for the Buckeyes.

Iowa 79, Indiana 69--Sophomore guard Jeff Moe scored 24 points in his first Big Ten start and the Hawkeyes surprised the 15th-ranked Hoosiers at Iowa City.

The Hawkeyes (15-6, 5-3) piled up a 22-point lead in the second half and weathered a late run by Indiana (13-4, 5-3), which closed to 71-63 with 2:30 left.

Iowa held Indiana’s Steve Alford to 10 points, 15 below his average. Freshman Rick Calloway had 21 points and 9 rebounds for the Hoosiers.

Michigan 82, Northwestern 45--Antoine Joubert scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and the No. 9 Wolverines rolled past the Wildcats in a Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Wolverines (18-2, 6-2) were in command throughout even though Roy Tarpley, the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player last season, was in foul trouble from the outset and fouled out with 10:23 left. Tarpley scored 10 points, only two in the second half.

Michigan also played much of the second half without sophomore guard Gary Grant who was carried from the court with a sprained left ankle after missing a layup.

Shon Morris scored 17 points for Northwestern (7-11, 1-7).

Bradley 63, West Texas State 54--Hersey Hawkins scored 22 points and Jim Les added 20 points and 8 assists as the 13th-ranked Braves downed the Buffaloes in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Amarillo, Tex.

Bradley (21-1, 8-0), with its best record at this point of the season since the 1959-60 campaign, built a 34-25 halftime lead and coasted the rest of the way.

William Childs scored 23 points for West Texas State (8-10, 2-6).

Alabama Birmingham 71, Old Dominion 58--Steve Mitchell scored 16 of his 22 points in the first half and the Blazers recaptured the Sun Belt Conference with a fight-marred victory over the Monarchs at Norfolk, Va.

The game was interrupted for nearly 20 minutes in the second half after a fight involving Alabama Birmingham players and Old Dominion players and students. Play was stopped with the Blazers ahead, 51-41, and 10:08 remaining. No arrests were reported and no players were ejected.

The Blazers (20-5, 8-2) rolled to a 41-28 intermission lead and never allowed the Monarchs (12-5, 6-2) closer than four points in the second half.

Virginia Tech 71, Richmond 67--Dell Curry scored four of his 28 points in the final 27 seconds to carry the 16th-ranked Hokies past the No. 20 Spiders at Blacksburg, Va.

Richmond (16-3) closed to 65-63 on a basket by Peter Woolfolk with 1:02 to play, but, when Curry scored on a layup with 27 seconds left and added two free throws with 16 seconds remaining, the Hokies (17-4) were home free.

Curry became Virginia Tech’s all-time leading scorer with 2,138 career points, surpassing Dale Solomon’s mark of 2,136.

John Newman scored 18 points for the Spiders and became Richmond’s career scoring leader with 2,148 points, eclipsing Mike Perry’s mark of 2,145.

Michigan State 83, Wisconsin 81--Scott Skiles scored 36 points, including the winning jumper from the lane with seven seconds left to give the Spartans a Big Ten victory over the Badgers at East Lansing, Mich.

Skiles made 18 of 21 shots, most from the outside. He scored 45 and 40 points in his previous two games. In three games, he has made 53 of 69 shots, a .768 percentage.

Wisconsin (10-8, 2-6) tied the score, 81-81, on a three-point play by Mike Heineman with 26 seconds left.

Michigan State (13-5, 4-4) called time out with 13 seconds remaining and set up the play for Skiles, who drove into the lane and hit a six-footer.

Rick Olson scored 32 points for Wisconsin and Darryl Johnson had 24 for the Spartans.

Tennessee 78, Georgia 77--Tony White sank a pair of free throws with one second remaining to lift the Volunteers past the Bulldogs in a Southeastern Conference game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Donald Hartry hit an 18-foot jump shot with seven seconds remaining to put Georgia (11-7, 4-5) ahead, 77-76. But with time about to expire, the Bulldogs’ Horace McMillan fouled White as he crossed midcourt.

White, who also made a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left to put the Volunteers (11-7, 4-5) on top, 76-75, scored 30 points.