Kentucky Holds Off Fast-Closing Georgia

Tony Delk scored 29 points and No. 2 Kentucky survived a furious Georgia comeback Wednesday night before securing its 15th consecutive victory, 82-77, at Athens, Ga.

Kentucky, 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference, led by as many as 16 in the first half and held a 59-45 lead with about 16 minutes remaining when Georgia (11-5, 2-4) began its comeback.

The Bulldogs put together a 20-6 run to tie the game at 65 on Carlos Strong’s three-point basket with 8:43 to go. But Georgia could never overtake Kentucky, which scored the next five points to retain its lead.

Georgia, led by Strong and Shandon Anderson, who scored 17 points apiece, lost for the fourth time in five games.

But Kentucky couldn’t put the Bulldogs away in the second half, mainly because of a dismal 11-for-23 night at the foul line. Georgia was 24 for 37 on free throws but made only three of 14 from beyond the three-point arch.

No. 6 Georgetown 83, No. 17 Syracuse 64--Allen Iverson scored 26 points and Othella Harrington had 23 as the Hoyas held John Wallace in check at Landover, Md., in the Big East contest to give the Orangemen their third loss in a row and fifth in seven games.

Boubacar Aw and Jerry Nichols had the assignment of covering the 6-foot-8 Wallace, who was averaging 23.1 points per game. He finished with 17, as the Orangemen fell to 13-5, 4-4 in the Big East.

Georgetown (17-2, 7-1) has won 14 of its last 15 games. Otis Hill led Syracuse with 19 points.

No. 7 Villanova 69, Providence 65--Jason Lawson scored 18 points and Kerry Kittles had 15 as the Wildcats rallied past the Friars in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

Villanova (15-3, 6-2) has won two in a row while Providence (9-7, 2-6) has lost three of its last four.

Derrick Brown had a career-high 29 points for the Friars.

No. 9 Wake Forest 81, Virginia 64--Tim Duncan led the Demon Deacons out of an offensive deep freeze, scoring 20 points in the Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Duncan got 14 points in the first half as Wake Forest (13-2, 5-1) discovered a way to penetrate the zone defense Virginia had hoped would stop him. The victory overshadowed a torrid second half by Harold Deane, who scored a game-high 28 points for the Cavaliers (7-8, 2-5).

No. 11 North Carolina 82, Florida State 71--Dante Calabria scored 19 points and the Tar Heels shut down the Seminoles at Tallahassee, Fla., beating them for the ninth consecutive time in an ACC game.

Vince Carter, Jeff McInnis and Shammond Williams each had 13 for the Tar Heels (14-4, 5-1).

The Tar Heels held Florida State (10-6, 2-4) scoreless for more than seven minutes midway through the game.

No. 12 Memphis 86, Alabama Birmingham 77--Lorenzen Wright scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Tigers to the victory in a Conference USA game at Memphis.

Wright led a parade of Tigers (13-3, 4-1) in double figures. Cedric Henderson and Mingo Johnson scored 17 points apiece.

The Blazers (13-7, 3-3) were led by Carlos Williams’ 27 points, including 21 in the second half when he connected on four three-point shots.

No. 14 Penn State 87, No. 19 Purdue 77--Pete Lisicky broke out of a shooting slump to score 13 points as the Nittany Lions took over sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with the victory at State College, Pa.

The Boilermakers (14-4, 4-2) led, 33-32, late in the first half before Lisicky scored 10 consecutive points to put Penn State (14-1, 5-1) ahead to stay.

Calvin Booth led all scorers with 19 points, 17 in the second half. Roy Hairston led Purdue with 14.

Maryland 65, No. 18 Clemson 60--Johnny Rhodes had 17 points and Keith Booth scored six of his 17 in the final 4:01 to help the Terrapins hold off the Tigers in an ACC game at College Park, Md.

Maryland led by 14 in the first half and by seven at halftime, but needed a late charge to rally past the Tigers. The Terrapins (9-6, 2-3) are 1-5 against ranked teams.

Terrell McIntyre scored a career-high 22 points, including a career-best five three-point baskets, for the Tigers (12-3, 3-3), who had a season-high 17 turnovers.

Mississippi 82, No. 21 Auburn 69--Keith Carter, one of only eight Rebels in uniform, scored 23 points as Mississippi (6-9, 1-5) took a big lead early and hung on to upset the Tigers in a Southeastern Conference game at Oxford, Miss., and break a five-game losing streak.

Auburn (15-4, 3-3 SEC) jumped out to an 11-3 lead, and appeared on the way to a rout, but Mississippi, which had missed its first seven shots, scored 18 points in a row and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the rest of the game.

Mississippi Coach Rob Evans suspended starting sophomore forward Ansu Sesay, senior forward John Jackson, junior guard Kenny Davis and freshman forward Jon Cantrell, for breaking team rules.

College Basketball Notes

After 98 consecutive losses, Wilbur Wilson resigned as coach of Rutgers-Camden, which has not won since the 1991-92 season. Assistant Ray Pace took over the team. . . . A judge in Richmond, Va., convicted suspended Richmond basketball player Kevin Connor of hitting his former girlfriend, but said he would dismiss the assault conviction May 3 if Connor stays out of trouble and away from the former girlfriend.