Connecticut Loses Players, Unbeaten Status

No. 1-ranked Connecticut, playing without leading scorer Richard Hamilton and leading rebounder Jake Voskuhl, fell from the unbeaten ranks Monday night, losing to No. 16 Syracuse, 59-42, at Hartford, Conn.

Hamilton, the Big East player of the year last season, has a bruised right thigh and is listed as day-to-day. The 6-foot-6 junior is averaging 22.1 points and 4.8 rebounds. He was injured in the second half of Saturday’s 78-74 victory over No. 9 St. John’s.

Voskuhl, a 6-11 junior, has a stress fracture in his left foot and is out indefinitely. Voskuhl is averaging 7.2 rebounds.

Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun didn’t use the injuries as an excuse.

“We did dress five people who could play. Richard and Jake didn’t make any mistakes so they were no factors in the game,” Calhoun said. “I thought the guys on the floor would do a better job.”

Freshman Damone Brown scored all 14 of his points in the second half as the Orangemen, 16-6 overall and 7-5 in the Big East, won for the fourth time in five games. They outrebounded the Huskies, 37-26.

Connecticut (19-1, 11-1), the nation’s last unbeaten team, struggled against Syracuse’s zone, shooting 36%, including three for 15 from three-point range.

The score was tied, 25-25, at halftime, but Connecticut made only seven of 22 shots in the second half. Syracuse led, 54-35, with 3:10 left.

Edmund Saunders led Connecticut with 14 points, its only player in double figures.

No. 22 College of Charleston 66, Georgia Southern 41--The Cougars (19-2, 11-0) celebrated their return to the top 25 after a two-year absence by routing the Eagles (8-13, 4-7) in a Southern Conference game at Charleston, S.C.

Charleston is ranked for only the second time in school history. The last time the Cougars were ranked was at No. 16 in the final poll of the 1996-97 season.

Charleston has won 16 in a row.

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Playing its first game as an unranked team in eight years, Kansas (15-6, 7-2) was a 69-46 winner over Kansas State (14-8, 3-6) in a Big 12 game at Manhattan, Kan. The Jayhawks dropped out of the top 25 for the first time since the week of Jan. 21, 1991, ending a streak of 145 weeks in the poll. Kansas State lost for the 16th time in a row to Kansas.

WOMEN

Michele Van Gorp scored 21 points and No. 9 Duke (18-4, 10-0) set a school record with its 13th consecutive victory, a 72-54 decision over Maryland (3-16, 1-19) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.