College Basketball Roundup : J.R. Reid Is the Right Man for North Carolina

Freshman J.R. Reid completed a three-point play with 1:36 left in overtime and No. 3-ranked North Carolina held on for a 74-73 victory over Virginia in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Sunday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Reid finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds to help the Tar Heels improve to 20-2 overall and 9-0 in the ACC before a sellout crowd of 20,100. The Cavaliers are now 14-7 and 4-5.

North Carolina made just 14 of 43 shots in the second half, which ended with the score tied, 69-69.

“This wasn’t our worst game of the year, but it certainly wasn’t our best,� North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said after his 599th victory, which gave him his 17th straight 20-win season.

“We didn’t play with as much enthusiasm as Virginia did. We had some good shots in the overtime, but we didn’t make them.�

North Carolina missed its first six shots in overtime but still was able to take a 74-71 lead on Reid’s three-point play. Reid hit a jump hook from the lane, was fouled and made his free throw.

Virginia drew to 74-73 with 47 seconds remaining on a jumper by John Johnson and had one more chance after North Carolina’s Curtis Hunter missed the front end of a one-and-one. But the Cavaliers’ Richard Morgan missed the game’s final shot.

Andrew Kennedy led Virginia with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Kansas 70, Notre Dame 60--Danny Manning scored a career-high 40 points and took control in the decisive final three minutes in leading 18th-ranked Kansas over Notre Dame at Lawrence, Kan. The win extended the Jayhawks’ home-court winning streak to 46 games.

Kansas, which has not lost at Allen Field House since Feb. 22, 1984, is 18-5 this season after winning its ninth straight. Notre Dame is 13-7 after losing for the second time in three days.

The Jayhawks, whose home-court streak is the longest in the nation, led 30-29 at halftime. But the Irish led, 47-42, after Kansas Coach Larry Brown picked up a technical foul with 9:56 left and David Rivers made both foul shots.

The game was tied at 55-55 with 3:06 left after a three-point shot by Notre Dame’s Mark Stevenson, who led the Irish with 14 points.

But then Manning, a 6-foot-11 junior who scored 28 points the day before in a victory over Oklahoma State, scored nine of the Jayhawks’ next 10 points as Kansas pulled away.

Said Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps: “Danny Manning put on a great show. He’s just a great player. That’s one of the best performances you could get against a team that changes defenses the way we do.�

Indiana 83, Michigan 67--It took awhile for Indiana’s Steve Alford to start scoring against Michigan at Bloomington, Ind., but once he did there was no stopping him.

Alford, guarded by Michigan’s Gary Grant, took only one shot during the first nine minutes and was scoreless during that stretch. But Alford made 10 of his next 14 shots, including four three-pointers, and finished with 30 points.

Alford is now 15 points short of the Indiana career record of 2,192, set by Don Schlundt from 1952-55.

Indiana, 19-2 overall, is now 10-1 and atop the Big Ten standings. Michigan is 15-8 and 6-5.

Indiana center Dean Garrett scored 15 points, all but two in the second half, and grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked two shots.

TCU 55, Texas A&M; 50--Carven Holcombe and Tony Papa scored 16 points apiece to lead 15th-ranked Texas Christian to a Southwest Conference victory at College Station, Tex.

The Horned Frogs (19-4, 10-1) increased their SWC lead to three games.