College Basketball Roundup : Coach Missing, but Georgetown Wins, 80-77

Georgetown Coach John Thompson missed the game. Charles Smith didn’t miss much.

Smith gave the third-ranked Hoyas the lead on a baseline jumper with 5 seconds left, then added 2 foul shots with 1 second left to sink Providence, 80-77, in a Big East Conference game Wednesday night at Providence, R.I.

Thompson was not with the team, missing his second straight game to protest a recently passed NCAA rule that tightens college entrance requirements.

“I talked to (Thompson) about 4 o’clock this afternoon,� said assistant coach Craig Esherick, who filled in for Thompson. “He said, ‘Craig, if all else fails, give Smitty the ball.’

“It wasn’t a bad strategy. It was not my strategy. It was Coach Thompson’s strategy.�

Smith finished with 35 points, and Georgetown (13-1 overall, 4-1 in the Big East) scored the last 9 points after falling behind, 77-71, with 1:50 left.

After Dwayne Bryant’s 3-pointer and Bobby Winston’s basket, the Hoyas turned it over to Smith.

“We tried to run a clear-out for me and it worked,� said Smith, whose 5-foot shot from the right baseline gave Georgetown a 78-77 lead. “Somebody was in my face. Somebody was everywhere. I got fouled. The shot went in.�

After the basket, Providence (13-2, 3-2) threw the ball into the front court and called time out with 1 second left. The Friars tried to take another timeout but were given a technical foul instead because they had none left.

Smith nailed the coffin shut with his 2 free throws.

“I just wasn’t there for them,� Providence Coach Rick Barnes said. “I take the blame. Obviously, I didn’t do my part.�

Eric Murdock scored 20 points for Providence.

Oklahoma 123, Kansas 95--Mookie Blaylock scored 30 points, and Stacey King added 23 as the fifth-ranked Sooners overpowered the 17th-ranked Jayhawks in a Big Eight game at Norman, Okla.

Last March, Kansas upset Oklahoma, 83-79 in the 1988 NCAA championship game.

This time, the Sooners (14-2, 2-0) built a 60-54 halftime lead and broke away by scoring the first 9 points of the second half.

Milt Newton scored 22 points for Kansas (14-3, 2-1). The 123 points were the most ever scored against Kansas, breaking the record of 115 set by Kentucky in 1970.

North Carolina State 82, Wake Forest 64--Chris Corchiani scored 22 points, and the 15th-ranked Wolfpack won its 10th straight game by downing the Demon Deacons in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

Wake Forest (8-6, 1-4) had a 6-point lead in the early minutes, but N.C. State (12-1, 3-0) forced 13 turnovers in the first half and had a 43-23 lead just before halftime.

Tennessee 83, Florida 76--Dyron Nix scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half to lead the No. 18 Volunteers past the Gators in a Southeastern Conference game at Knoxville, Tenn.

Nix scored the first 9 points of the second half for Tennessee (12-2, 5-0), which took charge with a 15-0 surge in the first half.

Dwayne Schintzius had 28 points and 12 rebounds for Florida (8-9, 2-4).

Florida State 112, Arkansas 105--Reserve Derrick Mitchell, who had a chance to win the game in regulation, scored all 7 of his points in overtime to lead the 14th-ranked Seminoles past the Razorbacks at Little Rock, Ark.

After missing a free throw with 6 seconds left in regulation, Mitchell made 2 free throws to give Florida State (13-1) a 102-100 lead with 4:14 left in overtime and hit 2 more to make it 107-102 with 1:18 left.

George McCloud scored 28 points for Arkansas (10-4).