COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Short Two Players, Massachusetts Wins

Top-ranked Massachusetts overcame injuries to its two best players, Lou Roe and Marcus Camby, to defeat St. Joseph’s, 74-62, Wednesday night at Amherst, Mass.

Roe, who scored 19 points, left the game after he fell to the floor with a severe leg cramp with 5:09 to play and Massachusetts ahead, 64-51. Camby, a 6-foot-11 center, did not return after straining his left hamstring with 8:56 left in the first half.

“Marcus will be out two to three weeks,” said Minuteman Coach John Calipari, who added that Roe is not expected to miss any games. “That’s what they said now, but it could be worse.”

Massachusetts, 17-1 overall and 9-0 in the Atlantic 10, extended its winning streaks to 16 overall and 41 on campus, both the longest in the nation. St. Joseph’s (11-7, 4-4) was led by Reggie Townsend with 14 points and Bernard Blunt with 13.

No. 5 Maryland 71, No. 15 Virginia 62--Joe Smith had 29 points, 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots to lead the Terrapins (17-3, 7-1) over the Cavaliers (12-6, 5-3) for their sixth consecutive victory at College Park, Md.

Keith Booth added 15 points for Maryland, which is 12-0 at home this season. Virginia Coach Jeff Jones punched a blackboard in frustration after the Atlantic Coast Conference game and broke his left hand.

No. 6 Kentucky 90, South Carolina 72--Rodrick Rhodes scored 19 points, including six during an 8-0 run at the start of the second half, for the Wildcats (14-3, 8-1) in a Southeastern Conference victory at Lexington, Ky.

Mark Pope finished with a season-high 13 points for Kentucky, and Malik Russell scored a season-high 22 points for South Carolina (5-12, 1-7).

No. 24 Oklahoma 79, No. 11 Iowa State 78--The Sooners (16-4, 3-2) survived five missed free throws in the final 1:34 and 30 points from Fred Hoiberg to hold off Iowa State (17-4, 3-3) in a Big Eight game at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma’s best player, Ryan Minor, who leads the Big Eight with a 23.6 scoring average, scored only 12 points because of foul trouble. Dion Barnes led the Sooners with a career-high 22 points.

No. 14 Wake Forest 69, North Carolina State 61--Jerry Braswell, a freshman who averages 2.5 points per game, scored a career-high 13, all in the first 6:03 of the second half as the Demon Deacons (13-4, 5-3) held off slumping North Carolina State (10-8, 2-6) in an ACC game at Raleigh, N.C.

No. 19 Villanova 78, St. John’s 62--Kerry Kittles scored 24 points and Eric Eberz added 23 at New York, as the Wildcats sent St. John’s to its seventh consecutive Big East loss.

Villanova (14-5, 7-2) had to play without injured point guard Jonathan Haynes, who will be sidelined indefinitely after surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot. St. John’s (9-8, 2-7), which ended its six-game losing streak with a victory at Michigan on Sunday, was led by freshman Felipe Lopez’s 14 points.

No. 20 Alabama 65, Auburn 63--The Crimson Tide won its fourth game in a row when Auburn’s tying basket was disallowed at the buzzer of an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama’s Bryan Passink missed his first free throw of the season with 9.3 seconds remaining. Auburn rebounded, but didn’t get the ball upcourt quickly enough. The clock had expired by the time Lance Weems got off a shot that banked in.

Alabama (15-4, 6-2) has won 25 of the last 33 games against Auburn (11-6, 4-4).

No. 21 Georgia Tech 80, Clemson 50--Travis Best scored 29 points and made five of six three-point shots to lead Georgia Tech (15-6, 6-3) over Clemson (11-6, 2-6) in an ACC game at Atlanta.

Mississippi State 70, No. 25 Florida 47--Darryl Wilson scored 22 points in the second half after making only one of seven shots in the first to lead the Bulldogs (13-2, 5-2) to an SEC victory at Starkville, Miss.

Mississippi State finished the game with a 23-1 run and Wilson’s three three-point baskets ignited a 20-3 run to start the second half after Florida (10-7, 4-4) led at halftime, 28-19.

College Basketball Notes

Randy Livingston, the LSU freshman who is leading the nation in assists, has a broken right kneecap and will be sidelined the rest of the season. The school said he underwent surgery in Birmingham, Ala., and is expected to play next season. Livingston fell on his right knee during the first half of Tuesday night’s game at Arkansas.