Berry Relaxes and West Virginia Wins

Brooks Berry didn’t feel the pressure Wednesday night against No. 13 Syracuse.

The sophomore reserve scored eight of his 16 points during a key second-half run to lift West Virginia past the Orangemen, 73-59, in a Big East opener at Morgantown, W.Va.

West Virginia’s coaching staff has tried to get Berry to stop pressuring himself on the court. He struggled through the team’s first six games, averaging only 2.3 points and less than a rebound.

Berry made six of his nine shots and all four of his free throws against Syracuse. He also had seven rebounds.

“I just tried to relax,” Berry said. “Once we starting hitting some shots, it snowballed.”

Berry led a 21-5 run that pulled West Virginia from a two-point halftime deficit to a 51-37 lead with 9:46 left.

“I was waiting for Brooks Berry to come through,” said West Virginia Coach Gale Catlett. “He had really been struggling.

West Virginia (4-3) used a zone defense early in the second half to cut off Syracuse’s inside game and hold the Orangemen scoreless for seven minutes.

Syracuse (7-2), which lost for the second time in five days, was forced to shoot from long range. The Orangemen got no closer than 63-56 with 2:08 left.

“We’ve seen zones. We’re not a great outside shooting team,” said Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, whose team shot only 25% in the second half.

No. 1 Connecticut 59, Massachusetts 54--The Minutemen forced the Huskies to play into a slow tempo at Amherst, Mass., but clutch shooting by Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin in the last minute gave Connecticut the nonconference victory.

Massachusetts (1-4) pulled to within 55-52 on Ajmal Basit’s dunk with 2:05 left, but a driving basket by Hamilton and two foul shots by El-Amin with 36 seconds left kept Connecticut (7-0) undefeated.

No. 3 Duke 116, Florida 86--The Gators’ strategy was trade offensive blows with the Blue Devils, but the plan backfired.

The Blue Devils (8-1) ran past the previously unbeaten Gators (5-1) for 63 first-half points and was never threatened. Duke’s point total matched the most ever against Florida. Tennessee scored 116 against the Gators on Jan. 11, 1979.

Wisconsin 63, No. 16 Temple 56--The Owls (4-4) have lost four in a row for the first time since the 1992-93 season and only the third time in the John Chaney era. They lost five in a row and finished 14-15 in 1982-83, Chaney’s first season.

The Badgers’ (8-1) tough defense frustrated point guard Pepe Sanchez and held 6-foot-10 forward Lamont Barnes to three points and one rebound in the nonconference game at Philadelphia.

No. 18 St. John’s 73, No. 20 Pittsburgh 52--The Red Storm used a 21-6 run at the end of the first half and the start of the second at New York to win their fourth game in a row since losing consecutive games to Stanford and Purdue.

Bootsie Thornton, who led St. John’s with 23 points, scored almost every way imaginable, converting offensive rebounds, and making short jumpers and drives. He made two three-point baskets during the run.

No. 25 Utah 87, Weber State 74--Andre Miller keyed a 15-4 run midway through the second half that broke open a close nonconference game at Salt Lake City.

Hanno Mottola scored six of his 17 points late in the second half that gave the Utes (5-3) a 67-52 lead with 8:13 left.

The win was Utah’s fifth in a row over the Wildcats (4-3).

OTHER GAMES

Seton Hall (5-3) held Villanova (6-2) to three points in the final 9:20 in winning the Big East Conference opener for both schools, 68-55, at East Rutherford, N.J. . . . Louis Bullock scored 34 points to help Michigan (5-5) defeat winless Eastern Michigan (0-5), 86-63 at Ypsilanti, Mich., and end a four-game losing streak against Mid-American Conference teams over the past two seasons. Toledo (7-0) scored its final 17 points from the free throw line in defeating Xavier of Ohio (5-4), 74-67, in a nonconference game at Toledo. In all, the Rockets (7-0) made 30 of 47 free throws, including 23 of 36 in the second half. . . . Ugo Udezue tipped in the winning shot with 10 seconds to give Wyoming (4-2) a 67-66 victory over Colorado (7-3) in a nonconference game at Laramie, Wyo. Udezue scored 36 points and had 11 rebounds.

WOMEN

Fourth-ranked Louisiana Tech (6-1) shot 52% to Northeast Louisiana’s 32% and the Lady Techsters won the nonconference game, 94-48 at Monroe, La. Betty Lennox scored 19 points and Amanda Wilson added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Techsters. Northeast is 2-5. . . . Angie Braziel scored 34 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 12 Texas Tech (7-1) to an 82-62 victory over Texas Christian (6-2) at Lubbock, Texas. . . . Jina Lewis made a basket and two foul shots in the final two minutes to lift American (6-2) past No. 13 George Washington (6-2), 81-75, at Washington. . . . Providence (1-6) had 31 turnovers and shot 28% and lost to No. 14 Rutgers (7-2), 80-45, in their Big East opener. . . . No. 22 Virginia Tech remained unbeaten (7-0) with a 77-45 victory over East Carolina (5-2) at Greenville, N.C.