College Basketball Capsules: No. 4 Purdue beats Minnesota 79-60

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue coach Matt Painter said Minnesota outplayed his team Tuesday night even though the Boilermakers won by 19 points.

Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore both scored 18 points, and No. 4 Purdue beat the Golden Gophers 79-60 on Tuesday night to remain unbeaten and tie the best start in school history.

"We played solid tonight, not great," Painter said. "I thought they played better than us. We just made a lot of shots."

"Solid" meant shooting 52 percent from the field, holding Minnesota to 31 percent shooting and outscoring the Golden Gophers 27-16 from the free-throw line. He might have described the effort as great if the Boilermakers hadn’t committed 17 turnovers or yielded 19 offensive rebounds.

"We’re still making mistakes," Painter said. "We won because we did enough things to put ourselves in position to do so."

Hummel had 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks, and Moore had five assists. JaJuan Johnson had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and Chris Kramer added a season-high 15 points for the Boilermakers (14-0, 2-0 Big Ten). It was their first game since beating previously unbeaten West Virginia last Friday.

The win was important for several reasons. The Boilermakers won their 500th game at Mackey Arena and remained one of four unbeatens in Division I. They also matched the Glenn Robinson-led 1993-94 team’s 14-0 start.

"It’s a great accomplishment," Painter said. "Any time you can string together 14 wins at any time during a season, it’s an accomplishment."

Paul Carter scored 15 points and Damian Johnson added 12 for Minnesota (11-4, 2-1), which had won seven straight.

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said his team didn’t take advantage of the havoc its trapping defense caused.

"We forced some turnovers, but we didn’t convert," Smith said. "We should have pulled back out instead of driving and doing something stupid. That was the game."

Purdue led by seven points at halftime, then shot 65 percent after the break to pull away. Hummel said the Boilermakers weren’t clicking on offense in the first half.

"I think we kind of rushed some shots, which messed up the flow of the offense," he said. "In the second half, we were more patient and got some open looks."

The old standby for Purdue was its aggressive man-to-man defense, which kept the Boilermakers in the game while the offense found its rhythm.

"It’s consistent and persistent," Smith said.

Purdue ran out to an 8-0 lead before the Gophers settled down. Minnesota responded with a 13-5 run to tie the score, then went ahead 23-20 on a three-point play by Carter.

Purdue reserve Ryne Smith made two 3-pointers to help the Boilermakers take a 29-24 lead and force a Minnesota timeout. It was a part of a 7-minute stretch during which the Boilermakers held the Gophers without a field goal.

Rodney Williams made a 3-pointer late in the first half to end the drought, but Kramer came back with a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to give the Boilermakers a 35-28 lead.

Painter said Kramer’s shot was important.

"It was a huge shot," he said. "It was actually a broken play. Chris did a good job of breaking his guy down and creating space."

Blake Hoffarber, Minnesota’s No. 2 scorer, went scoreless in the first half and played just 5 minutes because he picked up two early fouls. He finished with three points on 1-of-4 shooting.

Purdue opened the second half with a 10-3 run, that included six points by Johnson, to take a 45-31 lead.

Minnesota’s trapping defense fueled a 6-0 run that cut Purdue’s lead to 48-40, but a thunderous right-handed jam by Johnson, plus the free throw on the foul, gave Purdue an 11-point lead and slowed the Gophers’ momentum. The Boilermakers led by at least eight points the rest of the way.

Purdue will play at No. 17 Wisconsin on Saturday. Painter has said he will get a better idea of whether the Boilermakers should be considered for the No. 1 ranking after they play some conference road games.

"I think going on the road is great," Kramer said. "It’s just you against the world. Road wins are hard to come by, especially in the Big Ten. We just have to keep playing with emotion, make shots and play good defense."

White leads No. 14 Mississippi over Cent. Florida

OXFORD, Miss. — There’s nothing like a little fatherly pressure to get the attention of Mississippi point guard Chris Warren.

"His dad (Charles) was here from Florida and when his dad is here, I think Chris concentrates a little better," Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said after Warren led a balanced attack in an 84-56 victory over Central Florida on Tuesday night. "At least, it looked like it to me."

Terrico White had 21 points for the 14th-ranked Rebels (12-2), while Warren had 14 and broke the 1,000-point mark in his 60th game.

"I don’t think I play as well when my family comes up to watch in person," said Warren, who missed most of last season after an injury required knee surgery. "But the coaches seem to think I play better when my dad is here, so whatever they say is fine with me."

The Rebels raced to an 8-0 lead and the margin quickly swelled to 19-4 with 15:54 left in the first half. By halftime, Mississippi led 46-34 and Central Florida (8-6) never got closer than 18 points again.

"We’re struggling shooting a little bit but you have to give credit to Mississippi tonight. I thought they were very aggressive early in the game and got us back on our heels and uncomfortable," Central Florida coach Kirk Speraw said. "They just came out of the box and shot lights out."

Eniel Polynice had 16 points, five assists and three rebounds while Murphy Holloway added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Rebels, who shot 30 of 59 from the field (51 percent), including 11 of 28 from 3-point range.

Warren’s 1,000th point came on a free throw with 12:44 left that gave the Rebels a 60-35 lead. The junior guard did not realize he had broken the mark until seeing it on the jumbotron after the free throw.

"I really didn’t know I was close until just before the game today," Warren said. "My main focus was to get us off to a good start and we did that."

A.J. Rompza had 16 points for Central Florida, while Marcus Jordan added 13. The Golden Knights were 0 of 11 from 3-point range and shot 21 of 62 (34 percent) overall.

Isaac Sosa and A.J. Tyler, who entered the game as the leading scorers for Central Florida, were limited to four and three points, respectively.

Mississippi won the rebound battle 46-35 and blocked 10 shots.

The win completed a sweep of three Conference USA opponents, Texas-El Paso, Southern Mississippi and Central Florida for the Rebels, who improved to 34-1 at home against nonconference opponents in the past four seasons.

The Rebels host Mississippi State in their Southeastern Conference Saturday. Mississippi has lost seven of the last eight SEC openers and follow the rivalry game by playing four of its next five games on the road.

Thomas leads SDSU to upset of No. 15 New Mexico

SAN DIEGO — It was, as San Diego State coach Steve Fisher is fond of saying, a resume-building win.

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia Tech had the national ranking, the gaudy record and a bunch of talented players.

None of it mattered. The Yellow Jackets still can’t figure out a way to win in Athens.

Trey Thompkins scored 20 points, Ricky McPhee hit two key baskets near the end and Georgia pulled off its first big victory for new coach Mark Fox, knocking off No. 20 Georgia Tech 73-66 on Tuesday night.

Georgia, a team that had lost at home to Wofford and was coming off a 28-point blowout at Missouri three days earlier, defeated a team with one of the most touted freshman classes in the country. It was a loss sure to turn up the heat on Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt, who looked up at the scoreboard in disbelief as the Bulldogs (8-5) pulled away.

"We are the better team," said Gani Lawal, who led Georgia Tech with 21 points. "We just didn’t play like it tonight."

Georgia Tech (11-3) was trying to match its victory total from last season. Instead, the Yellow Jackets failed to break a long drought at Stegeman Coliseum, where they haven’t won since Nov. 26, 1976.

"We really wanted to win this game," Lawal said, shaking his head. "It’s a little tough to swallow."

With Georgia clinging to a 53-52 lead, Thompkins got loose inside, made the shot and was fouled by Lawal. A free throw completed the three-point play. After Lawal missed at the other end, Georgia took off running, Thompkins drew a foul and made both free throws for a 58-52 lead with 1:51 remaining.

"I was amped up," Thompkins said. "I wanted to defend my court."

With Georgia Tech trapping, McPhee got loose on the wing and swished an open 3-pointer for a 61-54 lead with 1:23 remaining. He followed with another basket off a drive, banking it in high off the backboard for his only two-point hoop of the game. Twelve of his 16 points came on 3-pointers; he added two free throws in the final minute to help seal the win.

"It means a lot to beat Georgia Tech and it means a lot to win a rivalry game," said Fox, who took over after the Bulldogs fired Dennis Felton and finished last season with an interim coach and a dismal 12-20 record. "It’s a big win for us in a lot of ways and I told the kids to leave the gym feeling good about themselves, because they deserve it."

The Yellow Jackets went 3 of 12 from beyond the arc and looked lost trying to run their offense, managing only eight assists while turning it over 20 times.

"We had our chances but we couldn’t cash in," Hewitt said. "They did."

Georgia completed a football-basketball sweep of its state rival, following an upset win on the gridiron with an even more improbable victory on the court.

"Just like football!" the red-and-black-clad fans chanted at the end in a half-filled arena.

Georgia Tech won only two games in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season. But Hewitt signed one of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting classes and everyone expected a major turnaround, especially when Lawal decided to come back for another year rather than enter the NBA draft.

A talented roster isn’t everything, though. McPhee, who walked on for the Bulldogs, doubled up Georgia Tech’s top recruit, Derrick Favors, who got into foul trouble and was held to eight points

Each loss puts more pressure on Hewitt, who hasn’t come close to matching his best season — a 2004 run to the national championship game. It doesn’t get any easier, either; next up is a home game Saturday against No. 5 Duke.

"As poorly as we played ... the game was right there," Hewitt said. "I still think this team has a pretty high ceiling."

Georgia showed right away it could hang with the Yellow Jackets, ripping off a 10-1 spurt that included a dunk by Thompkins and two straight baskets by Travis Leslie. Trailing 16-8, Georgia Tech was forced to call an early timeout just to slow the Bulldogs.

After the Yellow Jackets pulled ahead 26-25 on Zachery Peacock’s follow of a miss by Iman Shumpert, Georgia scored the final six points of the half for a 31-26 lead.

The Yellow Jackets’ offensive ineptitude really showed up on the last possession. With plenty of time to set up a play, they couldn’t even get off shot.

At the start of the second half, Georgia Tech again looked to have the upper hand when a turnover and fast break led to Favors’ dunk and a 36-33 lead. But Georgia didn’t wilt, answering right back with Dustin Ware’s 3-pointer.

The Bulldogs went ahead for good on Leslie’s two free throws with 9:50 remaining, though they never led by more than eight and that margin came in the closing seconds when Georgia Tech was forced to foul.

-- Paul Newberry

Women's Top 25

No. 22 West Virginia beats Pittsburgh 63-59

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Liz Repella scored all 16 of her points in the second half, and No. 22 West Virginia won its 12th straight, outlasting Pittsburgh 63-59 on Tuesday night.

Repella made two free throws with 6.3 seconds left to put the Mountaineers (14-1, 2-0 Big East) up by four points. The winning streak is West Virginia’s longest since winning 22 straight during the 1991-92 season.

Down 27-26, Repella made her first field goal and gave the Mountaineers their first lead of the second half. Her first 3-pointer with 14:33 left ignited a 12-5 run.

Jania Sims scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field for Pittsburgh (11-4, 0-2).

Pitt pulled within two points after Sims made two free throws with 15.7 seconds remaining, but West Virginia made four straight free throws, the last two by Repella, to seal the victory.

News & Notes

Toughness keys Missouri State turnaround

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Coaches love to talk about being tough, about fighting through screens, digging in defensively, finding energy when there’s nothing left.

Few know toughness like Missouri State’s Cuonzo Martin.

Walk past a dead body on the way to school or stare down mortality before turning 30 and toughness isn’t something to talk about. It’s ingrained.

So when Martin preaches toughness to his players, they listen and they have become one of the biggest surprises in college basketball because of it.

"We’re just playing basketball — he’s an inspiration," Missouri State sophomore forward Kyle Weems said.

Martin’s fortitude formed in the projects of East St. Louis.

The hard-scrabble Illinois city just across the Mississippi from St. Louis’ Gateway Arch has a checkered past. It’s had one of the highest crime rates in the U.S., been a so-called murder capital of the world. Martin grew up in "The Hole," a neighborhood where gangs, guns, drugs, death were part of everyday life.

Martin was never lured into this lurid world, kept busy by basketball and on the right path by a single mother who worked two jobs and raised four successful children, including a niece who Martin considers a sister.

"When you’re in it, you’re in it; it’s a lifestyle, it’s who you are," Martin said. "It’s just one of those deals where you find a way to make it work. My mom taught me, no one wants to hear excuses. If there’s an outlet and you can get through that crack, you make it work."

Basketball was Martin’s way to get through the crack.

It helped him navigate the rough streets; being an athlete, he was protected and even told by the drug dealers to steer away from their world.

Basketball took him to Purdue, where he won two Big Ten championships and became the Boilermakers’ 11th all-time leading scorer. It led him to a professional career, briefly with Milwaukee and Vancouver, eventually to Italy, where a life-altering event would test every bit of his toughness.

It happened in practice. Running up and down the floor, Martin couldn’t catch his breath, then collapsed. The team trainer, who spoke little English, could only say he had lost a lot of weight, more than 30 pounds.

After some tests, Martin was told he had bronchitis and, suspiciously, that he needed to return home right away. He left with his wife and infant son the next day and, upon arriving at his Indianapolis home, collapsed again. Martin was rushed to the hospital, where he was told he might die.

Not even growing up on the mean streets could prepare him for what the doctors found.

"Here you are playing, you’re 26 years old and they say you have cancer," Martin said. "The worst thing about it was the doctor — and it has to be that way — was his tone: "this is life threatening," like it was business as usual. I was like, man, where do I go from here?"

Into a fight for his life.

Because Martin’s cancer was at such an advanced stage, he was given medicine used for leukemia patients — essentially an experiment to see if he could be saved.

It took more than four months of agonizing chemotherapy, but Martin beat it. He returned to basketball to lead his CBA team in scoring, then moved into coaching after Purdue’s Gene Keady invited Martin to join his staff.

Twelve years after his diagnosis, Martin is healthy and his perspective sharper than ever.

"I look at my kids and it’s like what’s the point of living a bad life and being a bad person when you can be gone tomorrow," he said. "I’ve never been a bad guy anyway, but you start to realize what’s important in life."

Martin is relaying those lessons to his players.

Coming off an 11-win season, Missouri State won its first 10 games, including victories over Auburn and previously unbeaten Tulsa. The Bears are 12-2 heading into Wednesday’s game against Wichita State, their best start since opening 13-1 under Steve Alford in 1996, and the only losses were on the road to Arkansas (in overtime) and at Missouri Valley Conference favorite Northern Iowa.

"They’re really good," Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich said after a 68-64 loss to Missouri State last week. "I’m not inside their camp to know what’s going on, but obviously they’re doing a great job."

Additions are a part of it.

Eastern Kentucky transfer Adam Leonard has given the Bears a heady, clutch shooter at point guard. Center Caleb Patterson, a Colorado transfer, provides versatility. Junior college transfer Jermaine Mallett is an athletic wingman and guard Keith Pickens leads a solid freshman class.

The Bears also play gritty, in-your-face man defense and have interchangeable parts on offense that perfectly match Martin’s motion offense.

The biggest difference, though, is toughness.

In their second season under Martin, the Bears have bought into his tougher-than-the-next-guy approach, diving for loose balls, scrambling for rebounds, playing the kind of defense that makes opponents want to shove them away out of frustration.

"We’re working hard in practice every day and it carries over into the games," Leonard said. "We’re diving on the floor, elbowing each other, pushing each other."

Tough, just like their coach.

-- John Marshall

Orange ready to avenge first loss

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Now that their record has its first blemish, the seventh-ranked Syracuse Orange are eager to rebound after a home loss.

"We need to come out with intensity," forward Wes Johnson said as he prepared for Wednesday night’s game against Memphis in the Carrier Dome. "We can’t let them throw the first punch and then throw our first punch. We just waited for them (Pittsburgh) to throw punches and then tried to bounce back at the last minute. It is going to force us to go out and show these teams that we mean business."

The Orange (13-1) lost 82-72 to Pitt, which moved into the Top 25 after Saturday’s victory. Pitt turned up the defense, exhibited good patience in attacking the Orange’s zone, and left with its fourth straight win in the Carrier Dome.

Memphis (10-3) is intent on not repeating last year’s fiasco against Syracuse. The Tigers attempted 33 3-pointers and made just seven, missing 18 of 19 at one point in a 72-65 loss at FedExForum in December 2008.

"We just need to focus on doing our jobs," first-year coach Josh Pastner said.

"Against the zone, we’re just going to have to make sure we make the right passes, the extra pass, get good looks, and knock it down when we’re open."

In a 66-59 loss to Tennessee on Thursday, the Tigers were outrebounded 47-28 and the Volunteers held a 30-12 scoring advantage in the paint. That would seem to bode well for the Orange, who like to get the ball inside to center Arinze Onuaku and forward Rick Jackson, who both are 6-foot-9.

"They (Memphis) are a tough team," said Onuaku, who suffered a bloody cut under his left eye against Pitt and finished with nine points and only three rebounds before fouling out for the first time this season. "We just have to go watch film and work on bouncing back."

Memphis rebounded by trouncing Houston Baptist 93-52 at FedExForum on Sunday as five Tigers scored in double figures for just the second time this season.

Roburt Sallie, who has struggled to find his long-range touch all season, hit a season-high four 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 20 points. Elliot Williams scored 15 points on 4 of 8 shooting to go along with eight assists and four rebounds, and Wesley Witherspoon had 13 points, the fifth straight time he’s reached double figures.

Pitt’s tenacity seemed to catch some of the Orange a little bit off-guard, even though the Big East’s physicality is well-documented. The Orange say that won’t happen against the Tigers.

"It (the physical play) hasn’t really been something that I have been used to," said freshman point guard Brandon Triche, who missed all five 3s he attempted and had just one assist. "We try and match up well every game, but they (the Panthers) were playing so tough and so hard that I think we weren’t ready for it. We will definitely be ready for it in the next couple games."

The Tigers will have to guard against getting run out of the building, and they know it. Pitt limited Syracuse’s imposing transition game to just 10 points.

"Syracuse’s best offense is when they get in transition," Pastner said. "They run. I mean, they really run. All five guys. They don’t run a lot of set plays or anything that’s too complicated. Their best offense is going to be in transition and in offensive rebounding."

-- John Kekis

Cal’s Gutierrez out this week with knee injury

BERKELEY, Calif. — Guard Jorge Gutierrez, a top reserve for Pac-10 favorite California, is expected to miss at least the Golden Bears’ two games this week with a sprained right knee.

Gutierrez landed awkwardly on his surgically repaired knee with 7:20 remaining in the first half of a 92-66 victory over rival Stanford on Saturday in the team’s conference opener.

"It’s a tough loss for us having Jorge out," starting forward Theo Robertson said Tuesday. "Just pick up the slack. Jorge does a lot of everything, rebounding, defending. I’m fully confident the other guys will go out there and do the same thing."

The Bears (9-4, 1-0 Pac-10) take an 8-0 home record into their game Wednesday night against UCLA at Haas Pavilion, then host Southern California on Saturday.

Gutierrez, a sophomore, is averaging 5.7 points and 3.2 rebounds for Cal. Coach Mike Montgomery hopes Gutierrez soon will be able to start running and riding a stationary bike in order to be back for next week’s games at Washington State and Washington.

Gutierrez had surgery in the spring to repair a meniscus tear in the knee, but it still bothers him because there’s not as much cushioning in the knee.

"His knee’s bad," Montgomery said. "There’s nothing structurally wrong other than what was wrong before. It’s hard to replace a guy like Jorge just because of the intangibles he brings. We’re going to need to get that."

Cal has won five of six games, with its only loss in that stretch coming at top-ranked Kansas, 84-69, on Dec. 22. The Bears were 13th in the AP preseason poll but fell out of the rankings following losses to Syracuse and Ohio State in New York on Nov. 19-20.

The Bears are picked to win the conference after placing third in the Pac-10 last season — five spots higher than they were predicted to finish — and getting 22 victories in Montgomery’s first year in Berkeley.

-- Janie McCauley

Xavier G Lyons out with bruised knee

CINCINNATI — Xavier guard Mark Lyons will miss at least two games with a bruised knee, a significant setback to the Musketeers as they start the Atlantic 10 season.

Lyons suffered a severe bone bruise in his left knee during a 96-92 double-overtime loss at Wake Forest on Sunday. He’ll sit out games at La Salle and at George Washington, then be re-evaluated.

The freshman had started the last five games, earning a significant role in Xavier’s offense. He averaged 10.2 points as a starter and has reached double figures in seven games overall.

Xavier (8-5) is the three-time defending A10 regular season champion.