SPORTS WIRE: No. 3 Arkansas snaps Kentucky's home-court regin

Gopher down Buckeyes: Robinson paces Purdue to victory; Shaq beats up on Hawks The Razorbacks ended the fourth-ranked Wildcats' 33-game homecourt winning streak as Clint McDaniel and Scotty Thurman led a second-half surge that carried them to a 90-82 victory last night. Arkansas (17-2, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) was the last team to beat the Wildcats in Rupp Arena went it took a 105-88 win on Jan. 25, 1992. Arkansas used a pressing defense to spread Kentucky out of its offense and gain control of the game. The Razorbacks also got some help from Kentucky's Rodrick Rhodes to turn the game's momentum in the first half. Rhodes hit two 3s and completed a three-point play during a 12-0 run that gave Kentucky a 39-24 lead with 4:46 remaining in the half. But Rhodes turned to goat when he was assessed an unsportsmanslike technical foul for having words with Corey Beck. Arkansas responded with eight straight points and rallied to trail 47-41 at halftime. Kentucky (18-4, 7-3), which had won five straight, led 54-49 on Jared Prickett's layup with 15:15 to go. Beck then ignited a 19-3 run by Arkansas with a driving layup. McDaniel scored nine points and Thurman added seven as the Razorbacks went up 68-59 at 9:21. Rhodes completed a three-point play and made three of four free throws in the next two minutes as Kentucky cut the margin to 68-65. Thurman's 8-footer with 4:51 to go increased Arkansas' lead to 78-71. Kentucky's Travis Ford connected on a 3-pointer from the corner, and after Arkansas' Corliss Williamson made one free throw, Ford hit another 3 to cut it to 79-77. After an Arkansas turnover, Ford misfired from 3-point range with 1:37 left, and four seconds later Williamson scored a layup to give Arkansas a four-point cushion and the Razorbacks were firmly in control to the end before the third largest crowd in Rupp Arena history (24,326). · No. 23 Minnesota 79, Ohio St. 73 MINNEAPOLIS -- Voshon Lenard scored 14 of his 24 points in the final 10 minutes last night and No. 23 Minnesota shot 75 percent from the field in the second half to beat Ohio State 79-73. The Gophers (16-7, 6-4 Big Ten) needed the hot shooting to overcome a 35-30 rebounding edge by Ohio State, which entered the game last in the Big Ten in that category. Lenard, who has struggled with his shot this season, hit six of seven shots in the second half, scored all but seven of the Gophers' final 19 points and got hot after the Buckeyes (10-11, 3-7) threatened a comeback. Twelve of his points came on 3-pointers. Randy Carter had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which had lost six straight to the Buckeyes. Anderson fouled out with 19 points for Ohio State, and Jamie Skelton added 18. Lawrence Funderburke had 14 points, four in the second half. After Antonio Watson's free throw tied it, Minnesota scored 10 straight points over a two-minute span to take a 54-44 lead with 10:22 remaining. The run started with consecutive 3-pointers by Arriel McDonald and Townsend Orr. McDonald hit another jumper and Carter's layup ended the burst. But the Buckeyes came right back when Skelton scored five points in three seconds. That's when Lenard came alive to thwart any hopes of an Ohio State rally. · No. 20 Florida 74, Mississippi 55 OXFORD, Miss. -- Craig Brown is not the Florida guard who has won Southeastern Conference player of the week awards the last two weeks. He did put in a strong bid for consideration next week. Brown had 21 points, 13 rebounds and six assists last night as the Gators moved to a two-game lead in the SEC Eastern Division with a 74-55 victory at Mississippi. Brown scored 14 points before halftime, including eight straight during an early two-minute span. After Brown got his own rebound and hit a short jumper, the Gators led 10-4 and he took a breather. Florida (19-3, 9-1), which has won five straight and 12 of 13, has a two-game lead over No. 4 Kentucky. The Wildcats lost 90-82 to No. 3 Arkansas last night. Ole Miss (11-8, 4-5) had won six of seven, but got as close at it would get in the second half at 49-43 on Jarrell Evans' layup. The bucket came after Cedric Brim had knocked down a Florida inbounds pass following David Dean's three-point play. Dan Cross, the SEC player of the week the past two weeks. then hit a free throw and a short jumper as Florida scored seven straight points. The Gators outscored Ole Miss 25-12 the rest of the way. The Gators never trailed after Ole Miss' initial basket, and responded to every Rebel spurt with a bigger one of their own. · No. 10 Purdue 98, Northwestern 81 WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- It took Glenn Robinson less than nine minutes to reach his 44th consecutive double-figure scoring game last night and he had 22 points in the first half to spark No. 10 Purdue past Northwestern 98-81. Robinson, who brought a 28.8 scoring average into the game, finished with 29 points as the Boilermakers substituted frequently with the outcome decided early. The victory moved Purdue into a second-place tie with Indiana in the Big Ten, one game behind Michigan. Purdue (19-3, 7-3) never trailed as it opened a 13-4 lead. The Boilermakers then pulled away with 15 consecutive points to defeat Northwestern (9-9, 0-9) for the 21st time in 22 games. Northwestern's only victory came last year when the Wildcats recorded a 62-59 triumph to snap a 60-game road losing streak. The Wildcats, playing their first game since coach Ricky Byrdsong asked for and received an indefinite leave of absence for reasons that were not publically disclosed, were down 31-23 following Kevin Rankin's jumper with 6:02 left in the first half. A three-point play by Matt Waddell with 5:11 remaining in the half started the decisive Purdue streak. Robinson made a layup and four free throws in the streak, which ended on a short jumper by Porter Roberts with 2:56 to go. A 3-pointer by Todd Leslie with 2:35 left ended Northwestern's scoring drought and the Wildcats trailed 50-28 at halftime as they shot 34 percent in the half (12-for-35). Northwestern never drew closer than 13. The Wildcats cut their deficit to 89-76 on a short jumper by Cedric Neloms, who led Northwestern with 24 points. But Cuonzo Martin made a free throw for Purdue with 1:27 left and Justin Jennings took the rebound of his missed second shot and scored to end the comeback bid. Purdue was 19-for-38 from the field in the first half and also dominated the boards 28-18. Martin had 17 points, while Waddell added 12, Roberts 11 and Jennings 10. Patrick Baldwin scored 15 for Northwestern, which dropped its ninth consecutive game, and Rankin had 14. Magic 104, Hawks 87 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Shaquille O'Neal scored 37 points and Dennis Scott led Orlando out of a shooting slump with 24 last night as the Magic stopped a three-game losing streak with a 104-87 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta fell behind in the first quarter as Orlando had a 13-1 run. The Magic made 11 of 13 shots in the second period for a team-record 85 percent, and hit 70 percent of their attempts in the opening half to break the game open before halftime. O'Neal dominated inside, making 14 of 20 shots, while Scott contributed timely perimeter shooting with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Magic stay ahead.