SPORTSWIRE: Arizona whips No. 17 Wolverines in second stanza

UK ends NIT champs' perfect season; Buckeyes fall to Marquette; 'Nova tops Marist Ninth-ranked Arizona took over at the start of the second half last night and went on to a 78-57 victory over No. 17 Michigan in the closing game of the inaugural Great Eight. Last season, Arizona handed the Wolverines their worst loss in two seasons, 119-95 in the finals of the Fiesta Bowl Classic, as Khalid Reeves, now in the NBA, scored 40 points. The Wildcats did it with balance this year as senior guard Damon Stoudamire had 24 points, senior Ray Owes added 17 points and 14 rebounds and junior Joseph Blair had 10 points and 10 rebounds. After Arizona led 32-31 at the half, Michigan opened the second half looking like a weary team. The Wildcats had a 20-3 run before the Wolverines made their first field goal of the half, 7:31 in. By that time it was 52-34 as Michigan missed its first six shots of the half and committed seven turnovers. The crowd of 18,885, which had been heavily pro-Michigan at the start as expected, was booing lustily as Michigan missed shot after shot. Seniors Jimmy King, who missed 10 of his first 11 shots from the field, and Ray Jackson, who missed nine of his first 11, took the brunt of the displeasure. King, Jackson and freshman Jerod Ward all finished with 11 points. The Wolverines never got closer than 61-48 with 4:42 to play. Michigan is 0-2 against schools from Arizona this season. The Wolverines also lost to Arizona State in the semifinals at Maui. · No. 3 Kentucky 79, No. 14 Ohio U. 74 LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Rodrick Rhodes hit a free throw and short jumper to help No. 3 Kentucky withstand a late rally by No. 14 Ohio University in a 79-74 victory last night. Tony Delk and Walter McCarty led Kentucky with 17 points apiece, followed by Anthony Epps with 15 and Mark Pope with 11. The Wildcats also held a 42-36 edge on the boards behind Pope's 11 rebounds. Ohio's Gary Trent, who came in averaging 25.8 points and 14.5 rebounds, had 21 points and 10 rebounds but made only six of 17 shots. Geno Ford and Gus Johnson each contributed 17 points. Ohio (4-1), the Preseason NIT champion, went on a 14-2 run to close to 66-64 on Mike Reese's three-pointer from the right wing with 3:20 remaining. Rhodes, who finished with nine points, hit one of two free throws after being fouled by Reese 22 seconds later. Ohio's Jeff Boals' then missed a 3-point attempt with 2:31 to go, and Rhodes pulled up for a short jumper 18 seconds later to give Kentucky (2-0) a 69-65 advantage. Pope, fouled every time he touched the ball, scored Kentucky's next five points from the free throw line as the lead went to 74-67 with 47 seconds left. · Marquette 82, Ohio St. 70 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Anthony Pieper scored 15 of his career-high 22 points in the second half as Marquette overcame a 10-point deficit to beat Ohio State 82-70 last night. Roney Eford scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds and Amal McCaskill had 11 points for the Golden Eagles (2-0). Rick Yudt and Tony Watson each had career highs for Ohio State (1-2), scoring 23 and 20 points, respectively. But the other three starters for the Buckeyes combined for just 10 points. Ohio State scored the first eight points of the second half -- five by Yudt and a three-pointer by Robert Shelton -- to go ahead 47-37 at the 17:47 mark. After a timeout, however, Marquette not only came back but also took over the game. Elford opened the surge with a 12-footer while being fouled as the Golden Eagles ran off nine points in a row to pull to 47-46. · No. 24 Villanova 80, Marist 59 VILLANOVA -- Kerry Kittles didn't care much about going over the 1,000-point mark. The Villanova junior scored 19 points last night, increasing his career total to 1,005, and led the 24th-ranked Wildcats to an 80-59 victory over Marist College. Jason Lawson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, leaving Marist coach Dave Magarity impressed with the sophomore center. Eric Eberz scored 16 points for Villanova (3-1), which used a 21-8 run in the first half to build a 33-16 advantage with 6:42 to go. The Wildcats shot for 18 for 30 in the half -- including six of seven from three-point range -- with Eberz connecting on three of four. A steal and layup by Alvin Williams gave Villanova a 61-43 lead with 12:22 remaining, and a layup by Kittles gave them their biggest lead, 70-45 with 9:37 remaining. Kittles career point total reached 1,005 points by game's end. Danny Basile had 15 points for Marist (2-1), with Alan Tomidy adding 13 points and Dexter Dunbar 10. Villanova leads 4-0 in the all-time series between the schools. · No. 23 Virginia 94, N. Carolina A&T; 50 CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Junior Burrough scored 24 points and Virginia scored on 22 of its first 25 possessions of the second half yesterday to beat North Carolina A&T; 94-50. The 23rd-ranked Cavaliers (2-1) outscored the Aggies (1-1) 62-20 in the second half, shooting 70 percent from the field and scoring more points than they managed in 12 of their 31 games last season. Cory Alexander had 10 assists in the second half and finished with 14 to tie a school record set by John Crotty in 1991. Alexander and Curtis Staples each had 17 points. John Floyd led the Aggies with 12 points. · Princeton 70, Lafayette 52 EASTON -- Sydney Johnson led three Princeton players in double figures as the Tigers defeated Lafayette 70-52 last night. Princeton raced to a 39-16 halftime lead, thanks to seven three-point baskets, two apiece by Chris Long and Jason Osier. Johnson capped a 15-8 Princeton run midway through the second half, giving the Tigers their largest lead of the game at 64-31. Long and center Steve Goodrich added 10 points each for Princeton, while Chris Doyal grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Craig Kowadla led Lafayette with 15 points. The Leopards shot just 34.8 percent from the floor, including 23.8 percent in the first half. · No. 19 Georgetown 99, Morgan St. 63 LANDOVER, Md. -- Don Reid had 21 points and freshman guard Allen Iverson added 18 last night as No. 19 Georgetown rebounded from a season-opening loss by beating Morgan State 99-63. Georgetown (1-1) was coming off a 97-79 loss to defending national champion Arkansas on Nov. 27. The Bears (0-2) were clobbered in their first game of the season, dropping a 45-point decision at Iowa. The Hoyas jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the opening 4:20 and were never seriously challenged, holding a 47-27 lead at halftime and never leading by less than 23 through the latter part of the second half. George Butler added 16 points and Othella Harrington 10 for Georgetown. Brandon Battle and Terrence Hunter each had 15 points for Morgan State. Terrence Wright added 11 points. · No. 13 Wisconsin 61, Wis.-Green Bay 57 MADISON, Wis. -- Undersized Wisconsin-Green Bay is still overachieving, but the Phoenix couldn't overcome Rashard Griffith as No. 13 Wisconsin escaped with a 61-57 victory last night. Griffith, who scored 21 points, made a basket with 4:12 left put Wisconsin (2-0) on top 58-45 before the Phoenix used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 58-45 with a minute remaining. Wisconsin's Michael Finley missed a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, but the Badgers got the ball back when Ben Berlowski stepped out of bounds trying to save the ball. Freshman Sean Daugherty then sank two free throws with 24 seconds left to make it 60-55. · Miami 66, Robert Morris 51 MIAMI -- Steven Edwards scored 25 points to lead Miami to a 66-51 victory over Robert Morris yesterday. With the game tied at 17 in the first half, Edwards sparked a 12-2 run by scoring consecutive three-point field goals. After being fouled, he made two free throws to give Miami a 29-17 lead with 2:33 left in the first half. Edwards scored 15 points in the first half. · PITTSBURGH -- Penn State coach Bruce Parkhill came away from a game against Duquesne with a 70-69 win and respect for an opponent who made it tough. The difference wound up being a free throw with three seconds left by a player -- Pete Lisicky -- whose college experience totals 35 minutes in two games. · St. Francis 52, Bucknell 49 LEWISBURG -- Rob Wooster scored 14 points and made three of four free throws in the final 24 seconds to give St. Francis a 52-49 win over Bucknell Wednesday night. Brian Anderson's three-point try from the top of the key missed as time expired. St. Francis (1-1) won despite shooting just 33 percent from the field (18-54); Bucknell (0-3) shot 43 percent from the floor but committed 23 turnovers, 10 more than the Red Flash. Celtics 118, Pistons 115 BOSTON -- Dino Radja scored 26 points and the Boston Celtics survived a late three-point barrage by Detroit as they got above .500 for the first time this season with a 118-115 win last night. The Pistons made five three-pointers in 1:07 to close a 110-100 deficit to 116-115 with six seconds remaining. Dominique Wilkins then made two free throws for Boston with five seconds to go. The Celtics, who never trailed, got a season-high 21 points from Rick Fox, 18 from Wilkins and 16 from Dee Brown. Radja had 12 rebounds. The Pistons were paced by Terry Mills with a season-high 37 points, Grant Hill with 19 and Oliver Miller with season highs of 18 points and 15 rebounds. · Magic 114, Kings 107 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando set a franchise record with their eighth consecutive win and Shaquille O'Neal scored 41 points as the Magic beat the Sacramento Kings. Anfernee Hardaway added 23 points and 11 assists. Nick Anderson had 22 points for the Atlantic Division-leading Magic. Mitch Richmond led the Kings with 20 points, 16 before halftime. O'Neal had 29 points in the first half and Anderson scored 16 in the second quarter when Orlando pulled away after struggling offensively in the first 12 minutes. · Hornets 105, Heat 87 CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Larry Johnson scored 23 points and Miami led only once -- after the opening basket -- as the Charlotte Hornets beat the Heat. Johnson narrowly missed posting the Hornets' first triple-double of the season, getting 10 rebounds and nine assists. After starting the season 0-3, the Hornets have won three consecutive games and seven of their past 10. Alonzo Mourning had 20 points for the Hornets, while Scott Burrell and Dell Curry each added 19. Kevin Willis and Harold Miner led the Heat with 14 apiece. · Cavaliers 117, Lakers 79 CLEVELAND -- Danny Ferry scored seven quick points off the bench during a demoralizing 11-0 run in the second quarter as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the weary Los Angeles Lakers. The loss, one of the most lopsided in Lakers history, stopped their five-game winning streak and sent them home with a 3-1 record for their four-game road trip. · Bulls 118, Suns 105 CHICAGO -- Scottie Pippen scored 35 points on 13-for-17 shooting and the Chicago Bulls withstood a late surge to beat Phoenix and end the Suns' four-game winning streak. Toni Kukoc added 19 and Greg Foster a season-high 16 for the Bulls. Pippen also had nine rebounds, six assists and five steals. LEESBURG, Va. -- Chances for congressional intervention in the baseball strike decreased yesterday when the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said the government shouldn't get involved. Henry Hyde, an Illinois Republican, stated his view as part of the dissenting report filed with the House of Representatives on the final day of this session. ''Simply put, Congress should not intervene in an ongoing collective bargaining dispute unless a national security interest is involved,'' said the report, signed by Hyde and six other Republicans who opposed the bill passed by the Judiciary Committee in September. ''Congress should not intervene but, rather, allow the collective bargaining process to continue.''