COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Chaney Absent, Defense There in Temple Victory

Though he scored 24 points in No. 13 Temple’s 65-56 Atlantic 10 victory over St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night, Eddie Jones couldn’t wait for the game to end.

He and his teammates are tired of hearing questions about Coach John Chaney, who missed the game at Olean, N.Y., while he served a one-game suspension imposed by the school after he charged Massachusetts Coach John Calipari after Temple’s 56-55 loss Sunday.

“We can’t wait until this whole thing blows over,” Jones said. “It’ll be nice to have coach back.”

Chaney is expected to return when Temple plays No. 5 Louisville on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

In Chaney’s absence, his trademark zone defense was the key to Temple’s victory. “He’s irreplaceable,” assistant Jim Maloney said, “but there’s a John Chaney stamp on this team that followed without him.”

Temple (18-4, 11-3) beat the Bonnies (9-12, 3-8) for the 23rd time in a row.

No. 1 Arkansas 102, Alabama 81--Corliss Williamson scored 10 points in the first four minutes of the second half at Fayetteville, Ark., as the Razorbacks (19-2, 9-2) avenged a Southeastern Conference loss to Alabama (13-8, 8-4) that had knocked them from the No. 1 spot earlier in the season.

Oklahoma St. 63, No. 4 Kansas 59--Brooks Thompson forced overtime with a jump shot with 10 seconds to play, then sank two free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime to seal the upset victory for the Cowboys (17-7, 6-3 Big Eight) over Kansas (21-4, 6-3) in Stillwater, Okla.

No. 6 Duke 84, Virginia 54--Grant Hill and Antonio Lang scored 15 points each in the first half at Durham, N.C., for the Blue Devils (18-3, 9-3 Atlantic Coast).

No. 7 Michigan 89, Iowa 76--Juwan Howard scored 24 points at Ann Arbor, Mich., and the Wolverines (18-4, 10-2 Big Ten) won their seventh game in a row.

No. 9 Purdue 67, No. 24 Wisconsin 64--Glenn Robinson, the Division I scoring leader, had 27 points and 16 rebounds at West Lafayette, Ind., where the Boilermakers (21-3, 9-3 Big Ten) withstood a late three-point assault by Wisconsin (15-6, 6-6).

No. 12 Missouri 79, Iowa St. 72--Jevon Crudup scored eight of their 14 points in overtime as the Tigers (19-2, 10-0 Big Eight) escaped with a victory at Iowa State.

Tulane 66, No. 21 Alabama-Birmingham 60--LeVeldro Simmons scored 16 points, including the clinching free throws with 39 seconds remaining, as the Green Wave (13-9) upset Alabama-Birmingham (18-5) at New Orleans.

No. 17 Florida 91, Georgia 79--Craig Brown and Dan Cross each scored 21 points for the Gators (20-4, 10-2 SEC) in a victory over the Bulldogs (11-12, 5-6) at Gainesville, Fla.

No. 23 Cincinnati 78, No. 18 Saint Louis 73--Curtis Bostic scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half at Cincinnati where the Bearcats (17-7, 5-4 Great Midwest) beat the Billikens (19-3, 5-3).

No. 20 Minnesota 94, Penn St. 66--Voshon Lenard scored 30 points for the Gophers (18-7, 8-4 Big Ten) in a victory over Penn State (10-10, 3-8) at Minneapolis.