COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Perryman Not Down as Texas Stays Up

You have to say this for Texas guard Brandy Perryman--he didn’t let a bad situation keep him down.

Perryman, an 83% free-throw shooter, missed two free throws with 6.6 seconds left that could have clinched a victory, then stole an inbounds pass with 2.7 seconds left to preserve Texas’ 74-72 victory over No. 11 North Carolina Saturday at Austin, Texas.

After the missed free throws and a timeout, Perryman anticipated the inbounds pass of North Carolina’s Vince Carter, intercepted it near midcourt and ran out the clock, ending a winning streak at seven games for North Carolina (9-2).

“After the free throws, I was really down,” Perryman said. “Before they inbounded, I was thinking, ‘If we make a play here we win.’ I think it’s the fastest I moved all year.”

Texas (7-2, with losses to Utah and Louisville) built a 17-point lead in the first half with its three-point shooting (nine of 18) and trapping defense.

North Carolina stepped up its perimeter pressure on Texas’ leading scorer Reggie Freeman and Perryman midway through the second half and went on a 10-0 run that cut the deficit to five at 59-54 with 7:47 left.

Texas maintained five- to seven-point leads until guard Shammond Williams slashed through the Longhorns for layups on consecutive possessions to pull the Tar Heels to 74-72 with nine seconds left, setting the stage for Perryman’s goat-to-hero antics.

Forward Sonny Alvarado led Texas with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Freeman had 18 points and Perryman had 17, including five three-point baskets in the first half.

Forward Antawn Jamison had 14 points and 15 rebounds for North Carolina.

No. 5 Cincinnati 103, McNeese State 69--Danny Fortson scored a career-high 39 points in 25 minutes as the Bearcats (8-0) continued their dominant ways at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati went unbeaten through December for the first time since 1976-77, when it opened the season 12-0. The Bearcats have beaten their opponents by an average of 29 points a game.

Fortson, a 6-foot-9, 260-pound forward, hit 15 of 18 shots from the field as McNeese State (4-3) had matchup problems once 6-foot-9, 275-pound Donald Fisher got into foul trouble. Fortson had 13 points during a 22-1 run that came after the Bearcats had fallen behind, 17-11.

McNeese State made 36% of its shots from the field and had 22 turnovers. Cincinnati came into the game with the nation’s second-ranked field-goal percentage defense (36%).

No. 6 Georgetown 123, St. Leo 65--The Hoyas (11-1) had the second-highest point total in their history in beating up on their traditional Division II patsy at a neutral site in Lakeland, Fla. Georgetown’s highest point total came in a 126-51 victory over St. Leo in 1986.

St. Leo (3-7) had turnovers on 12 of its 24 possessions during the first 11 minutes in falling behind 35-15.

Allen Iverson had 33 points to lead the Hoyas to their eight victory in a row.

No. 7 Connecticut 102, Hartford 63--Coach Jim Calhoun got his 200th victory at Connecticut in a nonconference game at Hartford.

Calhoun has a 200-97 record at Connecticut and is 450-234 overall in 24 collegiate seasons.

Guard Ray Allen made 11 of 14 shots from the field to score a game-high 26 points and center Travis Knight had a career-high 18 for Connecticut (10-1). The Huskies led, 57-33, at halftime and after scoring the first seven points of the second half, Hartford was never closer than 30.

No. 8 Villanova 71, Delaware 58-- The Wildcats (10-1) trailed by four points with 15 minutes remaining on their home court before going on a 25-5 run.

Forwards Eric Eberz (17 points) and Chuck Kornegay (14 points and 11 rebounds) helped Villanova overcome guard-oriented Delaware (4-4), which forced 10 turnovers in the first half and limited Kerry Kittles to 12 points for the game.

No. 12 Illinois 85, North Carolina State 76--Guard Kiwane Garris scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half to allow the Illini (11-1) to overcome a 13-point deficit in the fifth-place game of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.

Illinois outscored North Carolina State, 33-14, in an 11-minute span. Guard Ishua Benjamin had given the Wolfpack (7-2) its big lead by scoring nine unanswered points. He finished with 20.

No. 16 Georgia 86, Jacksonville 59--The Bulldogs (9-1) increased their win streak to six games, with their superior depth proving to be the difference at Athens, Ga.

Georgia reserves scored 23 points in the first half as the Bulldogs also used a 15-0 run to take a 30-19 halftime lead. Jacksonville (5-4) went scoreless from the field for a span of 8:06 in the half.

Shandon Anderson had 17 points to lead Georgia, which had five double-figure scorers.

Jacksonville’s Artemus McClary led all scorers with 21 points, but was only six for 21 from the field.

No. 18 Missouri 95, Hawaii 89--Jason Sutherland made all nine of his shots from the field and had 27 points for the Tigers (8-4) in the seventh-place game of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

Anthony Harris had 27 points for Hawaii (3-5).

No. 19 Michigan 82, Davidson 70--Guard Louis Bullock made all nine of his free throws, including five in the final minutes, as the Wolverines (10-3) bounced back from Thursday’s two-point loss to Nevada Las Vegas in the consolation game of the UNLV Holiday Classic.

Forward Maurice Taylor led Michigan with 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting from the field. Forward Quinn Harwood had game highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds for Davidson (6-3).

No. 20 Duke 87, Northeastern 56--The Blue Devils (9-2) scored on their first 19 possessions at Boston to win their fourth game in a row.

Duke made 15 of its first 19 shots from the field and converted the four misses into baskets after rebounds. The Blue Devils led at halftime, 48-25, as Northeastern (1-8) committed five turnovers in a row near the end of the half.

Jeff Capel had 19 points for Duke, which had five double-figure scorers.

The crowd of 5,820--primarily made up of area Duke alumni--was a Northeastern record.

No. 22 Virginia 76, Liberty 48--The Cavaliers (5-3) scored 12 unanswered points to start the game and stayed in control at Charlottesville, Va.

Forward Courtney Alexander had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Virginia. The Cavaliers’ top player Harold Deane did not start because of flu. He had 10 points and one assist in 28 minutes.

Liberty’s leading scorer, center Peter Aluma, was held to eight points--10 below his season average--and made his first and only field goal with 3:55 left in the game. Liberty (4-4) made only five of 27 shots (19%) from the field in being outscored, 40-19, in the second half.

No. 24 Clemson 67, Campbell 43--The Tigers (9-0) extended their record against nonconference opponents to 15-0 in the two seasons that Coach Rick Barnes has been at Clemson with a home-court victory.

Clemson made 13 of 21 shots from the field for a 12-point halftime lead but couldn’t pull away until Campbell (4-4) went cold from three-point range. The Camels finished with four-of-21 shooting on three-point attempts.

Oral Roberts 90, No. 25 Tulsa 78--The Golden Hurricane (5-1) was making its first appearance in the national rankings in 10 years but blew a 14-point lead at Tulsa.

Oral Roberts (4-4) shot 62% from the field against a team that had held opponents to a national-low 34% shooting. It was the first time since 1987 that the Eagles had beaten their crosstown rivals.

Tulsa guard Shea Seals scored a game-high 24 points.

OTHER GAMES

Louisville (8-4) avenged last season’s stunning 12-point loss to Towson State (4-4) with a 96-72 home-court victory. Louisville held leads of 20 or more points most of the game despite the play of Towson State’s 6-2 forward Ralph Blaylock, who had a career-high 30 points and made 13 of 19 shots from the field. . . . Forward Brian Evans had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Indiana (7-5) to an 82-62 victory over Weber State (6-5) and its 14th consecutive Hoosier Classic championship. . . . Coach Charlie Spoonhour’s current team, St. Louis, beat the one where he made a name for himself, Southwest Missouri State, 75-65 in overtime at St. Louis. Ryan Bettenhausen’s rebound and layup as time ran out sent the game into overtime for St. Louis (8-2). Southwest Missouri State is coached by former Indiana guard Steve Alford. . . . Tommy McGhee, a senior guard from Pontiac, Mich., scored 21 points to lead Rice (7-3) to a 65-57 victory over Central Michigan (3-5) in the championship game of the Spartan Classic in East Lansing, Mich. . . . Miami of Ohio raised its record to 8-0 with a 79-56 victory at Dayton.

Tulane (6-3) hit 34 of 51 shots from the field (67%) in a 100-75 victory over Mount St. Mary’s (4-4) at New Orleans. Mount St. Mary’s Coach Jim Phelan was not on the bench for just the second time in 42 years because of an undisclosed illness. . . . Purdue (10-2) made 29 of 33 free throws to hold off North Carolina Charlotte (5-3) for a 73-67 victory a tournament in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. . . . Forward Danya Abrams scored 10 of his 30 points in the final eight minutes as Boston College (8-2) blew a 17-point lead and then pulled away from Vanderbilt (9-3) for a 90-74 victory at Nashville. Guard Frank Seckar led Vanderbilt with 22 points, making five three-point shots. . . . Auburn improved its record to 12-1 with a 84-54 victory over Florida A&M; (4-5) in the championship game of the Capitol City Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.

Penn State (8-0) and Bradley (5-2) played in the championship game of the Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. In an earlier game, guard Marlon Garnett had 21 to lead Santa Clara (9-3) to a 71-66 victory over Georgia Tech (6-7). Yellowjacket guard Stephon Marbury had 22 points. . . . Oklahoma State (8-1), held to its lowest point total in 18 years in the first half (16), used a 19-4 run at the outset of the second half for a 49-41 victory over Temple (3-6) at Tulsa. . . . Florida (5-4) beat Oklahoma, 76-72, in overtime to prevent the Sooners (7-4) from winning their ninth consecutive All-College Tournament championship at Oklahoma City. . . . .