Kentucky Has South Carolina Off Balance

Jeff Sheppard scored 16 points to lead five Kentucky players in double figures and the sixth-ranked Wildcats gained a measure of revenge against No. 14 South Carolina with a 91-70 victory Tuesday night at Lexington, Ky.

South Carolina (10-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) swept the Wildcats last season in winning the conference regular-season title. Kentucky (15-2, 4-0) can gain a sweep this season when the teams meet again Feb. 28 in Columbia, S.C.

The victory was the 1,700th for Kentucky, the winningest program in college basketball history. North Carolina is next with 1,692.

No. 9 Purdue 68, Illinois 58--Brad Miller scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds at Champaign, Ill., as the Boilermakers (15-3, 3-1) handed Illinois (11-6, 3-1 Big Ten) its first conference loss.

Purdue held Kevin Turner, the Illini’s leading scorer at 18.1 points a game, to seven points, and Jarrod Gee, averaging 8.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, was held scoreless and had only one rebound as the Boilermakers won for the fourth time in a row at Champaign.

Clemson 86, No. 17 Florida St. 65--Point guard Terrell McIntyre scored 15 points and was back at full speed for the Tigers, who used a 17-8 run to hand visiting Florida State (12-5, 1-4) its third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference loss.

McIntyre sat out three games and spent most of a month recovering from a right foot injury. He did not start for Clemson (11-5, 2-2), but he quickly made his presence felt.

Providence 76, No. 15 Syracuse 64--Jamel Thomas scored 19 points and Kendrick Moore added 17 as the visiting Friars atoned for a humiliating loss to Syracuse six days earlier.

It was only the second victory for Providence (7-7, 2-3 Big East) in 17 games in the Carrier Dome, and it was especially sweet after the Friars lost, 77-59, at home to Syracuse (14-2, 4-1) last week.

Providence scored the first 18 points, and its tough defense proved too much for the Orangemen. Syracuse shot 30.8% and was only two of 18 on three-point shots.

N.C. Charlotte 66, No. 23 Marquette 53--Kelvin Price had personal bests of 20 points and 16 rebounds at Charlotte as North Carolina Charlotte (7-5, 3-0 Conference USA) extended its winning streak to four games.

Marquette (10-3, 1-3) shot only 32%--including 22% in the first half--and had 20 turnovers on the way to its third consecutive loss.

No. 10 Connecticut 80, Seton Hall 59--Richard Hamilton scored 21 points as the Huskies pieced together a 15-0 run around halftime and then sailed to a victory at Hartford, Conn.

UConn (15-2, 5-1 Big East) took a 32-27 lead with an 8-0 run right before halftime and then built on it with a quick 7-0 spurt that took the life out of Seton Hall (8-8, 2-4).

No. 20 Rhode Island 84, La Salle 73--Joshua King scored 24 points at Philadelphia as Rhode Island won its fifth consecutive game, all over schools from Pennsylvania.

The Rams (11-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10) took command early in handing La Salle (4-9, 0-4) its fourth consecutive loss and seventh in the last eight games.