ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Rudy Johnson scored 16 points and fourth-ranked Connecticut tied a school record with its 17th consecutive win, defeating Pittsburgh 69-63 in a Big East conference game in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
The Huskies (18-1, 8-0), who haven't lost since Nov. 24 against Iowa, tied a school record set by the 1952-53 and 1953-54 teams. They will try to set a new mark Sunday against Virginia.
Garrick Thomas had 16 points for Pitt (8-7, 3-4).
In other games:
No. 5 Cincinnati 71, DePaul 61: In Cincinnati, Danny Fortson, shackled most of the game by DePaul's sagging defense, led a decisive spurt in the closing minutes as the Bearcats pulled away from the Blue Demons.
Cincinnati (13-1, 4-1 Conference USA) had to rely almost exclusively on its 3-point shooting against DePaul's tight zone defense until Fortson, its leading scorer, took over.
Bryant Bowden led DePaul (7-10, 0-6) with 17 points.
No. 10 Utah 68, UTEP 54: Brandon Jessie scored 18 points and the Utes beat the Miners in El Paso, Texas, in the Miners' first game since coach Don Haskins suffered a heart attack.
Haskins, who has coached at UTEP for 35 years, had a mild heart attack Saturday and underwent triple-bypass surgery. He is not expected to return to the bench this season.
Carl Davis led UTEP (10-7 overall, 2-6) with 14 points. Utah is 15-3, 7-1.
UNC Charlotte 79, No. 24 Marquette 69: In Charlotte, N.C., the 49ers held the Golden Eagles to 18 points in the first half and made 16 of 18 free throws down the stretch to win the Conference USA match.
DeMarco Johnson scored 22 points for the 49ers (10-6 overall, 4-1), who led by as many as 24 points.
Aaron Hutchins led Marquette (12-4) with 23 points, all in the second half.
Temple 59, Duke 58: Derrick Battie had 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Marc Jackson hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds to play as the Owls downed the Blue Devils in a non-conference matchup in Philadelphia.
Temple (10-7) rallied from a 10-point deficit with 8:17 to play.
Chris Collins led Duke (11-7), which had won two in a row, with 22 points.
Xavier, Ohio 60, La Salle 59: In Cincinnati, Lenny Brown hit the game-winning jump shot with four seconds to go and finished with 18 points as Xavier of Ohio (8-7 overall, 4-1) defeated the Explorers in an Atlantic 10 game.
Romaine Haywood led La Salle (4-13, 1-5) with 17 points.
Rhode Island 86, St.Joseph's 83: In South Kingston, R.I., Tyson Wheeler scored 18 points and the Rams used a balanced attack and good free-throw shooting as they held off a last-minute rally by the Hawks in an Atlantic 10 game.
Rhode Island improved to 11-5 overall, 3-2.
Mark Bass, hitting five of 11 3-point attempts, led St.Joseph's (7-6, 2-2) with 18 points.
Virginia Western C.C. 107, New River C.C. 73: Treymayne McHeimer scored a game-high 27 points and Keith Agee added 24 as Virginia Western (5-3) ripped New River Community College in Roanoke.
New River (0-6) was led by Chad Owen, who scored 15.
Women
Roanoke 80, Eastern Mennonite 70: Former Blacksburg standout Suzanne Moore scored a game-high 21 points to lead Roanoke to an 80-70 Old Dominion Athletic Conference win over Eastern Mennonite in Harrisonburg.
Eastern Mennonite (9-7, 7-6) got 17 points from Keri Boutrager. The Maroons are 11-3, 9-2.
Virginia Tech 70, La Salle 65: Michelle Hollister scored 17 of her career-high 29 points in the second half as the Hokies overcame a 15-point deficit to defeat the Explorers (10-6, 3-3) in an Atlantic 10 matchup in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech (4-10 overall, 2-3) snapped a four-game losing streak.
Radford 104, Liberty 52: Kim Hairston, a former Bassett standout, led five Highlanders in double figures with 22 points as Radford dominated the Flames in a Big South game in Radford.
The Highlanders (8-8, 4-1) have won three consecutive games and six of their past seven. The Flames fell to 4-12, 0-5.
Randolph-Macon Woman's ollege 69, Hollins 65, OT: Jennifer Baptist scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Randolph-Macon Woman's College over Hollins in an overtime game in Lynchburg.
Amy Worley (Blacksburg) scored 32 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Hollins.
Randolph-Macon 85, Washington and Lee 45: Former Cave Spring standout Aimee Beightol scored 12 points and Jenn Kohler and Ashley Whitehurst had 10 each as the Yellow Jackets (16-1, 12-1) whipped the Generals in an ODAC game in Lexington.
The Generals (2-11, 1-10) were led by Tonia Dean, who scored 15 points.
Maryville 101, Ferrum 75: Jamie Parrott scored 25 points as seven of eight Maryville players hit double digits in a win over the Panthers in Maryville, Tenn.
Kia Williams scored 29 points and Aimee Barker added 28 for Ferrum.
Wednesday's game
No. 15 UCLA 99, Southern Cal 72: Charles O'Bannon scored a career-high 27 points as the Bruins (13-4, 6-1) rebounded from their first Pacific-10 Conference loss by routing the visiting Trojans in a heated game between crosstown rivals that produced two ejections.
UCLA guard Kris Johnson and Southern Cal forward Jaha Wilson were tossed out for unsportsmanlike conduct. Brandon Martin led USC with 22 points.
Notes
NMSU PRESIDENT UNDER FIRE: Although a subordinate signed a letter responding to complaints about anti-Semitic locker-room graffiti, it was New Mexico State University president J. Michael Orenduff's letter, a spokeswoman says.
The letter criticized Long Beach State coach Seth Greenberg, a former Virginia assistant, for taking NMSU to task for the ethnic slur left in the 49ers locker room Monday night.
Greenberg, who is Jewish, said the slur plus racial harassment of his players from the stands reflect badly on NMSU and the state of New Mexico.
CAMBY HAS DOUBTS: Marcus Camby says his body is fully recovered from his unexplained collapse, but he still needs to put his mind at rest.
``I still have my doubts,'' he said before practice Thursday. ``But I'll have to block it out when I go out on the court. I won't really know until I get out there.''
Camby and coach John Calipari say the star center will play Saturday when top-ranked Massachusetts hosts St. Bonaventure.
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