December 27 , 2006 - SPORTS NEWS - SPECIAL EDITION MARCH MADNESS COLLEGE BASKETBALL SPORTS NEWS

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COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): lsu gets fina ltune up before sec play begins. Before opening the new year against two powerhouses, LSU looks to close this year with success in the Hispanic College Fund Classic. The event will include three games in three days for the 19th-ranked Tigers, starting with a matchup against Wright State on Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Oddsmakers have LSU listed as 20 1/2-point favorites. The total is set at 123. After facing the Raiders (5-5) for the first time, LSU (7-3) hosts Mississippi Valley on Thursday and Samford on Friday. The Tigers have not played on consecutive days since last season`s SEC tournament when they lost to Florida in the semifinals. LSU tries to build some momentum against inferior opponents in the Hispanic College Fund Classic before hosting No. 9 Connecticut on Jan. 6, and opening its SEC schedule at No. 8 Alabama on Jan. 9. The Tigers bounced back from an 88-72 loss to then-No. 17 Washington last Wednesday with a 68-52 win over Louisiana Tech on Saturday, but their shooting woes continued. LSU hit 42.3 percent from the field and made 6-of-19 from 3-point range Saturday, and is shooting just 40.7 percent from the floor in six games this month. It was a workmanlike victory, coach John Brady said. I was not tremendously excited or disappointed. Preseason All-American forward Glen Davis was 4-of-11 from the floor, but made 15 of 18 free throws to finish with 23 points. Davis had a season-low eight points on 3-of-11 shooting in the loss to the Huskies. Although the Tigers are struggling to find their shooting touch, Brady has been impressed with transfer Terry Martin`s accuracy. Playing his second game after transferring from Texas Tech, Martin came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range. We didn`t shoot the ball as we would have liked on the perimeter except for Terry Martin, Brady said. I knew Terry can score the ball. Another positive thing is that Terry`s teammates look for him. Martin is 8-for-13 (60.0 percent) from beyond the arc this season. While LSU`s offense is struggling, its defense held Louisiana Tech to 35.6 percent from the field. The Tigers are limiting opponents to an average of 52.8 points and 33.0 percent shooting in six home games this season. They will host a Raiders team which has shot 36.0 percent in its last three games. LSU improved to 5-1 at the Maravich Center with Saturday`s win, its 13th in a row at home over unranked opponents. Wright State is 2-4 on the road this season, but has had recent success against ranked teams. The Raiders have alternated wins and losses in their last four games against ranked opponents, but haven`t played a Top 25 team since an 83-66 loss to No. 7 Arizona on Nov. 18, 2004. Senior DaShaun Wood`s two free throws with 5.4 seconds left gave Wright State its second straight win on Thursday, 63-62 over Chicago State. Wood finished with a season-high 25 points, six rebounds and four assists, and is averaging 22.3 points in his last four games. The Raiders play Samford on Thursday, and conclude the round-robin tournament against Mississippi Valley on Friday. NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS: (associated press): can uconn keep home streak alive. Looking to extend its school-record home winning streak to 30 games, No. 9 Connecticut meets Coppin State on Wednesday at the Hartford Civic Center in its last game before opening conference play. Oddsmakers have not yet released a line. Connecticut (10-0) hasn`t suffered a home loss since falling to then-No. 2 North Carolina 77-70 on Feb. 13, 2005. The Huskies continued their home dominance with an 86-66 win over Pepperdine last Wednesday in Hartford. Center Hasheem Thabeet hit all seven of his shots and finished with a career-high 15 points while forward Jeff Adrien was 6-of-6 and had 14 points. Thabeet and Adrien each had seven rebounds as UConn finished with a 48-28 advantage on the boards. We got tested, said coach Jim Calhoun, whose team led by only four points at halftime and allowed an opponent to shoot over 40 percent for the first time all season. Calhoun is five wins shy of 500 at the school and seven short of 750 for his career. The Huskies have played all 10 of their games at home - only one came against a team from a major conference - but open their Big East schedule on the road Saturday against a West Virginia team which is 9-1. We`re not going to be blowing people out by 40 points in the Big East, Connecticut guard Doug Wiggins said. It`s going to be tough in the Big East. Guards Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price lead UConn in scoring with 13.7 points per game, and Adrien is third at 13.5. Defense, though, has been a big reason behind Connecticut`s second straight 10-0 start and fifth in 21 seasons under Calhoun. The Huskies lead the country with 10.5 blocks per game, including 4.4 from the 7-foot-3 Thabeet, and are averaging 8.7 steals. They`ve limited opponents to 34.0 percent from the field - second-best nationally behind Southern California (33.4). Coppin State (2-9) enters this contest having dropped four in a row overall, and its 0-9 road record is tied for second-worst in Division I with Nicholls State. Only Winston-Salem State at 0-11 has a worse road mark. Coppin State is hoping to avoid a second straight lopsided defeat to a ranked team, having lost 99-49 to then-No. 10 Alabama on Saturday. It was the Eagles` second-largest margin of defeat this season to a 94-43 loss to Virginia Tech on Nov. 10. Our team played today with a lack of enthusiasm, Coppin State coach Ron Fang Mitchell said. Alabama had their way with us. They shot the ball tremendously in the first half, and we could never really get out of it. Coppin State`s opponents are shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from 3-point range this season. Tywain McKee again was the Eagles` top scorer on Saturday despite being held to 12 points. He is the only Coppin State player to average double digits in scoring at 18.4 points per game. Forward Antwan Harrison is second at 9.1. UConn has won both matchups all time against Coppin State by an average of 33.5 points. This is the first meeting since February 1999.

NCAA BASKETBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press) : duquense coach hospitalized. Duquesne University basketball coach Ron Everhart was hospitalized with abdominal pain and will miss Thursday night`s game at Boston College. Oddsmakers have not yet set a line. The 44-year-old Everhart became ill on Christmas and went to the hospital that day. He is currently taking antibiotics for a gastrointestinal problem, and is expected to remain hospitalized for 4-5 days. Ron is in good spirits and is focused on getting well, athletic director Greg Amodio said. Assistant coaches Kim Lewis, Daryn Freedman and Richard Pitino will coach the Boston College game. The Dukes` first season under Everhart was disrupted before it began when five players were shot following an on-campus party Sept. 17. Two players, Stuard Baldonado and Sam Ashaolu, are expected to miss the season because of gunshot injuries, and two other currently ineligible players are continuing to heal from their injuries. Duquesne opened the season with two victories, then dropped its next seven games before beating St. Francis, Pa., 72-71 on Friday. The three victories match the Dukes` total from last season, when they went 3-24 under former coach Danny Nee NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press): kansas beats boston college. Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush triggered a 24-4 run in the first half and No. 12 Kansas raced past Boston College 84-66 on Saturday despite an outstanding effort by the Eagles` Sean Williams. The Jayhawks covered the spread as 10-point favorites. The final score played over the 136-point total set by oddsmakers. The 6-foot-10 Williams, the NCAA leader in blocked shots, had 19 points and 15 rebounds - both career highs - to go with seven blocks. With three more blocks, Williams would have joined Magic Johnson as the only opponent to ever record a triple-double against Kansas. Chalmers had 22 points for Kansas (10-2) while Julian Wright had 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Jayhawks were leading 21-19 with 8:22 left in the first half when Chalmers and Rush took charge. After three quick baskets made it 27-20, Rush came back in after sitting out with two fouls and the foul-plagued Jayhawks went into an uncharacteristic 2-3 zone. Wright hit a 3-pointer, then the sellout crowd of 16,300 jumped to its feet when Sasha Kaun took a bullet pass from Wright and slammed home a jam for a 35-20 lead. A 3-pointer by Chalmers and Darnell Jackson`s jam ended the run, putting Kansas on top 45-23 at halftime. Boston College (7-3), which had won six straight, twice got within 13 points in the final minutes. Jared Dudley had 14 points and eight rebounds for Boston College, but was held to 4-for-12 shooting from the field by Kansas` alternating man-to-man and zone defenses. Marques Haynes and Tyrese Rice each had 11 points for the Eagles. NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS- (associated press): tennessee covers in ot vs texas. Chris Lofton scored a career-high 35 points, including a key 3-pointer to give Tennessee its first lead in the second half, and the Volunteers held off Texas in overtime to win 111-105 on Saturday. The Vols covered the 5 1/2-point spread and the total played over. Tennessee (10-2) came back from 17 points down in the second half to take the lead 88-87 when Lofton hit a 3 with 18.1 seconds left in regulation. Texas (8-3) couldn`t get the ball inbounds amidst the deafening cheering, and the Vols got it back. Ramar Smith was fouled and made one of two free throws to put Tennessee ahead by two. Texas set up its final play, and big freshman Kevin Durant drove to the basket and scored with 1.1 seconds left to tie it at 89 and send the game into overtime. Lofton hit his career-tying seventh 3 of the game to start overtime. D.J. Augustin answered with a basket for Texas to cut it to 92-91, but that was as close as the Longhorns would get the rest of the way. Tennessee went 8-of-10 from the foul line in the final 1:12. JaJuan Smith added 19 points, and Wayne Chism had 18 for Tennessee. Duke Crews scored all of his 16 points in the second half, and Ramar Smith added 15 points and nine assists for the Vols. Lofton also had 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. Durant led Texas with 26 points, Augustin had 20, A.J. Abrams added 17 and Justin Mason had 15 before fouling out. The Longhorns, who have the youngest starting lineup in school history, looked like they were headed for an easy victory to avenge last year`s stunning 95-78 loss to the other UT in Austin last year in coach Bruce Pearl`s first season. But once again Pearl found a way to win with the youngest team he`s ever coached, overcoming Texas` dominance in the first half and bigger speedy players. At 6-foot-9, Durant proved tough to guard, but he picked up his fourth foul late. Tennessee led 11-5 after a hot start, but it was short lived. The Vols went cold, and Texas reeled off a 17-2 run to take the lead and go up by nine with 10:35 remaining. Tennessee went nine minutes between field goals - both shots by JaJuan Smith. His 3-pointer cut it to 24-20 with 8:31 remaining in the first half, but Mason hit one at the other end for Texas. The Vols have won six in a row after loss to No. 2 North Carolina on Nov. 24. Their wins include Memphis, Western Kentucky and Oklahoma State on Monday.

NCAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press): tennessee star breaks hand.

Tennessee starting point guard Jordan Howell has a broken right hand and will be out at least a month, team officials said Friday. Howell, a junior, injured his shooting hand Thursday during practice. He broke the same hand before practice began in October and missed the first month of the season. Associate athletics trainer Chad Newman said Howell is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks. He said the two breaks were not the same. The Volunteers (9-2) are 5-0 with Howell as a starter. He has only eight turnovers in 174 minutes. Howell replaced freshman Ramar Smith in the starting lineup after Tennessee`s loss to North Carolina in the NIT Season Tip-Off. FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (covers.com): top ten ats teams as of 12/27. 1 Davidson 2 Mississippi St. 3 Pepperdine 4 UC Santa Barbara 5 West Virginia 6 UCLA 7 Arkansas St. 8 Butler 9 Buffalo 10 Purdue

FREE COLLEGE BASKETBALL PICKS- (associated press) ill-chicago coach takes leave of absence.

Illinois-Chicago basketball coach Jimmy Collins took a personal leave of absence from the team beginning Saturday. UIC athletic director Jim Schmidt announced in a release that there is no timetable for the return of Collins, who is in his 11th season with the Flames and the school's all-time winningest coach. Associate head coach Mark Coomes took over and guided UIC to a 77-69 loss to Illinois State on Saturday afternoon. It was the first loss in five home games this season for the Flames (6-8). Collins, 56, became UIC coach on March 27, 1996, after 13 years on the staff of Lou Henson at Illinois. He has a record of 168-146 with NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998, 2002 and 2004. Coomes also was a long-time assistant under Henson before coaching at Wabash Valley College from 1994-96. He came to UIC as part of Collins' staff. Collins has a wife and four children. COLLEGE BASKETBALL FREE PICKS: (associated press) foot injury sidelines cal center. California center DeVon Hardin will miss eight to 12 weeks with a stress fracture in his left foot, sidelining the Golden Bears' best post player for most of the Pac-10 season. Hardin injured his foot late in the first half of an 84-50 win against Furman on Tuesday night. The school said he will have surgery on Friday. Hardin was averaging 10.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game for the Bears (8-3) and leads the team with 21 blocked shots. Hardin is expected back between Feb. 15 and March 15. Cal already lost center Jordan Wilkes to a season-ending knee injury in November.

NCAA BASKETBALL PICKS: (associated press): st. johns suspends center. Senior center Aaron Spears was suspended Wednesday from the St. John's basketball team for a violation of team rules. The 6-foot-10 Spears, who was averaging 2.8 points and 3.2 rebounds for the Red Storm (6-3) this season, will not practice with the team or compete in any games during the suspension, coach Norm Roberts said. "Playing basketball at St. John's University is a privilege," said Roberts, who did not disclose the violation. "We have expectations for our basketball student-athletes, and there are consequences for when those expectations are not met. That being said, we do anticipate Aaron's return to the team after an appropriate amount of time." St. John's hosts New Jersey Tech on Thursday night.