I The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 5, 1998 - 13A continue tear, beat Ohio Stat Illinois grabs sole possession of second place with victory over Minnesota COLUMBUS (AP) - The best kept- It was also the Buckeyes' 14th Big Ten loss Michael Redd, leading the Big Ten in secret in the Big Ten is also the best team in in a row, extending another school record. ing for freshman, topped Ohio State wit the Big Ten. The 26-point loss tied the third-largest points but was just 7-of-17 from the field Jason Klein scored a career-high 25 points margin ever for Ohio State at home. 9-of-16 at the foul line. No. 16 Michigan State moved to its best For those who haven't been paying atten- Ken Johnson added a career-high s art ever in the Big Ten with an 84-58 victo- tion, the Spartans are much more than streak- points. ry over beleaguered Ohio State last night. shooting point guard Mateen Cleaves. ILLINOIS 68, MINNESOTA 56 "I guess you can add me to the growing "It seems like every day somebody comes Kevin Turner scored 19 points last n list of coaches who have seen Michigan out the woodwork," Michigan State coach and Illinois beat Minnesota, 68-56, to m State play and have been impressed with Tom Izzo said. into sole possession of second place in them," Ohio State's Jim O'Brien said. This time it was Klein, a junior who had Big Ten. "They are a tremendous basketball team. never before scored more than 17 points. It was Minnesota's lowest point total o They do a lot of great things. One of the big "Mateen has shouldered most of the load year. The previous Gopher low was things is their depth. They bring it to you all year," Klein said. "Now there are other against Michigan on Jan. 20. for 40 minutes. guys." The Illini (8-2 Big Ten, 16-7 overall) "And they are hungry - very, very hun- Klein had 14 points as Michigan State an 8-0 run to take a 13-8 advantage and n1 " built a 45-31 halftime lead, then scored the trailed after that. The first-place Spartans (16-4 overall) first four points of the second half on two Their biggest lead of the first half was moved to 9-1 in the Big Ten, their best record foul shots and a 15-foot jumper after he was 27, but they couldn't pull away. through 10 games since joining the confer- intentionally fouled on a fast break. The Gophers (2-8, 9-12) added a ba ence in the 1950-51 season. It was their sev- Klein, averaging 10.6 points a game, was just before the halftime buzzer to trim enth straight win and 12th in the last 13 10-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-5 margin to 40-29. games. from 3-point range. Illinois, which trails first-place Michi By contrast, the loss was the 11th in a row He also had five rebounds and an assist. State by a game in the conference, opene for Ohio State (0-8, 7-14), extending the "Coach told me to shoot the ball, shoot the a 59-44 lead with 5:30 remaining, and longest losing streak in the school's 99 years ball," Klein said. "And Mateen did a great closest Minnesota could get was seven po ying the sport. job of distributing the ball." the rest of the way. Kansas rolls over Iowa St.; Kentuck 0 scor- h 23 d and 14 night move nthe f the 57, used ever s40- asket nthe igan d up d the ioints AP PHOTO Minnesota's Sam Jacobsen attempts to pass against Illinois last night. The illini's 68.56 victory over the Gophers gave them sole possession of second place in the Big Ten. Illinois is 8-2 in the conference, one game behind first-place Michigan State. Ly survives scare from LSU AMES, Iowa (AP) - Paul Pierce scored 19 points, Lester Earl added 18 and No. 3 Kansas finished strong after a sluggish stretch to beat Iowa State, 83-62, last night. Kansas (9-1 Big 12, 25-3) ensured itself of a ninth-straight 25-win season and ran up its largest victory margin in Ames in 27 years. Iowa State (3-6, 0-12) trailed by just nine points midway through the second half but couldn't stay with the Jayhawks down the stretch. Ryan Robertson scored 14 points for Kansas, including 10 during a 25-6 run that broke it open in the second half. Raef LaFrentz, the Monona, Iowa, native playing in his home state for the final time, added 12 points - the fewest in the four games he has played since returning from a broken hand. Marcus Fizer and Paul Shirley led Iowa State with 15 points each. Kansas led by 12 points at halftime, then scored only four baskets in the first 9:57 of the second half. But the Jayhawks kept Iowa State under wraps and the closest the Cyclones got was 47-38 on Fizer's follow shot with 10:32 remaining. No.8 KENTUCKY 63, LSU 61 Wayne Turner's basket with 2:37 to play gave Kentucky its final points of the game but the eighth-ranked Wildcats held on for a 63-61 victory over LSU last night. Turner's field goal gave Kentucky (9-1 Southeastern Conference, 20-3 overall) a 63-56 lead. Reggie Tucker made two free throws with 2:23 left to bring the Tigers (2-8, 9-11) within five points. Maurice Carter's 3-pointer with 1:06 left brought LSU within 63-61 and the Tigers had a chance at tying the game, but Carter's shot bounced off the rim as time expired. Jeff Sheppard led 11 Kentucky scorers with 12 points, while Turner and Scott Padgett each had 11. Carter had 19 points for LSU, while Willie Anderson had 16. MIAMI 64, PROVIDENCE 54 Tim James scored six points down the stretch last night to help Miami to a 64-54 victory over Providence, the Friars' fourth loss in a row. Miami (8-4, 15-5) closed within percent- age points of Big East 7 leader Syracuse (7- 3). The losing streak for the Friars 3-8, 8-12) is their longest in six seasons. After the Friars closed within 50-47, James made two consecutive baskets and Steve Frazier added a 3-pointer to give the Hurricanes a 57-47 lead with 4:50 to go. Miami regulars Johnny Hemsley and Lucas Barnes again sat out the game for violating team rules. Hemsley has missed two games and Barnes three. Mario Bland led the Hurricanes with 15 points, while Frazier added 13, Mike Byars-Dawson 12 and James 10. Kendrick Moore led Providence with 21 points, while Jamel Thomas added 15. Miami scored 13 consecutive points in the first half, but John Linehan's 3-pointer gave Providence a 31-30 halftime lead. But the Hurricanes went ahead to stay at the start of the second half, scoring eight consecutive points, including consecutive 3-pointers by Vernon Jennings and Kevin Norris, for a 38-31 lead. The Hurricanes overcame 18 turnovers, including an errant pass directly to coach Leonard Hamilton. Women's NCAA Roundup No. 1 TENNESSEE 91, MIssIssIPPI 45 Chamique Holdsclaw had 17 points and 10 rebounds as top-ranked Tennessee beat Mississippi, 91-45, on last night. Tennessee (10-0 SEC, 24-0 overall) start- ed the game with a 10-0 run and shot 58 percent from the field in the first half on the way to its 30th straight victory. Semeka Randall scored 19 points to lead a balanced attack by the Lady Vols. Tamika Catchings had 15 points and Kellie Jolly added 11. Tarsha Bethley scored 16 points to lead the Lady Rebels (2-9, 9-15), who were 20 percent from the field in the first half on 8- of-40 shooting. Mississippi got as close as 12-5 on a 3- pointer by Becky Myatt with 16:05 left. But with the score 36-13, Tennessee fin- ished the first half with an 18-4 run to lead 54-17 at the break. No. 2 CONNECTICUT 85, WEST VIRGINIA 68 Svetlana Abrosimova scored 20 points and No. 2 Connecticut went on a big run early in the second half to come from behind and beat West Virginia, 85-68, last night. Paige Sauer scored 18 points and Nykesha Sales added all 17 of her points in the second half as Connecticut (12-0 Big East, 22-1 overall) won its 52nd consecu- tive conference game. West Virginia (6-7, 10-10) got into foul trouble early with starters Talisha Hargis and Ilse Opstaele eventually fouling out. The Huskies had won by an average of 41 points in two previous games in the Coliseum. lW AP PHOTO Miami (Fla.) dealt Providence its fourth consecutive loss, the longest streak in six years for the Friars. With 15 points, Mario Bland led the Hurricanes in scoring. p 1 " Take a break and learn about the challenges and possibilities facing students in the nation's most under-resourced urban and rural public schools. University of Michigan Thursday, February 5th @ 8:30 p.m. Kuenzel Room-Michigan Union