Syracuse Looks Like Old Self

In a season that has not lived up to expectations, Syracuse’s 62-60 victory at No. 12 Villanova on Monday was a welcome respite.

The Orangemen, coming off a 73-58 home loss to Notre Dame on Saturday, got a much-needed boost from Todd Burgan, who returned from a seven-game suspension for breaking university rules.

Burgan had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Orangemen, 11-7 overall and 2-5 in the Big East. Syracuse has three starters back from last season’s Final Four team and was ranked 12th in the preseason poll.

“This is a game we can hang our hats on. We haven’t had much this year,” said Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, whose team didn’t get a field goal for almost six minutes.

“When [we were behind], 12-0, I thought getting Todd back wasn’t going to matter. With Todd, I like our chances.”

Freshman Tim Thomas, who led Villanova (14-4, 5-3) with 23 points, missed a running shot near the basket with five seconds to play. Alvin Williams got the rebound, but his three-point try bounced off the rim.

“They did a great job of spreading us out in the second half,” Villanova Coach Steve Lappas said. “I thought we got pretty good shots, but if we don’t make the shots, it starts to affect us on the defensive game.”

No. 20 Texas Tech 70, Oklahoma St. 64--Rayford Young’s five consecutive points late in overtime and Tony Battie’s dominance throughout sparked the Red Raiders at Lubbock, Texas.

The Cowboys (9-7, 1-4) took the early lead in overtime on Maurice Robinson’s three-point play. As they did for most of the game, the Red Raiders (13-3, 5-1) trailed until Young’s heroics in a Big 12 Conference game.

OTHER GAMES

Jerry Tarkanian’s current team beat the school at which he built his coaching legacy as Daymond Forney scored a career-high 24 points to lead Fresno State (12-6, 4-0) to a 93-82 Western Athletic Conference victory over UNLV (11-5, 3-2) at Fresno. . . . Anthony Parker scored 16 points and Bayo Akinkunle had 15 as Bradley (6-9, 3-4) defeated Northern Iowa (8-6, 4-3), 67-61, in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Cedar Falls, Iowa. . . . Ace Custis scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as Virginia Tech (9-7, 3-3 Atlantic 10) rallied for a 57-46 victory over La Salle (7-6, 2-2) at Richmond, Va.

College Basketball Notes

Wyoming guard LaDrell Whitehead, the WAC’s leading scorer, could sit out the rest of the season because of a dislocated left elbow. . . . Damon Flint, starting guard for No. 9 Cincinnati, was suspended for tonight’s game at North Carolina-Charlotte for being more than an hour late for practice. . . . Kansas, the lone unbeaten team in Division I, led the Associated Press rankings for the eighth consecutive week and was the first unanimous No. 1 choice since Duke in the 1991-92 season. Clemson (16-1) moved up one spot to No. 2 and Kentucky (16-2) jumped two places to No. 3. Colorado (14-3) entered the rankings at No. 18. . . . A fire caused at least $100,000 damage to Miami’s basketball office before dawn, and water damage left locker rooms and a weight room unusable. . . . Guard Ricky Moore and center Kirk King cannot travel with Connecticut while suspended, leaving in doubt whether they’ll face Miami Wednesday.