Michigan State Closes In on Big Ten Championship

Jason Klein scored 22 points and fourth-ranked Michigan State inched closer to the Big Ten Conference title with an 82-69 victory over No. 17 Purdue on Tuesday night at East Lansing, Mich.

Klein, who had only eight points at halftime, made seven of 10 shots, including five of seven from three-point range.

The Spartans, 23-4 overall and 12-1 in the Big Ten, can clinch at least a share of the regular-season championship with a victory Thursday night against Michigan at Ann Arbor. Last year, a late-season loss to Purdue forced the Spartans to share the regular-season championship with Illinois.

If Ohio State should lose at Indiana tonight, Michigan State could win the title outright at Michigan.

Any hopes that Purdue (18-8, 6-6) had of an upset this time were dashed almost single-handedly by Klein.

The Spartans, holding a 39-27 lead at halftime, fed the ball to Klein and he scored Michigan State’s first 11 points in a spectacular one-man burst to open the second half. He capped the run with consecutive three-point baskets, sending the Breslin Center crowd of 14,659 into a frenzy.

“I knew I was getting shots early in the game, and it kind of got away from me a little bit,” Klein said. “Then, at the start of the second half, I kind of got on a little roll.

“That second three-pointer, hearing the crowd get into it then, that was great. We could really feed off that. That was quite a feeling.”

Jaraan Cornell scored 21 points for Purdue.

No. 2 Connecticut 77, Rutgers 64--The Huskies didn’t look as good as they did for the 10 weeks they were ranked No. 1, but they had enough for a Big East win over the Scarlet Knights (17-8, 9-6) at Storrs, Conn.

Connecticut (23-1, 14-1) broke the 70-point mark for the first time in five games, but again an injury was the main concern at game’s end. Starting center Jake Voskuhl sat out almost the entire second half because of a sore left foot, the same one that caused him to sit out the game with Syracuse, the Huskies’ only loss.

Richard Hamilton, the team’s leading scorer at 21 points a game, again struggled from the field in his third game back after sitting out two games--one the loss to Syracuse--because of a thigh bruise. He scored 21 points on five-of-16 shooting.

No. 15 Miami 103, Villanova 82--Johnny Hemsley scored 26 points to lead the Hurricanes (18-5, 12-3) over the Wildcats (18-8, 9-7) in a Big East game at Miami.

Tim James added 22 points for Miami, which made a season-high 61% of its shots and scored 100 points in a Big East game for the first time.

John Celestand scored 25 points for Villanova.

No. 23 Florida 74, Arkansas 61--Kenyan Weaks made four three-point shots and scored 18 points to lead the Gators over the Razorbacks in a Southeastern Conference game at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida (18-6, 9-5) made 12 of 23 three-point shots--accounting for all but eight of its field goals--and made at least 10 long-range baskets for the 11th time this season.

Arkansas (18-8, 7-6) made only five of 27 three-point shots, including two air balls and one shot that glanced off the side of the backboard.

WOMEN

No. 1 Tennessee 113, Memphis 39--Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings each scored 23 points as the Volunteers (24-1) forced the Lady Tigers (17-7) into 46 turnovers at Knoxville, Tenn.

No. 5 Old Dominion 90, William & Mary 57--Mery Andrade scored 18 of her season-high 25 points in the first half as the Lady Monarchs (20-3, 13-0) rolled over the Tribe (12-11, 5-8) at Norfolk, Va., for their 77th consecutive Colonial Athletic Assn. victory.

No. 7 Rutgers 72, St. John’s 55--Usha Gilmore scored 16 points for the Lady Knights (23-4, 15-1) in a Big East victory over the Red Storm (11-16, 6-10) at New York.

No. 19 Iowa State 55, No. 21 Kansas 52--Megan Taylor scored 25 points, including two key free throws in the final seconds, as the Cyclones (18-5, 10-3) held off the Jayhawks (19-7, 9-4) in a Big 12 game at Lawrence, Kan., spoiling Marian Washington’s bid for her 500th victory.

No. 22 Auburn 89, South Alabama 50--Tasha Hamilton and Conswella Sparrow scored 15 points each and the Tigers (19-5) pulled down nearly three times as many rebounds as the Jaguars (7-14) at Auburn, Ala.

No. 23 Louisiana State 91, Southeastern Louisiana 45--Reserve Kisha James scored 18 points in 18 minutes to lead the Tigers (19-6) over the Lady Lions (7-14) at Baton Rouge, La.