Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!maytag!looking!clarinews From: clarinews@clarinet.com (TOM WITHERS, UPI Sports Writer) Newsgroups: clari.sports.basketball Subject: College Basketball Roundup Keywords: basketball, men's college Message-ID: Date: 16 Jan 90 08:19:59 GMT Lines: 85 Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com ACategory: sports Slugword: bkc-colbkrup Priority: major Format: summary ANPA: Wc: 852; Id: s0365; Sel: ns--s; Adate: 1-16-320aes; Ver: sked Codes: yskcmxx. Whether it is football or basketball, defense is the key to winning in the rugged Big Ten. The Michigan Wolverines proved that Monday night. The No. 7 Wolverines won for the first time at Illinois since 1979, holding the sixth-ranked Fighting Illini to 41 percent shooting, in a 74-70 Big Ten victory. Michigan ended Illinois' 28-game home winning streak in the first meeting between the two schools since last year's memorable NCAA tournament semifinal matchup in which the Wolverines won in the final seconds. Michigan limited Illinois to 29 of 71 field-goal shooting Monday and outrebounded the Illini 41-31. ``I told the kids in the locker room, in my eight years at Michigan, this is the best defense we have played,'' Wolverines Coach Steve Fisher said. ``If you don't defend and rebound, you can't win. ``Anytime you can go anywhere on the road and win, it's a big victory. To come in to a place like Champaign, Illinois, and beat this team here, it's very significant and important. I'm glad we don't have to come and play them again here this year.'' Terry Mills scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and Sean Higgins added 16 points for the Wolverines, 12-2 and 2-1. Loy Vaught had 14 rebounds. Stephen Bardo led the Illini, 12-2 and 2-2, with a career-high 20 points and Kendall Gill had 15. ``You can't shoot 40 percent and win. You can't beat an average team shooting 40 percent,'' Illinois Coach Lou Henson said. ``Hustle and guts will only take us so far. We have to shoot.'' Michigan downed the Illini 83-81 in their Final Four game last year when Higgins buried a jumper in the final seconds. Michigan went on two capture the NCAA title. Higgins had three 3-pointers in the first half Monday and four for the game. ``I think I shot one of nine here last year, and I wanted to redeem myself,'' Higgins said. ``It was like we won the national championship after the game.'' Michigan never trailed. The Wolverines led 37-33 at halftime and increased their lead to 10 when Demetrius Calip hit two free throws to make it 54-44 with just over 14 minutes remaining. Illinois closed the gap to 62-60 with 7:51 left and drew withing 71-70 when Gill hit one of two free throws with 33 seconds left, but Vaught hit two free throws and Rumeal Robinson one to ensure the victory. Elsewhere in the Top Twenty; Connecticut surprised No. 5 Syracuse 70-59; ninth-ranked Nevada-Las Vegas defeated Fresno St. 84-75; No. 18 Xavier of Ohio buried the District of Columbia 110-52; and co.-No. 19 La Salle downed Canisius 89-77. At Hartford, Conn., Tate George and Chris Smith scored 17 points apiece and Connecticut benefited from another poor Syracuse shooting performance to upset the Orangemen. Syracuse, 12-2 and 4-2, made just 25 of 71 field-goal attempts (35 percent). The Huskies, 14-3 and 4-2, led from the opening minutes, and built a 30-14 lead in the first half. The Orangeman got no closer than four points the rest of the way. The victory was Connecticut's fourth straight in the Big East, only the second time in the league's 11-year existence that the school has won four consecutive conference games. At Fresno, Calif., Larry Johnson scored 28 points to lead the Runnin' Rebels to the Big West victory. Johnson hit 11 of 14 shots, including 7 of 7 in the second half. He also grabbed nine rebounds. Tod Bernard led Fresno State with 27 points. Nevada-Las Vegas improved to 11-3 and 5-1 while the Bulldogs dropped to 6-8 and 1-4. At Cincinnati, Tyrone Hill scored 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first 10 minutes to lead the 18th-ranked Musketeers. The margin of victory was the largest in school history for Xavier, which improved to 12-1. UDC, 9-10, is playing at the Division I level for only the second year. At Philadelphia, Lionel Simmons scored 27 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to power the Explorers. Simmons scored seven points during a 10-0 run that extended a 43-42 lead to 53-42 with 14 minutes to play. Doug Overton added added 21 points for La Salle, which improved to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Dyall Nixon led Canisius, 2-12 and 0-6, with 23 points. Elsewhere it was: Massachusetts 82, St. Bonaventure 55; Penn St. 64, Duquesne 56; Clemson 117, Georgia St. 59; Richmond 51, Wake Forest 49; Virginia Commonwealth 86, Jacksonville 81, OT; Virginia 89, Virginia Military 78; Akron 80, Wright St. 66; St. Louis 66, Butler 64; New Orleans 75, Tulane 59; Colorado St. 65, Wyoming 57; Long Beach St. 72, New Mexico St. 56; San Jose St. 66, Fullerton St. 60; Santa Barbara 91, Utah St. 82 and Washington 83, Miami (Fla.) 67. -- This, and all articles in this news hierarchy are Copyright 1990 by the wire service or information provider and licenced to Clarinet Communications Corp. for distribution. Except for free samples, only paid subscribers may access these articles. Any unauthorized access, reproduction or transmission is strictly prohibited. We will reward the first provider of information that helps us stop violators of this copyright. Send reports to reward@clarinet.com.