Lucas, Spartans cruise past Hawkeyes, 71-56

Published 1:37 am Friday, January 30, 2009

Kalin Lucas tied his career high with 24 points and No. 9 Michigan State cruised past Iowa 71-56 on Thursday night for its fifth straight Big Ten road victory.

Durrell Summers added 21 points for the Spartans (17-3, 7-1), who never trailed en route to their 13th win in 14 games.

Iowa cut a 22-point deficit to 61-52 with 5:55 left on consecutive 3-pointers by Jeff Peterson and Jermain Davis. Summers answered with a jumper and a layup, and the Spartans held the Hawkeyes scoreless for a stretch of nearly 4 1/2 minutes to seal the win.

Email newsletter signup

Peterson had 14 points for Iowa (12-9, 2-6), which lost for the fifth time in six games.

No. 12 Clemson 86, Virginia Tech 82

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — K.C. Rivers hit seven 3-pointers and scored 29 points and Clemson rallied from a 15-point deficit in the second half.

The Tigers (18-2, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) used an 18-0 run to get back in the game and then outscored the Hokies 8-2 over the final 2:08.

Malcolm Delaney had a career-high 37 points for Virginia Tech (14-6, 4-2).

David Potter of Clemson got open for a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 1:24 remaining and then Rivers came off a screen and hit a long 2-pointer with 48 seconds left. The Hokies never scored again.

Washington St. 65, No. 14 Arizona St. 55

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Freshman Klay Thompson scored a season-high 28 points and was 8-of-10 from 3-point range to lead Washington State.

Aron Baynes had 22 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars (12-8, 4-4 Pac-10), who beat a ranked team for the first time in five games this season.

James Harden scored 26 points to lead the Sun Devils (16-4, 5-3.

It was Washington State’s fifth straight win over the Sun Devils, who haven’t beaten the Cougars since March 4, 2006. The Sun Devils came into the game having won four of five and 12 of 14.

Minnesota 59, No. 19 Illinois 36

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lawrence Westbrook had 10 of his 15 points in the second half, including two 3-pointers down the stretch, and Minnesota ended a 20-game losing streak against the Fighting Illini.

Ralph Sampson added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Gophers (18-3, 6-3 Big Ten), who held the Illini (17-4, 5-3) to their lowest point total in 24 years.

Dominique Keller had nine points for Illinois, which missed eight straight 3-pointers to start the game and shot 7-for-28 overall in the first half.

Arizona 106, No. 23 Washington 97

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Nic Wise scored a career-high 29 points, including six key free throws in the final 3 minutes, for Arizona.

Arizona (13-8, 3-5 Pac-10) made 34 of 40 free throws in the second half and had only three field goals over the final 11:18.

Chase Budinger added 25 points, while Jordan Hill had 18 and reserve Kyle Fogg 16 for Arizona.

Jon Brockman led the Huskies (15-5, 6-2) with 27 points, while Justin Dentmon added 23 and Isaiah Thomas 15.

Zane Johnson made Arizona’s last field goal, a 3-pointer that made it 94-88 with 1:40 remaining. It was his only field goal of the game, and only the second shot taken by the Wildcats in nearly 9 minutes.