SPORTS SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2014 No 25 UCLA stun No 21 Colorado BOULDER: While many of his UCLA teammates struggled with their Against a Gophers team that leads the Big Ten in steals, the and never trailed in the second half. But the Bulldogs cut the lead to shooting touch, Norman Powell had little problem getting his shots Buckeyes took better care of the ball after totaling 38 turnovers over 64-61 on a pair of Breanna Richardson’s free throws with 26.4 sec- to fall. Powell matched his season high with 19 points and No 25 the previous two games, but their struggles getting shots to go onds left. Tennessee got a break on the ensuing possession when UCLA pulled away in the second half to beat No 21 Colorado 69-56 down was too much to overcome. Mississippi State’s Ketara Chapel committed a foul before the ball Thursday night, handing the short-handed Buffaloes their first home They lost last week at Michigan State and then at home to Iowa, was thrown inbounds. Candace Foster made 1 of 2 free throws to loss of the season. “I’ve really been working on my shot,” said hardly blemishes on their record, but they’re going to have to snap put the Lady Vols up 65-61. Tennessee shot 49 percent (24 of 49) Powell, who went 8 of 13 from the field, including two 3-pointers. “I out of this slide soon to keep up in the top-heavy Big Ten. The from the field, but had 22 turnovers. haven’t been shooting the 3-ball the way I wanted to. I’ve been get- Buckeyes fell to 25-4 following losses over the last five seasons. The ting up extra shots at practice and on my own. I feel like it’s really last time they dropped three in a row was February 2009, at No 18 Louisville paying off. I’m really confident in my shot and it’s going in.” Wisconsin, at Northwestern and against Illinois. Eliason wasn’t the thump Houston Jordan Adams had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and David Wear only one working inside for Minnesota. His backup, Mo Walker, con- Wayne Blackshear scored 23 points in his first game as a reserve added 13 points for UCLA (14-3, 3-1 Pac-12), which has won consec- verted consecutive spin moves to draw fouls both times, good for a and No 18 Louisville used a strong offensive start to blow out utive games since a narrow loss to top-ranked Arizona a week ago. five-point spurt. He even had a steal to set up a fast break a few min- Houston 91-52 on Thursday night. Recent foul troubles led Cardinals “We didn’t shoot the ball very well,” said UCLA coach Steve Alford, utes later. Oto Osenieks added eight points, all near the basket. coach Rick Pitino to bring Blackshear off the bench to maximize his whose team hit 39.4 percent from the field, a fraction off Colorado’s effectiveness, and the junior forward responded by shooting 5 of 6 40 percent mark. “You have to give Colorado credit,” he added. No 12 Tennessee from 3-point range. Louisville hit 15 of 28 from beyond the arc, its “Their kids really played hard and stepped up and played with great down Mississippi highest total since making 17 against Morgan State on Dec 27, 2010. energy with the injuries that they’ve had to try to deal with. It’s not Ariel Massengale and Bashaara Graves both scored 13 points, Hot shooting was the story as the Cardinals (15-3, 4-1 American easy. To get a double-digit win and do the job on the backboard, Isabelle Harrison added 10 and No 12 Tennessee survived a tough Athletic Conference) put this one away quickly and thoroughly in this team a month ago could not win a game on the road shooting challenge from Mississippi State before escaping with a 67-63 win the first half by hitting 11 of 15 from 3-point range (73 percent) and 39 percent. Now we’ve proven we can. I think that’s the biggest on Thursday night. Tennessee (14-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) shooting 70 percent (21 of 30) overall. They cooled off but finished statement. That’s what I told the guys.” Askia Booker scored 21 has won all 35 games in the series against Mississippi State (14-4, 1- 34 of 66 (52 percent). Russ Smith added 18 points and Luke Hancock points and Josh Scott 19 for Colorado (14-4, 3-2). The Buffaloes were 3), but this one was a challenge. The Lady Vols led 26-23 at halftime 10 to hand Houston (10-7, 2-2) its second straight loss. — Agencies playing for the first time since guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who was leading the team in scoring, assists and steals, sustained a season- ending knee injury during last Sunday’s loss at Washington. Colorado also was without Tre’Shaun Fletcher, who injured his knee in the same game and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Thunder down Rockets Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle said it will take time for his team to adjust to those losses. “It is going to be a process because we lost a key component of our team - two of them,” Boyle said. “Is it going to take time? Yes, but that’s not an excuse. We didn’t lose this game HOUSTON: Kevin Durant scored 36 points and tonight because Spencer Dinwiddie and Tre’Shaun Fletcher didn’t Reggie Jackson added 23 to lift the Oklahoma play. We lost this game because we didn’t play well enough to beat City Thunder to a 104-92 win over the Houston UCLA. It was a winnable game. We had a shot. We just didn’t do Rockets on Thursday night. The Thunder used a what we had to do.” big third quarter to erase a 12-point deficit and Boyle said the production of younger players thrust into more tie the score entering the fourth. The teams prominent roles because of the injuries will improve with time. Scott stayed within a basket after that until Jackson and Booker combined for 14 of Colorado’s 20 baskets. No other scored five points in a 7-0 run which gave the player made more than two shots from the field. “The reality is, Thunder a 97-89 lead with about 4 minutes left. we’ve got guys who are capable of playing better,” Boyle said. “They Oklahoma City scored four quick points capped by a fast break dunk by Jackson a couple min- know that. I want them to know I believe in them.” It was the first utes later to stretch the lead to 103-92. James loss in 12 home games for the Buffaloes, who fell to 0-3 against Harden and Terrence Jones scored 16 points UCLA since joining the Pac-12 three years ago. Colorado dropped to each for Houston, which scored just 19 second- 1-7 overall against the Bruins, with its lone victory coming 52 years half points after posting a season-high 73 ago. points in the first half - setting an NBA record for the largest scoring differential between two No 1 Arizona blow halves. out Arizona State Nick Johnson had 17 points, Aaron Gordon added 16 and top- NETS 127, HAWKS 110 ranked Arizona jumped on rival Arizona State early in a 91-68 rout Joe Johnson scored 26 of his 29 points in the Thursday night. Arizona (18-0, 5-0 Pac-12) raced out to a 21-point first half and Andray Blatche added 20 points lead in the first half and didn’t let up, extending the best start in and 14 rebounds to lead Brooklyn past Atlanta school history with a flurry of dunks and 3-pointers. The Wildcats in the fourth regular-season NBA game played put seven players in double figures, shot 56 percent and had 21 in the British capital. Johnson had 15 points in assists on 34 field goals to beat the Sun Devils for the sixth time in the first quarter, including 11 straight for the seven games. Kaleb Tarczewski had 12 points and eight rebounds, Nets (16-22) late in the period. Mike Scott and and TJ McConnell added 10 points and six assists for Arizona. Shelvin Mack, both coming off the bench, led Arizona State (13-5, 2-3) played without second-leading scorer the Hawks with 17 points each. Both teams fin- Jermaine Marshall and had trouble with Arizona’s size all night, ished with five players scoring n double digits. shooting 34 percent. Jahii Carson had 20 points and five assists, but The Nets were playing a regular-season game struggled early and had at least four shots blocked. Bo Barnes added at the O2 Arena in London for the third time. 13 points for the Sun Devils, who had 18 turnovers and seven assists. They played two against the Toronto Raptors in Arizona has gotten off to the best start in school history behind its 2011, winning both. defense The Wildcats entered the game fourth nationally in scoring at 56 points per game, seventh in field goal percentage at 37 per- PACERS 117, KNICKS 89 cent and 13th in 3-point shooting at 28 percent. Lance Stephenson scored a career-high 28 points, Paul George added 25, and Indiana won Minnesota muscle past its ninth straight at home. The Pacers have won No 11 Ohio State 63-53 three in a row overall and still have the NBA’s Elliott Eliason had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Minnesota best record and the league’s top home record muscle past 11th-ranked Ohio State for a 63-53 victory Thursday (20-1).