Jamaal Brown scored seven of his 17 points during a 21-8 first-half run Thursday night as No. 4 Ohio State kept its record perfect with an 80-70 Big 10 victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Ohio State (17-0, 7-0) and top-ranked UNLV are the nation`s only undefeated teams. The Buckeyes are off to their best start since the 1962 NCAA runners-up began 22-0 and their best Big 10 start since the 1979 club was 8-0. Mark Baker and Perry Carter scored 15 points each and Jim Jackson added 13 for Ohio State, which has outscored opponents by an average of 92.8-65.5 and has won by fewer than 10 points only three times.
Minnesota (9-7, 2-4) has won just 3 of 10 games since a 6-0 start, and lost for only the seventh time in its last 41 games at Williams Arena.
Kevin Lynch scored a career-high 27 points for the Golden Gophers.
Indiana 70, Michigan 60-Indiana got back on track in the Big 10 as Greg Graham scored 19 points to lead the third-ranked Hoosiers in Ann Arbor, Mich. Indiana (17-2, 5-1) needed the win to shake off the effects of a 93-85 home loss to Ohio State on Monday night. The Wolverines (9-8, 2-5), which had a modest two-game winning streak ended, has lost four of its last five games with the Hoosiers.
”I thought this was an extremely important game for us,” Indiana coach Bob Knight said. ”I thought if we want to be any kind of contender in the league, we had to win this game.”
”Greg Graham had a great game,” Michigan coach Steve Fisher said.
”When other guys get shut down, somebody has to rise up and he did that.”
Calbert Cheaney scored 17 points for Indiana, 11 in the second half, and led the Hoosiers with 12 rebounds. The Hoosiers played without freshman Damon Bailey, who warmed up but remained on the bench with a wrap on his bruised left thigh.
Demetrius Calip scored 21 points for Michigan, which shot 43 percent to Indiana`s 49 and had a 41-31 rebounding edge.
Southern Mississippi 84, Louisville 81-Clarence Weatherspoon scored 25 points as No. 15 Southern Mississippi won in Louisville despite playing without Metro Conference scoring leader Darrin Chancellor.
Chancellor, who averages 21.6 points, sat out after a flareup of tendinitis in his right ankle.
Southern Mississippi (12-1, 6-0), winning for the first time in 12 games on Louisville`s home court, took the lead for good when Weatherspoon powered inside for a dunk and Russell Johnson followed with two straight fastbreak layups for a 71-67 lead with 6:14 to go.
Daron Jenkins finished with 17 points, including two free throws in the final seconds to put the game out of reach for the Golden Eagles.
Louisville (7-8, 1-5) was led by Everick Sullivan`s 26 points, which included four three-pointers.
