The Week (dec. 10-16)

MIDEAST

Before gunning down Indiana, Kentucky used all its artillery to pulverize South Carolina 126-81 at home and then pop-gunned its way past Kansas 57-56 on the road. Leading the assault on the Gamecocks were Kyle Macy with 24 points and Sam Bowie with 23. The Jayhawks and Wildcats were tied 46-46 with six minutes to go, when Bowie, who had 17 points and 14 rebounds, put Kentucky in front for good with a dunk. What kept Kansas close were Darnell Valentine, who had 17 points, and a defense that forced 20 turnovers, 12 more than the Jayhawks committed.

In another early-week game, Georgetown shot .627 and had three more field goals than Indiana, but lost 76-69. Eric Floyd of the Hoyas scored 21 points, and teammate Craig Shelton had 23 as he made good on all 10 of his floor shots. In picking up their 1,000th victory, the Hoosiers did some fancy shooting of their own, Mike Woodson getting 23 points and freshman Guard Isiah Thomas scoring 10 of his 19 in the last five minutes.

Purdue's Keith Edmondson and Michigan's Mike Magee were other Big Ten players who displayed impressive marksmanship. Edmondson, a sophomore guard who had averaged a mere 8.3 points in the Boilermakers' first four games, missed only two of 13 field-goal attempts and had 27 points during a 78-56 rout of Nebraska. Magee had 54 points as the Wolverines defeated Detroit 85-72 and Dayton 69-54.

"Basketball used to tear me up inside," DePaul Coach Ray Meyer said. "Ten. 15 years ago, I began a gradual change to a belief that life doesn't depend on winning." Nonetheless. Meyer was no doubt pleased by a trio of victories. Before beating UCLA (page 30), his Blue Demons defeated Texas 66-60 and won 57-55 in overtime at Northern Illinois. DePaul's offense almost came to a standstill in the final seven minutes against the Longhorns, producing only four points. Mark Aguirre of the Demons followed up his 20-point effort in that game with 22 points against Northern, the last two coming when he converted both ends of a one-and-one foul situation with no time left in the extra period. That gave Meyer his 600th win, making him the seventh college coach to reach that plateau.

Two days after beating UCLA, Notre Dame breezed past St. Joseph's of Indiana 79-58, even though starters Rich Branning and Kelly Tripucka were out with injuries. The Irish quickly zipped in front, got 18 points from Tracy Jackson and coasted.

Mississippi State perked up in the second half at Florida, pulled away from a 33-33 half-time tie and took a 90-72 SEC win. Leading the Bulldogs were Kent Looney, a 25-point scorer, and Rickey Brown, the nation's No. 1 rebounder, who had 21 boards and 21 points.

Remember the Maine. Louisiana State will do so fondly, after throttling the Black Bears 103-81, topping 100 points for the third time in four outings.

1. OHIO STATE (5-0)
2. KENTUCKY (7-1)
3. INDIANA (4-1)