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College Basketball roundup

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 23, 2001


Pitino takes TV job for tourney

NEW YORK -- Rick Pitino is headed back to work in college basketball -- not on the sideline, though.

The well-traveled Pitino, who resigned two weeks ago as coach and president of the Boston Celtics, is joining CBS Sports as a game analyst and studio commentator for the NCAA tournament.

The television work appears to be a time-filler until the off-season, when Pitino is expected to land a coaching job, probably in college.

Pitino, coach of Kentucky's 1996 NCAA championship team, will partner a play-by-play announcer in the booth for the first two rounds of the tournament, then move into the studio for the rest.

"Rick will be a great addition to our NCAA tournament lineup. His analysis will be both informative and entertaining, based on his successful collegiate career and his previous work in television," CBS Sports president Sean McManus said Monday.

When he was a college coach, Pitino appeared as a guest commentator for CBS during the NCAAs.

Late last year, McManus met with fired Indiana coach Bob Knight about working for the network as a college basketball commentator, but the sides did not come to an agreement.

Top 25

NO. 4 KANSAS 85, COLORADO 75: Jeff Boschee scored 21 to lead five players in double figures for the visiting Jayhawks, who topped the Buffs for the 23rd time in a row.

Drew Gooden added 10 and 12 rebounds and Kirk Hinrich had 11 assists.

After leading 62-55 on D.J. Harrison's long three-pointer with 13:48 remaining, Colorado went 4-for-16 with four turnovers the rest of the way.

Big East

ST. JOHN'S 67, MIAMI 63 (OT): Omar Cook scored 17 and had nine assists and Anthony Glover scored all four of his points in overtime as the host Red Storm won its fourth in a row and seventh in eight games.

Glover, who came in averaging 15.8 points, didn't score in regulation but his first points were a layup that brought the Red Storm into a 58-58 tie 50 seconds into overtime. His last points came on a rebound with 2:24left that gave St. John's the lead for good at 62-61.

The 'Canes tied the game with 9.5 seconds left in regulation on a driving hoop by John Salmons.

WEST VIRGINIA: Center Chris Moss left the team for personal reasons and apologized for spitting on a Notre Dame cheerleader.

State

JACKSONVILLE 72, MERCER 69: Brandon Williams and Shawn Platts each sank two free throws in the final 20 seconds to lift the host Dolphins.

TROY STATE 85, STETSON 83 (2OT): Lemayn Wilson scored 22 and Matt Holman added 20 for the visiting Trojans.

DELAWARE STATE 74, FAMU 57: Andre Matthews and Carrington Hightower each had 17 to lead the host Hornets to their third win in a row.

Around the nation

TOP 25 POLL: Fresno State is No. 22 in The Associated Press rankings, their first appearance since early in the 1997-98 season. The Bulldogs enter on a 12-game winning streak. Stanford was again at No. 1, getting 68 first-place votes and 1,748 points.

WASHINGTON STATE: Senior forward Eddie Miller, the Cougars' second-leading scorer, was dismissed from the team because of a weekend curfew violation and "overall attitude," coach Paul Graham said.

ACC: Duke's Shane Battier was named the player of the week and FSU's Michael Joiner was selected rookie of the week.

SEC: Junior guard Jannero Pargo of Arkansas was named player of the week.

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