After watching Zach Puchtel give an intense effort in practice, Minnesota coach Dan Monson informed the seldom-used center that he would start against Indiana's dominant big man, Marco Killingsworth.
"I was shocked," Puchtel said. "I thought it was a dream at first."
Puchtel rewarded his coach for his decision, providing a spark in Minnesota's 61-42 victory over the 13th-ranked Hoosiers on Sunday. Vincent Grier had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Gophers (10-8, 1-6 Big Ten), who snapped a six-game losing streak and handed Indiana its worst defeat of the season.
PHOTO: AP
Looking to energize his struggling team, Monson started Puchtel, who had played only 38 minutes this season, and freshman guard Jamal Abu-Shamala in place of usual starters Spencer Tollackson and Moe Hargrow.
Puchtel finished with six points and played solid defense against Killingsworth. Abu-Shamala had seven points.
"You can't just keep marching out the same way when you're 0-6," Monson said.
"When we were in practice on [Friday], no one played harder than Zach Puchtel. I wanted to show our guys that's what we needed."
It was Minnesota's 12th starting lineup of the year, and it resulted was an uncharacteristically strong first half for the Gophers, who've been plagued by turnovers and badly missed shots since the Big Ten season began. Minnesota played its most aggressive defense of the year, hounding Indiana's ball handlers, contesting every shot it could and diving for loose balls.
"I need to get him on my team," Indiana coach Mike Davis said of Puchtel. "This guy was so clean with his fundamentals, and defensively."
J'son Stamper added 12 points for the Gophers, who held Indiana to 32 percent shooting, including 5-for-23 from 3-point range.
Stanford 76, No. 10 Washington 67
Chris Hernandez told himself to stay calm, refusing to think about the consequences if even one of his free throws were to miss its intended target.
One, two, three -- just like in practice.
Hernandez sank three free throws with two-tenths of a second left in regulation to send the game into overtime and hit four more in the extra period, lifting Stanford to a thrilling 76-67 victory over No. 10 Washington.
"When you're trying to shoot, the best thing to do is not think about what you have to do," Hernandez said. "I've had that situation in high school a few times. I've been pretty successful."
The Cardinal (10-7, 6-3 Pac-10) won their third straight to extend their home winning streak to eight games. It was their 13th straight win over the Huskies at Maples Pavilion, where students charged the court after the final buzzer sounded.
"I don't think it crossed my mind we were going to lose that game," said Huskies leading scorer Brandon Roy, who finished with 25 points. "I'm still kicking myself. For the first time in basketball, I feel sorry for myself."
Hernandez finished with 15 points and four assists after sitting the final 12:16 of the first half in foul trouble, and Matt Haryasz posted his fifth straight 20-point game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He also made a gutsy pass to Hernandez in one crazy final minute of regulation.
No. 15 NC State 94, Clemson 85
Ilian Evtimov didn't want to think about what a second-straight loss would've meant to North Carolina State.
Thanks to his play in two overtime periods, Evtimov won't have to trouble himself.
Evtimov scored 11 of his season-high 22 points in the two overtimes to lead 15th-ranked North Carolina State to a 94-85 victory over Clemson.
The Wolfpack (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) were only seconds away from following an 83-65 home embarrassment to Seton Hall on Wednesday with losing two in a row for the first time this season.
Instead, Evtimov said his team showed its character at Littlejohn Coliseum.
"It was a real gutcheck for us. We couldn't leave here with a with a loss," Evtimov said. "Obviously losing at home to Seton Hall was a hard-learned lesson. We can't let that repeat itself."
Still, it nearly did. Cliff Hammonds stepped to the foul line with Clemson up 71-69 and 9.9 seconds to go. But Hammonds went only 1-of-2, and North Carolina State took advantage with Cameron Bennerman hitting a 3-pointer to tie it at 72 with 2.4 seconds left in regulation.
Bennerman said he never wondered about the shot going in. "If you have any doubt, you're probably going to miss it," he said. "I had all the confidence in the world. My teammate found me and I was able to knock it down."
Evtimov added: "It takes a real man to make that type of shot in that situation."
After Bennerman tied it up, Evtimov took over.
He started the first overtime with two foul shots and had a bucket to put the Wolfpack up 77-75. He put things away for good in the second OT period, hitting four straight free throws. When Bennerman followed with the Wolfpack's season-high 15th 3-pointer, they were up 86-79 with 2:18 left in the second extra period.
"Just down the stretch we had to make some plays," Evtimov said. "I posted up a few times and got some free throws out of that and a reverse layup, doing things to make sure we win."
Poor foul shooting cost Clemson (14-6, 3-4) again. Earlier this month, the Tigers were 6-of-21 from the foul line in a 10-point loss to Duke. Besides Hammonds' chance to put North Carolina State away at the end of regulation, Sam Perry could have extended Clemson's 79-78 lead with two foul shots at the end of the first overtime. Instead, Perry missed both and that allowed North Carolina State to force a second OT on Cedric Simmons' free throw.
Clemson was only 21-of-37 on foul shots, including 7-of-12 in the two overtimes.
"It's disappointing that you don't get the job done when you had the chance in your hands," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.
Rasheed Wallace scored 24 points and the Detroit Pistons pulled away in the third quarter on their way to beating the Los Angeles Lakers 102-93 in the NBA on Sunday.
With its season-high 11th straight win, Detroit improved to an NBA-best 37-5 and tied the fourth-best record through 42 games in NBA history.
Detroit's entire starting lineup scored in double figures: Richard Hamilton (20), Tayshaun Prince (19), Ben Wallace (14) and Chauncey Billups (10). Reserve Antonio McDyess added nine points and 10 rebounds in just 17 minutes.
"We feel as though we have five superstars," Hamilton said. "If we want one guy to go out there and average 30, we can do that. But we know what we want at the end, a championship, and we know one guy can't guard five guys."
Kobe Bryant had 39 points on 12-of-28 shooting for Los Angeles, which had won two straight and five of its previous seven games. Chris Mihm, Bryant's only teammate with more than nine points, had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
The Pistons have won four straight regular-season games against the Lakers for the first time since the 1973-74 season.
"What rivalry?" Rasheed Wallace asked. "It might have been one back in the day with Joe D, Magic, Kareem and those guys."
Cavaliers 113, Suns 106
At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 32 of his 44 points in the second half, bringing Cleveland back almost all by himself for their fifth straight win.
James added 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Cavaliers, who were trailing by 17 midway through the third quarter when their third-year superstar took control. He scored 16 points in the third and added 16 in the fourth when Cleveland's defense held the NBA's highest-scoring team to 19.
Steve Nash scored 24 points, Shawn Marion 22, James Jones 20 and Eddie House 16 for Pacific Division-leading Phoenix, which dropped to 2-2 on a six-game road trip.
Sasha Pavlovic had 15 points, Donyell Marshall 14 and reserve Anderson Varejao six with seven rebounds in a season-high 19 minutes for Cleveland.
Heat 101, Rockets 95
At Houston, Dwyane Wade had 32 points and nine assists and Shaquille O'Neal added 24 points and 14 rebounds for Miami.
O'Neal also hit a season-high 12 free throws, although he missed five of his last six attempts.
Tracy McGrady had 37 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Rockets. Rafer Alston added 26 points, but had only 10 points after a 12-point second quarter.
The Heat outscored Houston 33-20 in the third quarter, holding Alston without a basket, controlling McGrady and hitting 11 of 22 shots. McGrady had nine points in the third, but missed seven of 11 shots.
76ers 89, Magic 81
At Orlando, Florida, Chris Webber scored 18 points and John Salmons added 17 to lead Philadelphia to the win.
Webber had two key jumpers during a key 8-0 run late in the game. Samuel Dalembert added 15 points and eight rebounds for the 76ers, who've won five of their last six.
Steve Francis had a triple-double for the Magic with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
The 76ers played without Allen Iverson, who missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle.
Raptors 124, Kings 123, OT
At Toronto, Jalen Rose's jumper with 0.4 seconds left in overtime gave Toronto the victory.
Mike Bibby had 42 points and Ron Artest had 24 in his second game with Sacramento.
Mike James drove toward the basket in the waning seconds of overtime and passed to Rose, who took a couple of dribbles before making his 19-foot jumper.
Bibby missed a jumper at the buzzer for the Kings.
Toronto's Morris Peterson scored 23 points, James had 22 and Chris Bosh 21.
Bucks 83, Celtics 79
At Milwaukee, Michael Redd overcame a slow start to score 15 fourth-quarter points, leading Milwaukee to its second straight win.
Redd, who sat out much of the first quarter with two fouls, made one of his first nine shots but finished with 21 points for Milwaukee.
Redd's layup gave the Bucks a 76-72 lead with 2:53 remaining in the game, and his 3-pointer with 1:28 left extended the lead to seven.
Wally Szczerbiak finished with 20 points for Boston and Paul Pierce added 18.
The New Orleans Hornets' emotions upon learning of Chris Andersen's dismissal from the NBA for violating the league's drug policy ranged from anger to dismay to compassion.
The Hornets were in Memphis to play the Grizzlies on Saturday, without the American reserve forward known to teammates as "Birdman," whose dismissal was announced by the league on Friday.
Stanley Roberts was the last player to be kicked out of the NBA -- that was back in 1999.
"You're a little shocked. You're a little disappointed. I even got angry at first," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "But then you have to start thinking about the person. Bird obviously needs some help in dealing with this situation, so then you start having compassion for him as a person. You stop thinking about the basketball part of it."
The 27-year-old Andersen averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in 32 games this season.
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