Paul Davis delivered a message on and off the court for Michigan State.

His 30 points and 14 rebounds led the No. 12 Spartans past Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 84-73, at East Lansing, Mich., yesterday.

After the game, Davis said Michigan State will need to play much tougher defense to reach its championship goals.

"It's a matter of taking pride in guarding your man," Davis said. "We're giving up too much dribble penetration, too many kick outs and too many shots."

The sluggish Spartans (3-2) allowed 82.8 points per game in Hawai'i, where they played the equivalent of 4 1/2 games (including two overtime games) in five days. But that wasn't a good excuse for yesterday's performance.

"We haven't checked anybody yet," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "That's going to change — or we're going to find a way to change it."

Maurice Ager added 20 points for Michigan State, but struggled early. The Spartans trailed in the opening 17 minutes as Ager went 0 for 6 from the floor. He finished 7 for 10 the rest of the way and his team built a 22-point lead.

"I think their guys were tired, period," IPFW coach Dane Fife said. "But they were 20 pounds heavier than us at every position and light years quicker."

The Mastodons (1-3) scored the first eight points before Davis took over and scored 14 points in the opening 16 minutes.

NO. 4 VILLANOVA 84, LEHIGH 47: Allan Ray set Villanova's individual 3-point record with eight and scored 26 points, and the Wildcats (2-0) also set a team mark with 17 3s in a win over Lehigh (2-4) at Villanova, Pa. Randy Foye sank five 3s and scored 21 points and Mike Nardi had four 3s and 14 points.

No. 9 Arizona 81, Virginia 51: Chris Rodgers matched his season high with 20 points, scoring 15 in the second half while Arizona ran away from Virginia (2-1) at Tucson, Ariz. The Wildcats (2-2) went into their home opener on a two-game skid, losing to Connecticut and Michigan State in the Maui Invitational after an opening win over Kansas.

NO. 23 MARYLAND 88, NICHOLLS STATE 56: Chris McCray scored 20 points and Maryland (4-1) opened the second half with a 16-0 run to breeze past Nicholls State (1-4) at College Park, Md. Two days after returning from Hawai'i, where they played three games in less than 48 hours at the Maui Invitational, the Terrapins endured a sluggish first half before pulling away.

WAC MEN

Boise St. 82, Montana St.-Northern 46: Matt Bauscher scored 13 points and Tyler Tiedeman and Seth Robinson added 12 each to lead host Boise State (2-1) past Montana State-Northern (2-1), an NAIA school.

WOMEN

NO. 1 DUKE 69, AUBURN 37: Monique Currie and Abby Waner each scored 14 points to help Duke (5-0) win its own Women's Basketball Classic at Durham, N.C. Duke's Lindsey Harding was selected the MVP of the event, which Duke has won 13 of its 17 years. Harding had eight points and seven assists against Auburn and finished the tournament with 27 points in two games. Marita Payne and Whitney Boddie led Auburn (3-2) with 10 points apiece.

No. 4 Ohio St. 75, Western Illinois 36: Jessica Davenport had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Ohio State (3-0) in the Buckeye Classic championship game at Columbus, Ohio. Zane Teilane led Western Illinois (3-1) with 12 points and six rebounds.

No. 5 Baylor 74, Marshall 47: Sophia Young scored 22 points in 21 minutes in the Caribbean Classic championship game at Cancun, Mexico, and Baylor extended the nation's longest winning streak to 26 games. The defending national champion Bears (6-0) have not lost since Jan. 22 at Texas. Marshall is 2-2.

No. 8 Connecticut 85, Cleveland St. 51: Ann Strother and Mel Thomas each scored 19 points to lead Connecticut (5-0) over Cleveland State (2-2).

DIVISION II MEN

HOLY FAMILY DEFEATS UH-HILO IN TITLE GAME

Ryan Haigh scored 22 points to lead Holy Family (Penn.) past Hawai'i-Hilo, 68-55, yesterday to win the Hilo Shootout at Hilo civic.

Justin Griffin led the Vulcans with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Holy Family (4-1) finished the tournament 3-0. No. 21 UH-Hilo (3-2) was 2-1, including a 70-58 victory Saturday over Metro State (Denver), which was ranked No. 6 in Division II. Justin Dobson scored 18 points for Hilo against Metro State.