College Basketball Roundup : Maryland Beats No. 2 Duke in Overtime, 78-76

Coach Lefty Driesell was forced to eat some postgame crow, but he was all smiles after Maryland overcame a 15-point deficit and upended second-ranked Duke, 78-76, in an overtime Atlantic Coast Conference game Monday night at College Park, Md.

“We played as good a second half as I’ve had in 16 years,” Driesell said after the Terps handed Duke its first loss in 13 games. “The first half was one of the worst.”

“At the half,” Driesell confessed, “I screamed that they weren’t playing well, not like Maryland players can. I broke two clipboards, kicked the wall and sent them back out on the court early.”

“We were blessed by the coach,” was the way Adrian Branch described the volatile halftime performance, “and we needed it.”

Branch, who tied the regulation game at 68-68 with three seconds left, scored 14 of his 20 points after intermission, including two free throws with eight seconds left to clinch the decision.

“When Adrian made those last two,” said Len Bias, who had 24 for Maryland, “he was like a soldier at war. I was proud of him.”

Duke is 12-1; Maryland is 12-4. Both teams are 2-1 in the ACC.

St John’s 87, Pittsburgh 56--Chris Mullin missed only one shot and his hot-shooting teammates didn’t miss many more at Pittsburgh as the Redmen, ranked third by United Press International and fourth by Associated Press, handed the Panthers their worst loss since they joined the Big East Conference three years ago.

Mullin, ignoring the partisan Pitt crowd’s taunts of “Chrissie, Chrissie, Chrissie,” scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half as the Redmen scored the final six points of the half to open up a 38-25 halftime lead.

Bill Wennington and Walter Berry then sparked a 14-4 St. John’s second-half surge that carried the Redmen to a 52-33 lead with 12:26 remaining.

Mullin made 5 of 6 shots from the floor and all four of his free throws as St. John’s (12-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference), shot 62.5% in the first half and an even-better 67% in the second for 65% (33 of 51) for the game. Pitt fell to 9-4 and 1-2. DePaul 64, Old Dominion 58--Tyrone Corbin and Tony Jackson sparked a second-half surge that enabled the Blue Demons (11-3) to shake off the Monarchs (9-5) for their 35th straight home win at Rosemont, Ill.

Memphis St. 56, Tulane 52--Junior Andre Turner scored 17 points to lead the fifth-ranked Tigers (12-1 and 2-1 in the Metro Conference) at Memphis.

Turner, a 5-foot-10 point guard who is the shortest man on the Tiger squad, hit five field goals and seven free throws. Senior All-American Keith Lee was held to only six points and did not score in the second half.

Tulsa 71, Oral Roberts 61--Steve Harris poured in 31 points as the Hurricane pulled away from their cross-town rival in the final eight minutes.

With Harris, a 6-5 guard, hitting from outside and driving for short jumpers, Tulsa (12-2) built its 33-29 halftime lead to a 46-35 advantage early in the second half.

But Titan center Mark Acres, who finished with a team-high 24 points, led an Oral Roberts (6-8) rally that closed the gap to 50-48 with eight and a half minutes left, but Tulsa pulled away for good.