College Basketball Roundup : Rebels Beat Terrapins, Regain Prestige

Nevada Las Vegas, blown out by top-ranked Georgetown, 82-46, last month on national television, redeemed itself on national TV Saturday with a 78-76 victory over Maryland before a crowd of 16,328 at Las Vegas .

“We lost a lot of prestige after the Georgetown game,” Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “It (Saturday’s win) is good for the community and good for the PCAA (Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.).

The Runnin’ Rebels (12-2) held off a furious Maryland rally to win their 11th straight game. The Rebels led by 11 points with three minutes to play, but the Terrapins cut it to one before a free throw by Richie Adams with eight seconds left gave Las Vegas a two-point lead. Maryland lost a chance to tie the game when Jeff Baxter threw away an upcourt pass.

Adams was Las Vegas’ top scorer with 21 points. Ed Catchings added 14 points, all in the second half. Maryland was led by Adrian Branch, who scored 21 points.

Maryland made 24 of 27 foul shots and Las Vegas 28 of 35. The Rebels outshot the Terrapins from the field, 54% to 41%. Maryland (13-5) upset No. 2 Duke in overtime last week.

Georgetown 65, Pittsburgh 53--Patrick Ewing scored 18 points and ignited a second-half surge that carried top-ranked Georgetown to victory in a Big East game before 16,532 at Pittsburgh. The crowd was the largest to ever see a college basketball game in Pittsburgh.

The Hoyas trailed, 28-26, before running off a 12-2 spurt early in the second half. The Hoyas (17-0, 6-0) have won 28 consecutive games over two seasons. Pitt is now 9-5 and 1-3 after losing its third straight.

David Wingate also scored 18 points for Georgetown.

Duke 93, North Carolina 77--Johnny Dawkins scored a season-high 34 points and Mark Alarie added 19 to lead the Blue Devils in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Chapel Hill, N.C. Duke lost overtime games last week to Maryland and Wake Forest.

Duke (13-2, 3-2) hit 35 of 46 free throws, including 28 of 37 in the second half, while North Carolina (13-4, 4-1) hit 15 of 16 free throws.

Jay Bilas (D) 17 points; Brad Daugherty (NC) 18, Warren Martin (NC) 16. Memphis State 69, Louisville 66--Keith Lee, hindered most of the game by foul trouble and a collapsing defense, slammed home a dunk and sank a free throw with 1:38 left to lead the fifth-ranked Tigers to a Metro Conference victory at Louisville.

The victory, Memphis State’s first over Louisville in Freedom Hall since 1976, lifted the Tigers to 13-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference. Louisville is 9-6 and 2-2.

Top scorers for Memphis State were freshmen guards Dwight Boyd and Vincent Askew, who had 16 and 11 points, respectively. Lee, who had been averaging 22 points a game, finished with 11 points. Seven-foot center William Bedford scored six, all coming early in the game. Jeff Hall (L) 21 points, Mark McSwain (L) 17.

Ohio State 86, Indiana 84--Dave Jones came off the bench to score 19 points and put the clamps on Indiana’s Steve Alford as the Buckeyes upset the Hoosiers, ranked eighth and ninth in the polls, in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

Alford scored 18 points, but only six in the second half.

Jones hit 8 of 10 shots from the field as the Buckeyes improved to 11-3 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers, who got 33 points from 7-2 center Uwe Blab, are 11-4 and 3-2.

The Hoosiers, who trailed by 12 early in the second half, had a chance to tie it with two seconds left, but a six-foot hook shot by Blab missed.

Michigan 69, Iowa 67 (triple overtime)--Roy Tarpley hit a follow-up shot at the buzzer in triple overtime at Ann Arbor, Mich., to give the Wolverines a Big Ten victory. Michigan held the ball for 47 seconds before guard Antoine Joubert put up a shot with four seconds remaining. Tarpley retrieved the ball about eight feet from the basket and banked it in as the horn sounded.

The victory pulled Michigan (12-3 overall) into a tie for the Big Ten lead with Illinois at 4-2. Iowa is 14-2 and 3-2. Tarpley led all scorers with 21 points and had 14 rebounds.

Minnesota 81, Michigan St. 75--Guard Tommy Davis’ 18 second-half points cut short a Michigan State rally as the Gophers upset the Spartans, ranked 18th and 19th in the polls, at East Lansing, Mich. Davis, who scored 23 points, also sank two crucial free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give the Gophers a six-point lead at 77-71. Minnesota is now 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten. The Spartans (12-4, 3-3) have lost three straight conference games. Scott Skiles (MS) 25, Sam Vincent (MS) 20, Larry Polec (MS) 17; John Shaky (Min) 19, Kevin Smith (Min) 12. Illinois 55, Northwestern 43--Anthony Welch scored 16 points and Efrem Winters added 14 to lead the Illini, ranked 11th and 13th, at Evanston, Ill. The Illini are now 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Northwestern is 4-11 and 0-5. Purdue 72, Wisconsin 68--Steve Bullock scored 20 points, including a three-point play that tied the game at 53-53 with 7:15 to play, to lead the Boilermakers at Madison, Wis. Bullock’s play capped a Purdue rally that wiped out a 53-44 Wisconsin lead in just 2:09. Todd Mitchell, who had 13 points, then scored Purdue’s next eight points and the Boilermakers (12-4 and 3-3) never looked back. The Badgers (10-5, 1-4) have lost 15 straight to Purdue. Steve Reid (P) 15; Rick Olson (W) 18.

SMU 74, TCU 70--John Koncak scored 29 points to lead No. 3 Southern Methodist to a Southwest Conference victory at Dallas. SMU is 15-1 and 5-0, TCU 9-8 and 1-5. The game was tied, 43-43, with 12:23 left, but the Mustangs led the rest of the way. Koncak made 10 of 14 field-goal attempts and 9 of 10 foul shots and grabbed 13 rebounds. Dennis Nutt scored 28 for the Frogs. Texas El Paso 87, San Diego St. 81--Senior guard Luster Goodwin scored 26 points as the Miners (13-5 and 5-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) beat the Aztecs (12-4, 4-2) at El Paso. San Diego’s Anthony Watkins also scored 26 points. BYU 65, Colorado St. 64--Timo Saarelainen’s eight-foot jumper with 46 seconds left gave the Cougars a WAC victory at Fort Collins, Colo. BYU is now 10-7 and 4-2; Colorado State 11-5 and 3-1. Saarelainen led BYU with 24 points. LSU 69, Vanderbilt 68--Jerry Reynolds hit a 12-foot jumper from the right side with one second left to give the Tigers (11-4, 5-3) a Southeastern Conference victory at Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt is 8-7 and 1-5. Nikita Wilson (LSU) 22 points; Phil Cox (V) 21. Tennessee 79, Alabama 67--Tony White scored 29 points to lead the Vols (13-5, 4-2) over the Crimson Tide (12-4, 4-3) at Knoxville, Tenn. Alabama Birmingham 68, Western Kentucky 66--Junior guard Steve Mitchell scored 24 points and hit a 14-footer with six seconds left to lead the Blazers (15-4, 4-0) to victory in a Sun Belt Conference game at Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky is 9-7 and 2-3. Connecticut 70, Syracuse 68--Earl Kelley scored 21 points as the Huskies (6-7, 2-3) upset the Orangemen (11-2, 3-2) in a Big East game at Syracuse. North Carolina St. 72, Florida St. 66--Lorenzo Charles scored 23 points to lead the Wolfpack (10-5) over the Seminoles (7-7) in a nonconference game at Raleigh, N.C. Florida 67, Kentucky 55--Andrew Moten scored 26 points as the Gators beat the Wildcats at Lexington, Ky. Florida is now 11-3 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference, while Kentucky is 9-6 and 4-2. This was the Wildcats’ second home loss of the season, equaling the most losses they have suffered at home since moving to Rupp Arena in 1976-77.

St. John’s 66, Boston College 59--Guard Chris Mullin scored a game-high 24 points, 14 coming during the final 16 minutes, and the fourth-ranked Redmen (13-1, 5-0) won a Big East game at Boston Garden. BC (11-4, 2-4) had upset St. John’s the past two seasons.

Oklahoma 87, Kansas 76--Despite holding Sooner All-American Wayman Tisdale to a career-low six points, the Jayhawks, ranked eighth and ninth, were upset at Norman, Okla.

While Danny Manning, Ron Kellogg and Greg Dreiling were preventing Tisdale from reaching double figures for the first time in 84 games at Oklahoma, Sooner forward Darryl Kennedy scored a career-high 34 points.

Oklahoma, ranked 10th and 13th, is now 13-4 overall and 2-0 in the Big Eight. Kansas is 13-1 and 1-1.

Oklahoma’s Anthony Bowie finished with 21 points and Tim McCalister contributed 18. Kellogg led the Jayhawks with 24 and Dreiling added 20.