Free Throws Give Kansas a 70-68 Win Over Missouri

Greg Dreiling’s two free throws with one minute remaining gave Kansas its first lead of the second half, and the 7-1 center sank a third with one second left as Kansas edged Big Eight Conference rival Missouri, 70-68, Tuesday night at Lawrence, Kan.

Jayhawk guard Tad Boyle stole the inbounds pass with four seconds remaining, and Dreiling was intentionally fouled. Dreiling missed the first of a two-shot penalty but hit the second.

Missouri failed to get off a shot after Dreiling’s game-clinching free throw.

Freshman Danny Manning scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half for Kansas (14-3 overall, 2-1 in conference), which rallied from an 11-point deficit early in the second half. Cedric Hunter added 16 points, Ron Kellogg had 12 and Calvin Thompson had 10 for the Jayhawks.

Dreiling got into foul trouble early in the game and was held scoreless in the first half but hit seven key points in the second half.

Missouri (10-8 overall, 0-3 in conference) is off to its worst conference start since Coach Norm Stewart became head coach in 1967.

Alabama Birmingham 65, North Carolina Charlotte 62--James Ponder’s 19 points, including a free throw with 13 seconds remaining, helped the Blazers defeat the 49ers in a Sun Belt game at Birmingham, Ala.

Although Charlotte (4-14 overall and 0-5 in conference) led early by as many as eight points, Alabama Birmingham (16-4 overall, 5-0 in conference) outscored the 49ers, 17-6, in the last five minutes of the first half to take a 35-32 lead at intermission.

Joining Ponder in the double figures for Alabama Birmingham was Steve Mitchell with 11. Leroy Smith was the high scorer for Charlotte with 19.

Virginia Commonwealth 72, West Virginia 60-- Mike Schlegel scored 23 points and Rolando Lamb made seven steals to help the Rams defeat the Mountaineers at Richmond, Va.

The Rams (13-2) built 11-point leads twice only to have the Mountaineers (9-6) cut the margin to four points. But Lamb converted two steals into fast break layups and his three-point play with 5:31 left gave VCU a commanding lead.

Lamb finished with 17 points. Dale Blaney had 18 points for the Mountaineers, 9-6.

Virginia Tech 66, Tulane 58--Guard Tim Lewis, who didn’t play until the final two minutes of regulation, scored four points in the final minute of overtime to lead the Hokies to the Metro Conference victory at New Orleans.

Tech took the lead for good with 1:32 left in the extra period on a Keith Culbert jumper that gave the Hokies a 60-58 cushion. Culbert then hit two free throws to increase the lead to four points.

The Hokies, 13-3, lead the Metro with a 4-0 record, while Tulane falls to 8-8 and 1-4 in the conference.