College Basketball Roundup : SMU Is Ambushed in West Texas on Its Way to No. 1 Ranking, 64-63

SMU’s second-ranked Mustangs watched top-ranked Georgetown lose to St. John’s in the afternoon and went out to play for the No. 1 spot in the evening.

They didn’t count on playing the last 6:48 without 6-11 center Jon Koncak, who fouled out after scoring only six points.

Texas Tech’s Tony Benford hit a 10-foot baseline jumper with three seconds left Saturday night and the Raiders upset the Mustangs, 64-63, in a Southwest Conference game at Lubbock, Tex.

“It’s difficult to go undefeated on the road and have everything go your way,” SMU Coach Dave Bliss said. “We had our chances and missed some free throws at the end. We had our opportunities.

“It was a typical road game. We made some foolish fouls but still could have won if we hit all our free throws.”

Tech (12-5, 5-2) blew an 11-point lead but came back at the end on Benford’s basket. Carl Wright led a comeback by SMU (15-2, 6-1) with a basket and four free throws as the Mustangs took a 63-62 lead with 47 seconds to play.

After Benford hit his shot, the Mustangs threw the ball away but Tech’s Vince Taylor missed a free throw.

Larry Davis, who had 25 points for SMU, grabbed the rebound and hurled the ball the length of the floor and it hit the glass and bounced away bouncing harmlessly away.

Duke 100, Clemson 83--Mark Alarie had 21 points and nine rebounds as the fifth-ranked Blue Devils, who had lost three of their last four games, got themselves back on track with a victory over the Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

Reserve forward David Henderson added 19 points and guards Johnny Dawkins and Tommy Amaker had 18 each for Duke (14-3, 4-3). Chris Michael scored 22 for Clemson (10-7, 2-5).

Memphis State 89, Virginia Tech 79--Keith Lee scored 37 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the fourth-ranked Tigers turned aside the Hokies in a Metro Conference game at Blacksburg, Va.

Lee, a 6-10 All-American averaging 20.5 points a game, broke a three-game scoring slump in which he scored a total of just 27 points.

Virginia Tech (13-4, 4-1) held a 60-57 lead with 11:43 remaining, but Lee scored nine points in a 16-6 run that gave the Tigers (15-1, 5-1) control.

Maryland 77, Notre Dame 65--Len Bias scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half as the Terrapins held off the Irish for a victory at College Park, Md.

Bias and Adrian Branch scored only two points apiece in the first half, but Maryland (15-5) took a 29-18 lead when Notre Dame (9-5) made only 21% of its shots. The Irish got back within 41-35 with 12:05 left, but the Terrapins ran off eight straight points and built a 60-40 lead with 5:57 remaining.

Kansas 70, Colorado 68--Calvin Thompson, who made only 4 of 17 shots, scored at the buzzer as the Jayhawks escaped in a Big Eight game at Boulder, Colo.

The Buffaloes (7-10, 1-3) led by 10 points four minutes into the second half, but Kansas (15-3, 3-1) caught up with seven minutes left.

Ohio State 67, Purdue 63--Brad Sellers scored 16 points, including two straight baskets to give the Buckeyes the lead for good early in the second half of a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Ron Stokes, who led Ohio State (12-4, 4-3) with 18 points, scored at the buzzer for a 31-30 halftime lead. James Bullock, who scored 20 points, had four points as Purdue (13-5, 4-4) took a 36-33 lead with 14:55 left, but Sellers hit two baskets as the Buckeyes took command with eight straight points.

Syracuse 80, Pittsburgh 75--Dwayne (Pearl) Washington scored 30 points as the Orangemen rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit in a Big East game at Pittsburgh.

Rafael Addison scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half as Syracuse (12-3, 4-2), trailing 55-48, reeled off eight consecutive points to reclaim the lead with 8:30 left. After seven lead exchanges, the Orangemen passed Pitt (10-6, 2-4) for good when Addison hit a running one-hander in the lane with 2:49 left for a 70-68 edge.

Dayton 65, DePaul 64--Center Dave Colbert put in a disputed follow shot to lift the Flyers to an upset of the seventh-ranked Blue Demons at Dayton, O.

DePaul players and Coach Joey Meyer contended the shot came too late.

Dallas Comegys had 24 points for DePaul (13-4), including a jumper for a 64-63 lead with 10 seconds left. But Colbert was able to pull down the rebound and pull out the victory for the Flyers (13-4).

Louisville 84, N.C. State 78--Jeff Hall scored 22 points as the Cardinals broke out of a slump by holding off the Wolfpack at Louisville, Ky.

The Cardinals (10-8), who haven’t lost five straight games in 41 years, broke a four-game losing streak. Lorenzo Charles had 17 points for the Wolfpack (11-6).

Alabama Birmingham 66, Virginia Commonwealth 62--Steve Mitchell scored 25 points, including two insurance free throws with 11 seconds left and the Blazers (18-4, 7-0) turned back the Rams (14-5, 4-2) in a Sun Belt Conference game at Birmingham, Ala.

Mississippi State 71, Vanderbilt 70--Tracy Taylor hit a 20-foot jump shot with seven seconds left and the Bulldogs (10-7, 6-2) retained the Southeastern Conference lead by edging the Commodores at Nashville, Tenn.

Oklahoma 94, Kansas State 75--All-American Wayman Tisdale broke out of a mild scoring slump with 37 points and the Sooners (15-4, 4-0) rolled past the Wildcats (10-7, 1-3) in a Big Eight game at Norman, Okla.

Louisiana State 80, Auburn 62--Nikita Wilson and Don Redden scored 16 points each and LSU (13-4, 7-3) routed Auburn (11-6, 3-5) in an SEC game at Baton Rouge, La.

Iowa 105, Wisconsin 65--Gerry Wright scored 19 points as the Hawkeyes (16-4, 5-2) routed the Badgers (10-7, 1-6) at Iowa City to take the Big Ten lead.

Florida 86, Alabama 77--Eugene McDowell collected 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Gators (12-4, 5-3) past the Crimson Tide (13-5, 5-4) in a SEC game at Gainesville, Fla.