College Basketball Roundup : Detroit Upsets Fourth-Ranked Memphis State, 71-66

Memphis State Coach Dana Kirk saw it coming, but he was unable to do anything about it.

With a game against arch-rival Louisville coming up Saturday and the Metro Conference tournament next week, Kirk was afraid his fourth-ranked Tigers might not be in the right mood to play unheralded Detroit Thursday night.

His fears became reality in a 71-66 upset by the Titans at Detroit.

“This ball game was something I sort of feared,” Kirk said. “When you’re out of your conference, which you’ve already won, you sometimes have a mental letdown.”

Memphis State (23-3) wrapped up the Metro Conference regular-season title earlier in the week.

Greg Wendt scored 23 points and Keith Gray added 21 for Detroit (16-11).

“It’s a warm feeling,” Titan Coach Don Sicko said. “Our defense in general did a great job. We kept the ball away from certain players.”

Memphis State made only 42% of its field goal attempts, and All-American Keith Lee was held to 16 points.

Detroit led, 41-29, at halftime, but the Tigers closed to within 57-55 when Lee made a free throw with four minutes left.

Detroit got a field goal and free throw from Wendt and a field goal by Kevin McAdoo to take a 62-55 lead with 2:11 to play.

Memphis State closed to 65-62 on a short jump shot by Andre Turner. The Tigers got the ball back but missed a shot with 48 seconds left.

Wendt got the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws to clinch the victory.

Michigan 88, Wisconsin 68--Roy Tarpley scored 21 points as the third-ranked Wolverines pulled away to trounce the Badgers at Ann Arbor, Mich., and clinch the Big Ten title.

After Wisconsin (13-13, 4-12) played Michigan (22-3, 13-2) to a 34-34 halftime tie, Gary Grant scored nine points as the Wolverines built a 60-46 lead en route to their 13th straight victory.

Kentucky 92, Tennessee 67--Kenny Walker had 33 points and 18 rebounds as the Wildcats avenged an earlier defeat by routing the Volunteers in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

The victory kept the Wildcats (16-10, 11-6) in the running for the SEC title. Michael Brooks scored 17 points for Tennessee (16-13, 7-10).

Kansas 70, Nebraska 65--Danny Manning scored 23 points and the Jayhawks (23-6, 10-3) held off the Cornhuskers (15-11, 5-8) in a Big Eight game at Lawrence, Kan.

Indiana 79, Minnesota 68--Freshman Delray Brooks scored 16 points, and the Hoosiers (15-10, 7-8) broke a three-game losing streak by beating the Gophers (13-12, 6-9) at Minneapolis.

La. Tech 72, Northeast La. 65--Robert Godbolt scored 17 points and the seventh-ranked Bulldogs (25-2, 11-1) beat the Indians (16-11, 4-8) in a Southland Conference game at Ruston, La.

West Texas State 70, Tulsa 62--Tommy Johnson scored 19 points and Orlando Graham added 15 points in a Missouri Valley Conference upset.

The loss dropped the Hurricane, ranked 14th by UPI, 15th by the AP, to 20-6 for the season and 11-4 in conference. Tulsa is tied with Illinois State for the conference lead. West Texas is 11-16 and 4-12.

Iowa 87, Ohio State 82--Greg Stokes scored 29 points, and the Hawkeyes (20-8, 9-6) broke a four-game losing streak by stopping the Buckeyes (14-11, 9-6) at Iowa City, pulling into a four-way tie for second place in the Big Ten.

Butler 70, Notre Dame 69--Reserve guard Mike Burt scored 8 of his 20 points in overtime, including two free throws with seven seconds left, and the Bulldogs (18-8) knocked off the Irish (17-8) at Indianapolis.