College Basketball Roundup : Hughes Scores 43 Points in Loyola of Chicago Win

Alfredrick Hughes scored 43 points in 37 minutes, regaining sole possession of the national scoring lead, as Loyola of Chicago defeated the University of New Orleans, 101-85, Friday night at New Orleans.

It was the final regular-season game for Loyola (22-5).

The 43 points put Hughes at 751 for the season. Before the game, he and Wichita State’s Xavier McDaniel were tied for the national scoring lead with 708 points. Hughes hit 17 of 28 field-goal attempts.

Santa Clara 79, Portland 69--Harold Keeling scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Broncos in a West Coast Athletic Conference game at Santa Clara. The win kept the Broncos (18-8, 7-3) in second place behind Pepperdine (10-1) in the conference. Portland is 13-13, 2-8.

Virginia Commonwealth 85, North Carolina Charlotte 62--Rolando Lamb scored 20 points and Calvin Duncan added 15 as the Rams (23-5) won in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament at Hampton, Va.

In other first round games, Otis Smith sank four free throws in the final 20 seconds to give Jacksonville a 75-69 overtime victory over South Florida, Steve Mitchell and Jerome Mincy both had 20 points to power Alabama Birmingham to a 64-56 win over Western Kentucky, and Old Dominion defeated South Alabama, 84-86.

Tennessee Chattanooga 63, Furman 60--Gerald Wilkins scored 24 points to lead Chattanooga in the opening round of the Southern Conference tournament at Asheville, N.C.