Midwest Roundup : Oklahoma, Ohio State and Louisiana Tech Win

All-America Wayman Tisdale treated a hometown audience to a 28-point, 12-rebound performance Thursday night to lead Oklahoma to a 96-83 NCAA Midwest Regional first-round victory over North Carolina A&T; at Tulsa, Okla.

Tim McCalister added 23 points, Darryl Kennedy 17, Anthony Bowie 13 and Shawn Clark 10 as the Sooners tied both the school and Big Eight records for victories in one season by improving to 29-5. It was also Oklahoma’s seventh straight victory and 19th in the last 20 games.

Jimmy Brown and George Cale each scored 20 points and Eric Boyd 18 to pace North Carolina A&T;, which finished the season 19-10.

In other first-round games Thursday at Tulsa, Louisiana Tech beat Pitt and Ohio State defeated Iowa State.

Oklahoma will play Illinois State, which beat USC, in Saturday’s second round, while Louisiana Tech wil face Ohio State.

Louisiana Tech 78, Pitt 54--Robert Godbolt had 17 points and eight rebounds, Willie Simmons 13 points and 10 rebounds and reserve forward Willie Bland 16 points and 4 rebounds as the Bulldogs overran the Panthers.

“We played in three different (holiday) tournaments this year,” Louisiana Tech Coach Andy Russon said, “and we had six different all-tournament players. Certain people will rise to the occasion on a given day.”

Karl Malone, Louisiana Tech’s all-time leading scorer and two-time Southland Conference Player of the Year, managed only two points in the first half and finished with nine, but the Bulldogs (28-2) got out to an 11-2 start en route to their 12th straight victory.

Darryl Shepperd scored 18 to pace Pitt, which closed the season 17-12.

Ohio State 75, Iowa State 64--Guards Troy Taylor and Ronnie Stokes combined for 38 points to lead the Buckeyes over the Cyclones, who were making their first NCAA tournament appearance in 41 years.

Stokes scored 21 points and Taylor 17 as Ohio State improved its record to 20-9. Barry Stevens scored 24 points to pace Iowa State, which finished the season at 21-13.