College Basketball Roundup : North Carolina State Catching On Fast, 94-56

North Carolina State walked away with a 38-point victory Wednesday night, but Coach Jim Valvano said he was worried about the consistency of his No. 15-ranked Wolfpack.

“This is the youngest team I’ve ever coached, but we’re going to get better,” Valvano said after the Wolfpack defeated Furman, 94-56. “Your freshmen are going to be up and down. We’re a young team--we’re starting three freshmen and a sophomore--and young teams are going to be up and down.

“We’re struggling around the boards,” Valvano said. “We’ve been a good rebounding team the last three or four years, but we’re not now.”

Despite Valvano’s laments, North Carolina State easily won the rebound battle, 45-24, and its balanced scoring was more than the Paladins (2-1) could handle. Sophomore Chris Washburn scored 20 points to pace four Wolfpack players in double figures.

Freshman forward Walker Lambiotte chipped in 14 points for the Wolfpack, while senior guard Ernie Myers and junior forward Bennie Bolton came off the bench to add 11 each. Eleven of the Wolfpack’s 13 players scored.

LSU 70, Washington 61--Senior guard Don Redden scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds as 12th-ranked LSU made use of 23 Washington turnovers to defeat the Huskies in an intersectional game at Seattle.

The Tigers shot 51% from the floor as Redden hit 10 of 16 field-goal attempts. The Huskies were led in scoring by senior forward Paul Fortier with 19 and 7-foot junior center Chris Welp with 10. LSU improvedimproved its record to 2-0, while Washington fell to 1-2.

Wisconsin 104, Cal State L.A. 88--Sophomore guard Shelton Smith, who had been averaging 16 points a game, scored 28 to lead the Badgers to a nonconference victory at Madison, Wis.

Forward J.J. Weber and guard Rick Olson added 19 apiece as the Badgers improved their record to 2-0. CS Los Angeles is 0-3.

Guard Sam Veal led the Golden Eagles with 27 points.

Wichita State 66, Oregon State 63--Gus Santos scored a game-high 21 points, including two consecutive baskets in overtime, to give Wichita State a nonconference victory in its first game of the season at Wichita, Kan.

Santos’ overtime baskets gave the Shockers a 64-61 lead with 1:13 left before teammate Mike Arline sealed the victory on a layup with 16 seconds remaining.

Oregon State’s Mark Kaska tied the score at 55-55 with 35 seconds left in regulation, making one of two free throws. The Shockers missed three shots from the line in the last nine seconds to send the game into overtime. Oregon State is 0-2.

Pittsburgh 107, St. Francis (Pa.) 72--Sophomore forward Charles Smith scored 28 points and freshman Jerome Lane added 25 as the Panthers won handily at Pittsburgh.

Smith hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor, sank all four of his free throws and picked up 14 rebounds and three assists.

Texas 70, UC Riverside 61--John Brownlee scored 24 points, including 16 in the second half, to spark the Longhorns at Austin, Tex.

The Highlanders (1-2) checked Brownlee, a 6-10 senior center, for most of the first half as Riverside took the lead, 30-26, at halftime. The Highlanders padded their margin to 50-43 with 11 minutes to play when Brownlee led the Longhorn comeback.

Brownlee went on a 12-point spree with nine minutes remaining and put Texas (2-0) ahead for good, 53-52, on a dunk with 6:20 left to play.