College Basketball Roundup : Las Vegas Runs Away From Fresno State, 68-53

Junior guard Freddie Banks scored 20 points to lead the 12th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels to a 68-53 victory over Fresno State Sunday in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at Fresno.

The margin of victory surprised Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian. “I never expected to win this big here in Fresno,” he said. “Fresno always plays hard at home and the key for us was not to let them play harder than we played.”

The Bulldogs played hard and led for most of the first half, but the Rebels outscored them 13-3 over the last five minutes of the half to take a 28-22 lead.

Fresno Coach Boyd Grant said: “We played them fine for 15 minutes, then just went flat.”

Forward Armon Gilliam scored 16 points and forward Anthony Jones added 14 for Las Vegas, 15-2 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

Forward Jos Kuipers led Fresno State (9-6, 2-2) with 18 points.

Arizona 79, California 72--Steve Kerr scored 23 points to lead Arizona to a double-overtime victory in a Pacific 10 game at Tucson.

Arizona scored the first six points of the second overtime in winning its 12th straight home game.

With their sixth straight victory, the Wildcats are 11-4 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-10. The Golden Bears are 10-4, 2-2.

Craig McMillan scored 22 points for the Wildcats, including a jumper from the foul line with six seconds left to force the first overtime. McMillan also made two of the three quick scores that gave Arizona its six-point lead early in the second overtime.

Sean Elliott had 13 points for Arizona while John Edgar contributed 11. Kevin Johnson led the Golden Bears with 25 points, including a 10-footer with five seconds left in the first overtime. Dave Butler finished with 23 for Cal.

Michigan St. 58, Illinois 51--Michigan State made 18-of-18 free throws and beat No. 18-ranked Illinois in a Big Ten game at East Lansing, Mich.

Senior guard Scott Skiles scored 22 points and junior guard Vernon Carr added 16 for the Spartans, 11-3 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. Illinois is now 10-5, 1-3.

The 18-of-18 free-throw shooting performance was the best in Michigan State history. The previous best was 23 of 24 by the 1960-61 Spartans against Notre Dame.

The Illini shot poorly from the floor, making only 22-of-56 attempts (39.3%).