College Basketball Roundup : Ninth-Ranked Rebels Chop Down No. 3 Memphis State, 67-66

It took the NCAA and Nevada Las Vegas to cut Memphis State down to size.

With 7-foot William Bedford benched by the NCAA for two games because he borrowed luxury cars from school boosters, the third-ranked Tigers were forced to go with a smaller lineup and the ninth-ranked Runnin’ Rebels recorded with a 67-66 victory Saturday at Las Vegas.

“When you take a guy like Bedford out of the game, you are missing a definite threat,” Memphis State Coach Dana Kirk said. “He would have made them think about the inside more.”

Freddie Banks, who scored 26 points, hit a 27-foot jumper with less than two minutes left to give the Rebels (23-2) the lead for good.

Memphis State (21-2) had a chance to tie and called timeout with 16 seconds left to set up a play for guard Andre Turner.

UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian inserted his best defender, Gary Graham, and ordered the Rebels to double-team Turner and zone the other four Tigers. The plan worked as Turner was trapped and couldn’t get off a shot in the final seconds.

Turner and Baskerville Holmes had 16 points each for the Tigers.

Iowa State 73, Oklahoma 70--Jeff Grayer scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, including the go-ahead basket with 56 seconds left, as the Cyclones surprised the fifth-ranked Sooners in a Big Eight game at Ames, Iowa.

The Cyclones (14-7 overall, 5-3 in the Big Eight) won their 14th straight home game with their second major upset in less than two weeks. The Cyclones defeated Kansas, which was ranked fourth at the time, 77-74, Jan. 28.

Oklahoma (21-2, 6-2) stormed back from a 12-point deficit early in the second half to take a 64-61 lead on Tim McCalister’s jump shot with 4:28 left.

With the score tied, 68-68, Oklahoma’s Linwood Davis stole the ball, but his breakaway layup was blocked by Iowa State’s Elmer Robinson. Jeff Hornacek fed Grayer for a basket that put Iowa State ahead for good, 70-68, with 56 seconds remaining.

Darryl Kennedy scored 17 points for Oklahoma, but was scoreless in the last five minutes. Bowie and McCalister added 16 apiece, and Hornacek had 16 for the Cyclones.

Notre Dame 85, Syracuse 81--Donald Royal scored 11 of his 20 points on second-half free throws as the 14th-ranked Irish knocked off the No. 8 Orangemen at Syracuse, N.Y.

The Irish (16-4) connected on 41 of 48 free throws--including 18 straight in the second half--and ended Syracuse’s homecourt winning streak at 14 games. Four Syracuse players, including three starters, fouled out.

Rafael Addison, Syracuse’s leading scorer, started but played sparingly because of a hamstring injury and did not score for the first time in his collegiate career.

The Irish had a 47-37 lead early in the second half on an offensive rebound basket by Ken Barlow, but Syracuse (18-3) came back to take a 58-57 lead on Pearl Washington’s six-footer with 10:06 left.

Tim Kempton’s three-point play with 5:56 left gave Notre Dame a 68-67 lead and started the Irish on a 10-2 run that made it 75-69 with 2:28 left. Notre Dame made eight free throws in the final 1:04.

Washington had 28 points and teammate Wendell Alexis hit 25.

Illinois 83, Michigan 79--Tony Wysinger hit four free throws as overtime wound down to give the Illini a Big Ten upset over the No. 7 Wolverines at Champaign, Ill.

Wysinger, starting his first game since he suffered a separated shoulder Jan. 4, finished with 18 points, six in overtime. Illinois (15-7, 6-5) had a chance to win in regulation, but Wysinger missed a shot at the buzzer.

The Illini stretched a 43-29 halftime lead to 52-35 with 17 minutes left before Michigan rallied.

The Wolverines (20-3, 8-3) took a 61-60 lead with five minutes left and stretched their lead to 68-64 with two minutes to play before the Illini staged a rally of their own.

Wysinger’s two free throws with 1:30 left and his basket with 22 seconds remaining tied the score, 68-68, and forced overtime.

Baskets by Efrem Winters and Wysinger at the outset of overtime put the Illini ahead to stay.

Antoine Joubert scored 20 points for Michigan, Gary Grant added 19 and Roy Tarpley scored 18. Winters had 25 points and Ken Norman added 22 for Illinois.

North Carolina State 76, Louisville 64--Sophomore center Chris Washburn scored 27 points as the Wolfpack beat the 16th-ranked Cardinals at Raleigh, N.C., for its sixth victory in seven games.

N.C. State (16-6) built a 61-50 lead with 7:55 left on a three-point play by Ernie Myers before Louisville (15-7) came back.

The Cardinals cut the lead to 65-60 with 2:49 left, but N.C. State scored six straight points and made 5 of 6 free throws in the final two minutes.

Billy Thompson had 21 points for the Cardinals.

North Carolina 91, Wake Forest 62--Brad Daugherty scored 20 points at Chapel Hill, N.C., and the top-ranked Tar Heels handed the Demon Deacons their 11th straight Atlantic Coast Conference defeat without a victory.

The Tar Heels (24-1, 8-1) built a 40-29 lead at halftime and blew the game wide open by opening the second half with a 10-2 burst.

Mark Cline scored 26 points for Wake Forest (7-16, 0-11).

Kansas 85, Oklahoma State 69--Ron Kellogg and Cedric Hunter scored 18 points apiece as the sixth-ranked Jayhawks trounced the Cowboys in a physical Big Eight game at Stillwater, Okla.

A total of 42 fouls were called in the game, including two technicals, and four players fouled out.

Kansas (22-3, 7-1) led, 42-36, at halftime, and had a 16-6 surge to start the second half. The Jayhawks took the league as Oklahoma lost to Iowa State.

Terry Fagins scored 20 points for the Cowboys (12-9, 3-5).

Georgetown 81, Seton Hall 54--Reggie Williams collected 23 points and 11 rebounds as the No. 11 Hoyas trounced the Pirates in a Big East game at Landover, Md.

David Wingate added 18 points and eight rebounds as Georgetown (19-3, 9-2) won its eighth straight.

The Hoyas overcame a sluggish start to beat the Pirates (11-13, 1-9) for the 17th straight time. Georgetown has not lost to Seton Hall since the 1976-77 season.

St. John’s 87, Boston College 75--Walter Berry left in the first half with an ankle injury, but Willie Glass scored a career-high 24 points as the 10th-ranked Redmen beat the Eagles in a Big East game at New York.

Berry, the seventh-leading scorer in the nation at 23.9 and fifth-leading rebounder at 11.5, is expected to play when St. John’s (22-3, 9-3) faces Georgetown Monday night.

Dana Barros scored 23 points and Roger McCready added 21 for the Eagles (12-11, 3-9).

Kentucky 62, Mississippi 58--Kenny Walker scored 15 points and Richard Madison had 13 as the No. 12 Wildcats escaped Oxford, Miss., with a Southeastern Conference victory over the Rebels.

Ole Miss (10-11, 3-9) had a 22-16 lead, but the Wildcats (20-3, 11-1) scored 13 straight points and never trailed again, even though they could never really pull away.

Bradley 79, Creighton 59--Sophomore guard Hersey Hawkins scored 23 points to lead the 13th-ranked Braves past the Bluejays in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Peoria, Ill.

Jim Les added 12 points and 12 assists for the Braves (23-1, 10-0), who have won 14 straight games since losing to Clemson. Sophomore Ed Johansen had 17 points for Creighton (8-12, 4-6).

Indiana 77, Northwestern 52--Steve Alford scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half as the Hoosiers ran away from the Wildcats at Bloomington, Ind., to grab a share of the Big Ten lead with Michigan.

Winston Morgan added 12 for Indiana (16-5, 8-3), while Shon Morris scored 20 for Northwestern (7-14, 1-10).