College Basketball Roundup : Notre Dame Rolls Over New Orleans, 75-67; Oklahoma State Upsets Oklahoma

Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps said he always enjoys traveling to New Orleans and sure would like to come back next year.

“For the big show,” Phelps said, grinning at his reference to the NCAA Final Four scheduled for the Louisiana Superdome after next season.

He wouldn’t talk about Notre Dame and this season’s tournament, however, even though his team is ranked No. 12 and defeated New Orleans, 75-67, Monday night.

“We’ve got Dayton Saturday, and that’s as far ahead as I’m looking,” he said.

Notre Dame went without point guard David Rivers, who is averaging 16 points a game. His ankle was still tender from an injury suffered against Marquette on Saturday, and Phelps said he didn’t want to risk a more severe injury.

“And I apologize to everybody for depriving them of a great show. You really have to see David to understand what I mean,” Phelps said.

The Irish didn’t need him Monday night.

Notre Dame took a 14-point first-half lead on the scoring of Ken Barlow and Donald Royal, then cruised to its victory.

Notre Dame is 22-5. New Orleans is 16-10.

Oklahoma St. 87, Oklahoma 84--Terry Faggins and Melvin Gilliam helped Oklahoma State withstand a second-half rally and the Cowboys made Coach Paul Hansen’s final home game at Stillwater, Okla., a pleasant one with an upset of the 15th-ranked Sooners.

Hansen, completing his seventh season at Oklahoma State, was told last month that his contract would not be extended. At the final buzzer, the crowd rushed onto the court in celebration and Hansen was carried off on the shoulders of his players.

The victory ended a string of frustrating Cowboy losses to the Sooners. In the previous four home games against Oklahoma, the Cowboys had lost by a total of 10 points.

Oklahoma State ended its regular season with a 15-12 record, 6-8 in the Big Eight. Oklahoma fell to 24-7, 8-6.

Bradley 61, West Texas State 55--Mike Williams scored 18 points as the ninth-ranked Braves held off West Texas State in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at Tulsa, Okla.

The Braves (30-1) became the first Division I team to win 30 games this season and extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 games.

Bradley led, 48-47, with 5:40 to play before Williams hit a layup and followed a basket by Greg Jones with a slam dunk for a 54-47 lead with 1:38 left.

Hersey Hawkins added 17 points for the Braves, and Jim Les had 14. Mike Singletary led the Buffaloes with 20 points.

In other MVC quarterfinal games, David Miller scored 19 points and Glenn Martin added 16 to help Drake to an 82-56 victory over Creighton; Illinois State defeated Wichita State, 78-70; and Tulsa ousted Indiana State, 68-50.

St. Joseph’s 72, West Virginia 64--At East Rutherford, N.J., Maurice Martin scored 22 points and Rodney Blake added 17 as top-seeded St. Joseph’s defeated West Virginia to capture the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and an NCAA tournament bid.