College Basketball Roundup : No. 1 Las Vegas Runs Over Utah State, 113-78

Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian said he was expecting a letdown against Utah State Thursday night since his No. 1-ranked Runnin’ Rebels were coming off an impressive victory over Auburn on national television.

It didn’t happen.

Led by Armon Gilliam, who scored 22 points, Las Vegas broke to a 23-8 lead and built the margin as high as 45 en route to a 113-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory over the Aggies at Logan, Utah.

The Rebels broke the 100-point mark for the fourth consecutive game and 11th time this season as they beat the Aggies for the 11th straight time. They had defeated Auburn Sunday, 104-85.

The Rebels improved to 22-1 overall, 10-0 in the PCAA. Utah State is 11-12, 4-7.

North Carolina 96, North Carolina State 79--Kenny Smith, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last Saturday and was expected to miss two weeks, scored 21 points as the third-ranked Tar Heels (19-2, 8-0) won the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

Joe Wolf also scored 21 points for the Tar Heels. J.R. Reid finished with 16 points.

The Wolfpack, which lost its fifth straight, is 12-9, 4-4.

Navy 73, James Madison 71--David Robinson hit a desperation 40-foot jumper at the buzzer to cap a 33-point performance and give the Midshipmen a Colonial Athletic Conference win at Annapolis, Md.

The shot capped an outstanding all-around game for Robinson, who also had 13 rebounds and 5 steals.

Navy (16-5, 9-1) trailed James Madison (15-6, 5-4) by as many as 13 points, 39-26 in the second half.

Temple 87, Rhode Island 75--Nate Blackwell scored a game-high 31 points, and Ramon Rivas added 21 in a Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia to pace fifth-ranked Temple to its 31st straight victory at McGonigle Hall. The Owls are 22-2, 11-0. Rhode Island is 13-8, 6-6.

Purdue 70, Wisconsin 62--The seventh-ranked Boilermakers (17-3, 8-2) rallied from a 36-29 halftime deficit at West Lafayette, Ind., for the Big Ten win as forward Todd Mitchell scored 17 of his 19 points in the final 20 minutes.

It was Purdue’s 20th straight victory over the Badgers since 1977.

The loss dropped Wisconsin to 11-12, 1-9.

Ohio State 95, Michigan 87--Jay Burson scored 25 points, Jerry Francis added 24 and Dennis Hopson 20 to lead the Buckeyes to a Big Ten win at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State is 14-8, 5-5, and Michigan, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, is 15-7, 6-4.

Illinois 72, Northwestern 43--The 14th-ranked Illini (17-5, 7-3) jumped out to a 30-13 lead by halftime and cruised to a Big Ten win at Champaign, Ill. The Wildcats dropped to 6-14, 1-9.

Florida 66, Georgia 52--Forward Melvin Jones came off the bench to spark a first-half rally and finished with a career-high 14 points to lead the Gators (17-5, 9-2) to a Southeastern Conference victory over the Bulldogs (12-7, 5-6) at Gainesville, Fla.

Louisville 90, Virginia Tech 71--At Blacksburg, Va., Louisville center Pervis Ellison scored 20 points and held Virginia Tech’s top scorer, Roy Brow, to one field goal in the second half to key the Cardinals’ Metro Conference win.

Brow had led the Hokies (8-13, 3-4) to a 17-9 lead eight minutes into the game and finished the half with 15 points to lead both teams. But Ellison wore him down in the second half.

Alabama Birmingham 79, Virginia Commonwealth 71--Tracy Foster and James Ponder scored 23 points each to lead the Blazers (15-7, 7-2) to a Sun Belt Conference victory at Birmingham, Ala. Virginia Commonwealth fell to 14-10, 5-5.

Brigham Young 98, New Mexico 73--Mike Smith, from Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, scored 25 points, including four three-point baskets, and Brian Taylor added 18 points to lead the Cougars (17-7, 9-2) in the Western Athletic Conference game at Provo, Utah.

The Lobos are 17-7, 6-4.

Colorado State 64, San Diego State 62--The Aztecs (2-19, 0-9) lost for the 13th straight time, a school record, as Pat Durham scored 21 points for Colorado State (11-11, 5-6) in the game at San Diego.

Texas El Paso 79, Utah 75--Tim Hardaway scored 17 points and Chris Sandle, a former star at Long Beach Poly High, added 14 at Salt Lake City to lead the Miners (17-5, 7-3) to a WAC victory over Utah (13-9, 5-6).