College Basketball Roundup : Banks Hits 9 Three-Point Shots in Nevada Las Vegas’ Victory

Freddie Banks connected on 9 of 15 shots from three-point range and scored 33 points Saturday as top-ranked Nevada Las Vegas rallied to beat San Jose State, 83-74, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at San Jose.

UNLV improved to 23-1 overall and 11-0 in the PCAA. San Jose fell to 11-11 and 7-6.

The Runnin’ Rebels, badly beaten on the backboards, trailed 60-54 midway through the second half after the Spartans went on an 18-4 rally.

Banks then hit a three-point shot, Gary Graham hit another, and Banks hit one more to put the Rebels ahead, 63-60.

San Jose, which outrebounded UNLV, 48-23, trailed 73-72 with 1:45 to go. Forward Armon Gilliam, who finished with 22 points, then hit a jumper and the Rebels sank six straight field goals to put away the Spartans.

“Obviously I’m glad to get out of here with a win,” Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “We didn’t rebound. If you don’t rebound, I don’t care what you’re doing defensively, you’re going to be in trouble.”

San Jose was led by 6-foot 8-inch guard Ricky Berry, who scored 22 points, 20 in the second half. He sat out most of the first half after picking up his third foul seven minutes into the game.

San Jose’s Reggie Owens grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds and scored 15 points.

Banks’ four three-point shots helped the Rebels to a 40-32 halftime lead.

Tarkanian blamed the Rebels’ poor rebounding on health problems, noting that center-forward Jarvis Basnight was sick before the game and that backup center David Willard was sidelined with a bad knee.

San Jose Coach Bill Berry said the Rebels showed why they’re ranked No. 1.

“Give Vegas a lot of credit,” he said. “They spurt when they have to, and I guess that’s what the great teams do.”

Kentucky 70, Alabama 69--Ed Davender scored 29 points (13 of 19 shots), including a 10-footer with six seconds left to lift the Wildcats to an upset win at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The ninth-ranked Crimson Tide, which had won 10 straight at home since losing to the Wildcats last year, fell to 17-4 overall and 10-2 in the Southeastern Conference, tied with Florida for the lead. Kentucky is 14-6 and 7-5.

“Alabama is still the best team in the league,” Kentucky Coach Eddie Sutton said. “I’m just proud of our guys for pulling out a win down here.”

Alabama held a 69-63 lead with less than two minutes left, but Kentucky scored the last seven points.

Derrick McKey led Alabama with 20 points, followed by Jim Farmer with 16. At the buzzer, McKey missed a 14-footer that would have won the game for the Tide.

Florida 84, Mississippi State 56--Guards Vernon Maxwell and Andrew Moten each scored 21 points as the Gators (18-5, 10-2) easily put away the Bulldogs (5-16 and 1-11) at Starkville, Miss.

Georgia 75, Auburn 71--The Bulldogs hit 17 of 22 free throws in the final 2:49 to hang on after building a 32-16 halftime lead over the 20th-ranked Tigers at Athens, Ga.

Georgia is 13-8, 6-6; Auburn 12-8, 5-6.

Dennis Williams led Georgia with 20 points, followed by Chad Kessler with 18 and Willie Anderson with 17. Mike Jones led Auburn with 21 points.

Pittsburgh 87, Providence 81--Pitt’s front line of Charles Smith, Jerome Lane and Demetreus Gore combined for 63 points and 46 rebounds as the No. 13 Panthers improved to 19-4 overall and 8-2 in the Big East at Providence, R.I.

Smith had 25 points and 17 rebounds; Lane 20 and 17, and Gore 18 and 12. Pitt outrebounded the No. 17 Friars, 68-36.

Providence (16-5, 6-4) cut Pitt’s lead to 84-80 on Billy Donovan’s three-pointer with 44 seconds left, but that was as close as the Friars could come. Donovan scored 19 points.

Said Providence forward David Kipfer of Pitt: “They’re the most physical team in the Big East. We’ve played big teams before, but nobody plays more physical. They’re the team to beat.”

Georgetown 89, Villanova 86--Reggie Williams scored 21 points before fouling out with 2:51 left and freshman Dwayne Bryant hit three free throws in the final 12 seconds as the No. 10 Hoyas (16-4, 6-4) turned back the Wildcats (12-10, 5-6) at Landover, Md.

It was the Hoyas’ fifth consecutive game decided by three points or less. Villanova’s last five games have been decided by four points or less.

Perry McDonald added 19 points for Georgetown. Villanova got 23 points from Doug West, 22 from Mark Plansky and 19 from Harold Jensen.

The Hoyas never trailed in the second half and held the Wildcats to only two field goals in the final 10 minutes, but Villanova made 19 of 23 free throws in the second half to stay close.

Temple 78, St. Joseph’s 69--Nate Blackwell scored 24 points and Tim Perry had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the No. 6 Owls, who clinched the Philadelphia Big Five title.

Temple, winning its 31st straight home game, improved to 23-1 overall and 12-0 in the Atlantic 10. St. Joseph’s slipped to 12-7 and 6-5.

Tarone Thornton had 20 points for St. Joseph’s.

Navy 78, Miami 62--In a battle of 7-1 centers, Midshipmen senior David Robinson had the upper hand over Hurricane freshman Tito Horford at Baltimore.

Robinson scored 25 points to 10 for Horford, while both had 13 rebounds.

“He’s a big strong kid,” Robinson said of Horford. “He’s really going to be a good player.”

Navy is 17-5, Miami 11-11.

Purdue 86, Northwestern 60--The seventh-ranked Boilermakers outscored the Wildcats, 13-2, in a 15-minute span of the first half and led, 46-20, at halftime in the Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Troy Lewis scored 17 points for Purdue (18-3, 9-2). Elliott Fullen had a game-high 20 points for Northwestern (6-15 and 1-10).

DePaul 88, Dayton 65--Dallas Comegys scored 15 points and blocked a career-high 10 shots as the No. 5 Blue Demons (20-1) breezed past the Flyers (10-10) at Rosemont, Ill.

Louisville 87, N.C. State 75--Herbert Crook scored 25 points and Pervis Ellison had 14 points and 7 rebounds for the Cardinals (13-10), who handed the Wolfpack (12-10) their sixth straight loss at Louisville, Ky.

Vinny Del Negro scored a career-high 25 points for N.C. State.

Oklahoma 81, Missouri 78--Tim McAlister scored 34 points, including a three-point basket with six seconds left, to lift the No. 8 Sooners to victory at Norman, Okla.

Oklahoma improved to 19-3 overall and 7-1 in the Big Eight. Missouri dropped to 15-9 and 5-3.

Missouri’s Derrick Chievous, the Big Eight’s leading scorer, scored 28 points.

Kansas 88, Oklahoma State 63--Danny Manning scored 20 of his 28 points in the second half at Lawrence, Kan., as the Jayhawks (17-5, 7-1) remained tied with Oklahoma for the Big Eight lead.

Oklahoma State (6-15, 2-6) was guilty of several early turnovers and missed its first seven shots.

Memphis State 82, Bradley 74--Marvin Alexander scored 25 points and Sylvester Gray added 20 at Peoria, Ill., as the Tigers ended the Braves’ 24-game home winning streak.

Memphis State improved to 19-6. Bradley, which had not lost at home since Feb. 16, 1985, fell to 12-10 despite a career-high 37 points by junior Hersey Hawkins.