College Basketball Roundup : Oklahoma, Kansas Upset Victims

Oklahoma State Coach Leonard Hamilton said he had a different team show up this time to play Oklahoma.

Royce Jeffries made a driving layup with seven seconds left and Todd Christian hit two free throws with one second remaining to lift the Cowboys to a 75-74 upset of the eighth-ranked Sooners Wednesday night at Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma (19-4 overall, 7-2 in Big Eight) beat the Cowboys (7-16, 3-6) by 27 points earlier in the season.

“The difference was our players played with a lot of confidence,” Hamilton said. “They played with the desire that had been missing from our earlier games.

“There were a lot of guys who contributed. A lot of heroes. We beat them to loose balls, got the long rebounds . . . and played with the desire and effort it takes to beat a great ball club.”

Oklahoma remained tied for the Big Eight lead because co-leader Kansas lost at Missouri.

Jeffries’ go-ahead shot came nine seconds after Darryl Kennedy, who had 21 points for Oklahoma, missed a short jumper and Ray Alford grabbed the rebound.

After Jeffries’ basket, Oklahoma’s David Johnson threw the inbounds pass to the Cowboys’ Jay Davis, who was fouled with three seconds left. He missed both free throws to keep the Sooners alive.

After a timeout, Johnson threw the inbounds pass over the Oklahoma bench. Oklahoma State got the ball to Christian, who made two free throws for the last of his 22 points, to make it 75-71.

Oklahoma’s Dave Sieger hit a 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer.

Missouri 63, Kansas 60--Lee Coward hit a three-point shot with two seconds left to give the Tigers an upset of the No. 17 Jayhawks in a Big Eight game at Columbia, Mo.

Derrick Chievous had 20 of his 28 points in the second half to outplay Danny Manning of Kansas (18-6, 7-2). Manning, hampered by foul trouble, scored 21 points.

Missouri (15-9, 6-3) moved to within one game of conference leaders Kansas and Oklahoma.

The Tigers, who lost by one point at Kansas in January, led by as many as nine points early in the second half after erasing an 13-point first-half deficit. Gary Leonard’s three-point play gave Missouri a 60-55 lead with 3:52 left.

But Manning hit two free throws and Keith Harris made a foul shot to pull the Jayhawks within two. Two more free throws by Manning tied it, 60-60, with 1:37 left.

Indiana 77, Northwestern 75--Darryl Thomas scored 32 points and Steve Alford tied the Hoosiers’ all-time scoring record as the nation’s No. 2 team held off the Wildcats in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Alford, who made only 4 of 13 shots, including three three-pointers, scored 15 points and matched the 2,192 points Don Schlundt scored from 1952-1955.

Three consecutive baskets by Thomas and a nine-point burst by Ricky Calloway midway in the second half broke open a close game as the Hoosiers (20-2, 11-1) took a 58-47 lead with 8:50 left.

But the Wildcats (6-16, 1-11), closed the deficit to 76-72 with 43 seconds left on two free throws by Elliott Fullen.

Calloway hit a free throw for Indiana before Jeff Grose added his fifth three-pointer for the Wildcats in the final seconds.

Shon Morris scored 20 points for Northwestern.

Clemson 78, North Carolina State 75--Michael Tait scored 28 points and Horace Grant had 14 of his 23 points in the second half as the 16th-ranked Tigers fought off the Wolfpack in an ACC game at Raleigh, N.C.

The Wolfpack (13-11, 4-5) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but whittled the deficit to 45-40 at halftime. N.C. State tied the score, 55-55, on Vinny Del Negro’s three-pointer with 11:17 left.

The score was tied five more times, the last at 70-70 on a running shot by Del Negro with 3:02 left.

Grant scored five points in the final 2:39 and Grayson Marshall hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to give the Tigers (22-2, 7-2) a 76-73 edge. The Wolfpack missed two three-pointers in the final seconds.

Bennie Bolton had 19 points for North Carolina State.

Georgetown 78, Connecticut 50--Reggie Williams scored 34 points to lead the 13th-ranked Hoyas past the Huskies in a Big East game at Hartford, Conn.

The Hoyas (18-4, 8-4), opening with a man-to-man press, scored the first nine points and opened a 17-point lead by halftime. Williams scored 17 of his points in the opening 20 minutes.

Connecticut (8-14, 2-9) cut the lead to 13 early in the second half, but Georgetown quickly pulled away, increasing its margin to as much as 32 points en route to victory No. 1,000 in Hoya basketball history.

Alabama 71, Vanderbilt 67--Derrick McKey scored 18 points and the No. 14 Crimson Tide withstood a late rally by the Commodores to post a Southeastern Conference victory at Nashville, Tenn.

Alabama (18-4, 11-2) ran off nine straight points after the Commodores (14-11, 5-8) tied the game, 59-59, on a field goal by Bobby Westbrooks with 6:04 left..

James Jackson broke the tie with a basket, Jim Farmer added a three-point play and Terry Coner and Jackson scored baskets to build the lead to 68-59 with 1:32 left.

Will Perdue hit a basket and Derrick Wilcox and Barry Booker hit three-pointers in a late Vanderbilt rally, but Alabama made 3 of 5 free throws in the final 1:17.

Booker had 21 points for Vanderbilt.

Florida 85, Mississippi 62--Vernon Maxwell scored 16 points and the No. 19 Gators stayed on the heels of Alabama in the SEC race by stopping the Rebels at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida (19-6, 11-3) reached the 19-victory mark for only the second time in school history.

Eric Smith scored 20 points for Ole Miss (13-9, 6-7).