College Basketball Roundup : Illinois Drops Indiana Out of Tie for Lead

Illinois knocked Indiana out of a first-place tie in the Big Ten by upsetting the Hoosiers, 69-67, Sunday at Champaign, Ill.

The Hoosiers, ranked No. 3 by the Associated Press, had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds, but Steve Alford missed both shots, one a 20-footer as the 45-second shot clock expired and the other a half-court toss that was blocked by Steve Bardo as the game clock ran out.

The Illini, who earlier this season led Iowa by 22 points and Purdue by 16 before losing those Big Ten home games, led Indiana by 10 with 17 minutes left Sunday.

After the Hoosiers tied it at 65-65 on a jumper by Alford with 2:40 remaining, Illinois reserve center Jens Kujawa, a 7-foot sophomore from West Germany, made a hook shot and later two free throws to supply the Illini’s last four points.

Indiana, 23-4 overall and 14-3 in the Big Ten, had started the day tied with Purdue for first place. Indiana has one conference game remaining, while Purdue, 14-2 in the conference, has two.

Senior forward Ken Norman scored 24 points to lead the 14th-ranked Illini (21-7, 11-5).

Indiana was led by Keith Smart, who scored 19 points, while Dean Garrett and Alford added 17 each.

Illinois’ final home game of the season attracted a record crowd of 16,793 at Assembly Hall.

Kentucky 75, Oklahoma 74--Forward Richard Madison scored on an inbounds pass from guard Rex Chapman with seven seconds left as Kentucky stunned 12th-ranked Oklahoma in nationally televised nonconference game at Lexington, Ky.

Oklahoma guard Ricky Grace drove the length of the floor and missed a 12-foot jumper as time expired. Forward David Johnson’s rebound basket was waved off by officials as Oklahoma coaches and players ran onto the court and protested the call.

Television replays showed that Johnson’s attempt came after the final second went off the clock.

Kentucky improved its record to 18-9 overall, while Oklahoma, dropping its third straight, fell to 21-8.

Ed Davender finished with 21 points, 19 coming in the second half, to pace Kentucky. Chapman added 20 points.

Harvey Grant scored 20 points for Oklahoma.

Nevada Las Vegas 70, Fresno St. 59--Armon Gilliam scored 21 points and Freddie Banks 19 as No. 1-ranked Nevada Las Vegas (30-1, 18-0) held off last-place Fresno State in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at Fresno.

The Bulldogs (8-20, 3-14) twice cut the Runnin’ Rebels’ lead to five points in the final minutes.

Santa Clara 91, Portland 60--Dan Weiss scored 23 points to lead Santa Clara in a West Coast Athletic Conference tournament first-round game at Portland.

The Broncos (16-13, 7-8) will play St. Mary’s in a semfinal game Friday at 8:30 p.m. at San Francisco. San Diego and Pepperdine meet in the other semifinal.

Syracuse 87, Boston College 63--Syracuse ended its regular season on a positive note by beating Boston College at Syracuse as Ron Seikaly scored 18 points.

The 11th-ranked Orangemen, 24-5 overall, finished in a three-way tie for first in the Big East Conference with No. 9 Pittsburgh and No. 8 Georgetown at 12-4.

Navy 85, James Madison 64--Carl Liebert scored 21 points as Navy hit its first seven shots of the second half and pulled away from James Madison in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Assn. tournament at Hampton, Va.

Navy (25-5) moved into tonight’s title game against North Carolina Wilmington, which defeated Richmond, 69-63, in the other semifinal.

David Robinson, Navy’s 7-foot-1 senior center, scored 16 points despite sitting out most of the second half with four fouls.

North Carolina 92, Georgia Tech 76--Second-ranked North Carolina (27-2, 14-0) became only the seventh team to go through the ACC schedule unbeaten as Kenny Smith scored 20 points to lead the Tar Heels at Atlanta.

Virginia 82, Maryland 77--John Johnson scored 23 points and Andrew Kennedy added 18 as Virginia (20-8, 8-6) beat Maryland in an ACC game at Charlottesville, Va. Maryland ended the regular season at 9-16 and 0-14.

Auburn 100, LSU 62--Mike Jones had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Tigers at Auburn, Ala., in a battle for fifth place in the final Southeastern Conference standings.

Auburn (16-11, 9-9) gained the No. 5-seeded spot in the SEC tournament at Atlanta, where it will face No. 4 Kentucky in the quarterfinals Friday. LSU (18-13, 8-10) fell into a sixth-place tie with Mississippi, but got the No. 7 berth in the tie-breaking procedure and will meet Mississippi State in the tournament opener Thursday.

Xavier 81, St. Louis 69--Xavier qualified for the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive year by beating St. Louis in the title game of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament at Indianapolis. Guard Byron Larkin scored 38 points to lead Xavier (18-12). St. Louis is 24-9.

Marshall 66, Davidson 64--Skip Henderson tipped in a missed shot with one second remaining in overtime to give Marshall (25-5) a victory over Davidson in the championship of the Southern Conference Tournament and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Temple 77, George Washington 69--Temple’s outside shooting stalled but the No. 5 Owls hit 16 of 18 free throws in the final 3:19 to defeat George Washington 77-69 in an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal game at Philadelphia. Nate Blackwell scored 26 points for Temple (29-3), which faces St. Joseph’s in the semifinals Tuesday night.

St. Joseph’s 81, Penn State 78--James Flint made a layup with 1:08 remaining, then converted two free throws with four seconds left as St. Joseph’s beat Penn State in an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal playoff game at University Park, Pa. Tarone Thornton scored 26 points for St. Joseph’s (16-12, 10-9). Rodney Blake added 20 and Flint had 10 points and 12 assists. St. Joseph’s outscored the Nittany Lions, 13-2, in the final three minutes.

West Virginia 74, Duquesne 60--The Mountaineers advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament by beating Duquesne in a quarterfinal game at Morgantown, W.Va. Tyrone Shaw and substitute Herbie Brooks each scored 18 points and West Virginia’s defense rattled Duquesne into committing 26 turnovers.