NCAA Basketball Tournament Roundup : Southwest Missouri State Stops Grant, Upsets Clemson, 65-60

Southwest Missouri State, making its first appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament, upset 13th-ranked Clemson, 65-60, in a first-round game of the Southeast Regional Friday at Atlanta.

Wayne Garland scored 24 points for the Bears (28-5) despite facing a box-and-one defense, and the Mid-Continent Conference champions limited Clemson’s Horace Grant, the leading scorer in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, to two points in the second half. Grant finished with 16.

Garland hit a 15-foot jumper to start a 6-0 run that gave the Bears a 51-46 lead with 6:27 left and Clemson never caught up.

Clemson (25-6) lost its third straight game and closed the season with four losses in five games.

Other Southeast Regional games:

Kansas 66, Houston 55--Kevin Pritchard, a freshman who averages under 10 points a game, scored 15 points during a 26-9 run that helped the Jayhawks take a 34-21 halftime lead.

Houston (18-12), which got 21 points from Rickie Winslow, closed to within 42-35 with 13:05 left before being outscored, 12-2.

Pritchard finished with 17 points for Kansas (24-10) on a day in which All-American Danny Manning scored 12 points, 11 below his average.

Georgetown 75, Bucknell 53--Reggie Williams, the only player left from Georgetown’s 1984 NCAA champions, had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Hoyas won easily.

Williams scored 8 of his 14 first-half points during a 13-0 spurt that enabled Georgetown (27-4) to open a 37-29 halftime lead.

Bucknell (22-9) was making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Ohio State 91, Kentucky 77--Dennis Hopson, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half as the Buckeyes outscored Kentucky, 49-37.

Kentucky (18-11), behind at intermission, 42-40, saw its record fall to 0-11 in games in which it trailed at halftime. Ed Davender had 23 points for the Wildcats.

Curtis Wilson scored 19 points for Ohio State (20-12), which wore black shoulder bands in memory of former Buckeye football Coach Woody Hayes, who died Thursday.

WEST

Oklahoma 74, Tulsa 69--The Sooners overcame a seven-point deficit by outscoring the Hurricanes, 21-9, in the last 5:16 at Tucson.

Harvey Grant scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half for Oklahoma (23-9), which made its last eight free throws.

Tulsa (22-8) ran off a 12-4 burst midway through the second half to take a 60-53 lead on a three-point play by Don Royster with 5:34 left. Oklahoma scored the next seven points, tying the score on a layup by Ricky Grace. The Sooners took the lead for good on a five-foot jumper by Grant with 1:22 left.

David Moss scored 24 points for Tulsa and Royster came off the bench to score 20.

Tim McCalister scored 20 for Oklahoma, Grace had 14 and David Johnson added 11. Pittsburgh 93, Marist 68--Charles Smith and Demetreus Gore scored 22 points each, and the Panthers led by 21 points at halftime.

Pitt (25-7) ended Marist’s 14-game winning streak, outscoring the Red Foxes, 22-6, to take a 39-21 halftime lead.

Marist finished at 20-11.

Iowa 99, Santa Clara 76--The Hawkeyes overwhelmed the West Coast Athletic Conference tournament champions, outscoring them, 38-8, in the first 14 minutes.

Using full-court pressure, Iowa (28-4) forced 15 turnovers in the first half and shot 70% while limiting Santa Clara (18-14) to 25% shooting. It was 51-22 by halftime, and Iowa Coach Tom Davis used his reserves through much of the second half.

EAST

Florida 82, North Carolina State 70--The Gators, making their first appearance in the tournament, scored 17 straight points midway through the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit at Syracuse, N.Y.

Vernon Maxwell scored 28 points and Andrew Moten added 19 to give Florida Coach Norm Sloan the victory over his former school. Sloan coached North Carolina State to the NCAA championship in 1974.

North Carolina State (20-15) led, 49-40, before Maxwell made a 3-point shot with 12:09 left. The Gators (22-10) scored 11 points in 67 seconds and continued to pull away.

Purdue 104, Northeastern 95--Doug Lee had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the seventh-ranked Boilermakers, who advanced past the first round for the first time in four years.

Lee made six 3-point shots as Purdue (25-4) recorded its highest point total of the season.

For Northeastern (27-7), a first-round loser for the third straight year, Reggie Lewis scored 23 points to end his career with 2,709, ninth on the NCAA Division I list.

Western Kentucky 64, West Virginia 62--Kannard Johnson made a layup on an inbounds play with one second left, giving the Hilltoppers the victory.

Johnson scored 15 points for Western Kentucky (29-8), which got 17 points from Tellis Frank and 16 from Bryan Asberry.

Tyrone Shaw and Darryl Prue scored 18 points apiece for West Virginia (23-8).

Syracuse 79, Georgia Southern 73--Rony Seikaly scored 22 points to lead the 10th-ranked Orangemen, who trailed at halftime, 40-39, but regained the lead less than two minutes into the second half and never lost it again.

Syracuse (27-6) scored eight straight points to extend its lead to 60-51 after Jeff Sanders, Georgia Southern’s starting center, fouled out with 12:27 left.

Brian Nelson had 18 points for Georgia Southern (20-11).

MIDWEST

Temple 75, Southern 56--Nate Blackwell scored 24 points, and 6-9 center Tim Perry had 21 points, 17 rebounds and 7 blocked shots as the eighth-ranked Owls romped at Rosemont, Ill.

Southern (19-12), which scored 100 or more points in its previous five games, shot 18% in the second half, allowing Temple to extend its six-point halftime lead throughout the second half.

Temple (32-3) made 24 of 26 free throws.

LSU 85, Georgia Tech 79--Darryl Joe, who made 28% of his three-point shots and averaged only 8 points a game during the regular season, made 7 of 9 three-pointers and scored 28 points to lead the Tigers.

Joe, a junior college transfer, didn’t play in the Tigers’ 52-49 win over Tech earlier this season.

Anthony Wilson added 20 points and Nikita Wilson scored 18 for LSU (22-14). Georgia Tech (16-13) got 24 points from Tom Hammonds.

St. John’s 57, Wichita State 55--Marco Baldi, a 6-11 sophomore from Italy who was banned from last year’s tournament because he accepted transportation expenses from an Italian pro club, made a 12-foot jumper with one second left to give the Redmen the victory.

St. John’s (21-8) worked for the last shot after a follow shot by Wichita State’s Dwight Praylow tied the score, 55-55, with 50 seconds left.

Willie Glass, playing with his left hand heavily bandaged after injuring his wrist last week, had 18 points for St. John’s. Sasha Radunovich had 18 for Wichita State (22-11).

DePaul 76, Louisiana Tech 62--Dallas Comegys scored 29 points, and Rod Strickland, playing with the flu, scored 25 as the fifth-ranked Blue Demons (27-2) rolled to their 18th straight victory on their home floor at the Rosemont Horizon.

Robert Godbolt scored 21 points for Louisiana Tech (22-8).