NIT Roundup : Cal Beats Oregon State; Johnson Hits Milestone

Kevin Johnson scored 28 points and became California’s all-time scorer Tuesday night as he led the Bears to a 65-62 victory over Oregon State in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at Corvallis, Ore.

California (20-14), which defeated Oregon State for the third time in four meetings this season, took a four-point lead with 1:03 to play. Oregon State (19-11) failed to score on its next three possessions, and a steal by Johnson with 18 seconds left gave the Bears an eight-point advantage.

Center Jose Ortiz scored 25 in his last game for Oregon State. Johnson has scored 1,635 points in his career at Cal, three more than the previous all-time Bear scorer, Bob McKeen.

La Salle 89, Niagara 81--Freshman Lionel Simmons, who missed more than four minutes in the first half after taking an elbow to the nose, scored 23 points to lead the Explorers at Buffalo, N.Y.

Simmons, who also had nine rebounds, scored 14 points in the second half and the Explorers hit all 14 free-throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.

LaSalle is 18-12; the Purple Eagles’ season ended at 21-10.

Nebraska 78, Arkansas 71--Reserve Anthony Bailous scored 20 points, including 12 in the first half, as the Cornhuskers built a 31-12 halftime and withstood a Razorback comeback at Lincoln, Neb.

Bernard Day scored 19 points and Derrick Vick 18 for the Cornhuskers, who improved to 19-11.

Arkansas, which got as close as three points in the second half, finished at 19-14.

Southern Mississippi 83, St. Louis 78--Forward John White hit a three-point basket with 1:25 left in overtime to put Southern Mississippi ahead to stay at St. Louis.

Southern Mississippi, which outscored St. Louis, 9-4, in overtime and scored the last six points of the game, made 10 of 19 three-point shots overall in raising its record to 20-11.

St. Louis, playing in post-season for the first time in 22 years, finished at 25-10.