College Basketball Roundup : Florida St. Gives Oklahoma a Battle but Loses, 89-87

Impressive or not, Billy Tubbs was happy to get his Oklahoma Sooners out of Tallahassee, Fla., with a victory.

Mookie Blaylock’s steal and tie-breaking basket with 38 seconds left Thursday night helped the 16th-ranked Sooners escape with an 89-87 win over Florida State.

“The true test of a club is getting out there and winning on the road against a good team,” Tubbs said. “Florida State is a good team. They had us on the ropes, but we bowed up and made the defensive plays.”

Oklahoma (5-0) twice opened up 16-point leads before Florida State (3-1) rallied to take an 84-80 lead with less than three minutes left. But Oklahoma scored nine straight points to seal the victory. Florida State’s Aubry Boyd hit a 45-foot shot at the buzzer.

Ricky Grace scored 25 points, Stacey King 24, Harvey Grant 16 and Blaylock 13 for Oklahoma. George McCloud had 20 for Florida State.

Temple 83, St. Joseph’s 62--Freshman Mark Macon scored 22 points as the 11th-ranked Owls (3-0) downed the cross-town rival Hawks (1-3) at Philadelphia. Temple won for the 38th time in 39 games at McGonigle Hall.

Michigan 88, Austin Peay 67--Gary Grant scored 28 points, and the No. 15 Wolverines (6-1) routed the Governors (2-3) at Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines held Barry Sumpter and Vincent Brooks, the Governors’ top scorers, to a combined total of six points.

Notre Dame 89, Prairie View 52--Keith Robinson scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds as the 19th-ranked Irish (3-1) raced past the Panthers (0-4).

Providence 85, Boston College 82--Delray Brooks scored 22 points, including the last five for the Friars (4-2), who opened the Big East Conference by outlasting the Eagles (4-1) at Providence, R.I. Dana Barros tried to pull Boston College (4-1) even at the buzzer, but his three-pointer hit the back rim and bounced out.

USF 99, Pacific 75--Mark McCathrion scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half as the Dons (4-1) defeated the Tigers (3-2) at San Francisco.