College Basketball Roundup : Boise State Loses but Still Gives No. 5 Wyoming a Scare, 59-55

Willie Jones made two free throws after stealing the ball with three seconds to play Tuesday night to give No. 5 Wyoming a 59-55 nonconference victory over Boise State at Boise, Ida.

Boise State cut the Cowboys’ lead to 55-54 on a three-point shot by Chris Childs with just less than two minutes left.

With the Cowboys (7-0) ahead, 57-55, with 10 seconds left, Fennis Dembo was fouled and went to the free-throw line. He missed and the Broncos (6-1) got the rebound.

As the ball was advanced up court, Childs tripped and Jones grabbed the ball and was fouled.

Wyoming, which committed 27 turnovers, had led, 45-38, with 9:30 to play on two consecutive three-point shots by Reggie Fox, but Boise State rallied to set up the frantic final minute.

Fox led Wyoming with 15 points, Eric Leckner added 13 and Dembo 12. Childs led Boise State with 17 points.

Utah 83, Nevada Reno 75--Watkins Singletary scored 20 points and had 21 rebounds as the Utes (6-2) took a 20-point lead and then held off the Wolf Pack (4-3) at Salt Lake City.

Utah led, 41-31, at halftime, scored the first nine points of the second half, and later led, 57-37, with 13:35 left.

But Mario Martin, who had 15 points, helped the Wolf Pack outscore Utah, 17-7, to get back into the game.

Mitch Smith added 20 points for the Utes. Darryl Owens led Nevada Reno with 19.

New Mexico State 91, North Texas State 71--Forward Willie Joseph scored 31 points to lead the Aggies (6-5), who never trailed, to the victory at Las Cruces, N.M.

New Mexico State, which shot 59%, built a 34-14 lead and was never challenged by the Eagles (2-7).

Johnny Roberson added 15 points for the Aggies. Tim Duryea came off the bench to lead North Texas State with 16.

Utah State 107, Weber State 93--Reid Newey scored a season-high 27 points and Kevin Nixon added 20 as the Aggies (4-3) defeated the Wildcats (1-7) at Ogden, Utah.

Utah State led, 53-48, at halftime and increased the lead to 61-50 by outscoring Weber State, 8-2, to open the second half

Jeff Anderson added 19 for the Aggies. Rico Washington led the Wildcats with 24, and Timmy Gibbs scored 23.

Purdue 82, Texas Tech 59--Melvin McCants scored 19 points, including eight straight in the first half, to lead the No. 10 Boilermakers (8-1) over the Red Raiders (3-4) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Texas Tech led, 9-8, before Purdue scored 10 straight points to take control midway through the first half. Purdue went on to lead by as many as 29 points.

Troy Lewis added 17 points for the Boilermakers.

Michigan State 82, San Jose State 68--George Papadakos scored a career-high 21 points to lead Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich.

Papadakos, who came into the game shooting 82% from the field, made all nine shots he attempted, including three straight with 15 minutes left to give Michigan State (5-3) a 49-36 lead.

San Jose State (4-3) cut the lead to six points at 55-49 with about 10 minutes to play, but Papadakos made a pair of baskets to increase Michigan State’s lead to 10.

Ricky Berry led San Jose State with 20 points.

Louisiana State 93, South West Texas State 74--Jose Vargas scored 30 points and Ricky Blanto added 23 as the Tigers (4-2) snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating the Bobcats (1-7) at Baton Rouge, La.

Blanton scored 14 points in the first half as LSU built a 43-24 halftime lead.

Baylor 67, Coppin State 64--Darryl Middleton scored a game-high 24 points as the Bears (7-4) held on to beat the Eagles (3-5) at Waco, Tex.

Middleton made a short jump shot with 11:10 left, putting the Bears ahead for good at 45-43.

Baylor increased its lead to 65-56 with 2:50 left when Michael Williams scored a layup on a fast break. However, the Eagles’ Otis Barbour made two three-point shots to make it close.

Minnesota 89, Marquette 65--Kim Zurcher, who was averaging only four points per game, scored a career-high 24 points as the Gophers (4-3) won their fourth straight by beating the Warriors (4-3) at Minneapolis.

Zucher, a senior guard, made three three-point shots for Minnesota, which made eight of its first nine shots.

Michael Sims, Marquette’s leading scorer with a 13.2-point average, did not play because of “personal problems,” Coach Bob Dukiet said.

Illinois 75, Missouri 63--Nick Anderson scored 18 points as the Illini (8-2) upset the No. 17 Tigers (4-2) before a crowd of 18,224 at the St. Louis Arena.

Illinois never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 17 points.

Illinois scored eight consecutive points late in the first half for a 36-29 lead at halftime.

Derrick Chievous led Missouri with 15 points and became the first player in school history to score 2,000 career points.

Stephen F. Austin 55, Oklahoma State 49--Kenneth Willingham scored 15 points as the Lumberjacks (4-4) defeated the Cowboys (3-4) at Nacogdoches, Tex.

Austin took a 29-19 halftime lead and was able to withstand an Oklahoma State rally that narrowed the lead to one point with 1:41 to play.

Texas A&M; 72, Valparaiso 67--Darryl McDonald scored 20 points and Paul Crawford had 19 to lead the Aggies (7-4) in the championship game of the Met Life Tournament at San Francisco.

Jim Ford led Valparaiso (5-3) with 22, and Harry Bell had 17.

USF 91, Iona 73--Joe DeBortoli scored 18 points to lead the Dons (5-4) in the third-place game of the Met Life Tournament.

USF trailed, 21-9, with 12:25 remaining in the first half before outscoring Iona (4-4), 32-10, to take a 41-31 halftime lead. Rodney Tention added 16 points for the Dons.

Seton Hall 98, Holy Cross 76--Mark Bryant scored 26 points and James Major and John Morton added 20 each to lead the Pirates (10-2) over the Crusaders (4-3) at South Orange, N.J.

Bryant also had 13 rebounds for Seton Hall, which broke open a close game late in the first half by outscoring Holy Cross, 14-0.

Seton Hall led by as many as 22 early in the second half before the Crusaders outscored the Pirates, 20-8, to pull with in eight points at 84-76. However, Seton Hall responded with 12 unanswered points in the final 1:59.

Louisville 87, Eastern Kentucky 69--The Cardinals (3-2) made 23 of 30 field-goal attempts in the second half en route to defeating the Colonels (4-3) at Louisville. Purvis Ellison led Louisville with 19 points, and Herbert Crook had 16.

Penn State 97, St. Mary’s 60--James Barnes scored 13 points and Bruce Blake and Ed Fogell each added 12 to lead the Nittany Lions (3-3) at State College, Pa. Penn State scored eight unanswered points five minutes into the game to take the lead for good. St. Mary’s is 4-5.

Richmond 73, Georgia Tech 67--Rodney Rice and Peter Woolfolk each scored 18 points to lead the Spiders (7-1) past the Yellow Jackets (6-2) at Atlanta. Duane Ferrell and Tom Hammonds each had 16 to lead Georgia Tech.

North Carolina 87, Britain 79--J.R. Reid scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to lead the No. 4 Tar Heels (8-1) to the victory in the championship game of the World Invitation Club Tournament at London.

Reid helped North Carolina overcome a 50-42 deficit early in the second half and a 32-point performance by Ralton Way of Britain.