College Basketball Roundup : San Diego State Surprises No. 7 BYU, 82-80

Bryan Williams hit a seven-foot bank shot with three seconds left in overtime to give San Diego State an 82-80 upset victory over seventh-ranked Brigham Young Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference game at San Diego.

The Aztecs (10-13 overall, 3-8 in the WAC) scored the first seven points of overtime to take a 77-70 lead with 2:20 left, but BYU (20-2, 9-1) rallied to tie the score, 80-80, on a follow shot by Andy Tolson with 28 seconds remaining.

It was the second loss for the Cougars in their last five games. They were beaten, 102-83, by Alabama Birmingham on Feb. 6.

San Diego State upset a top-ranked team for the second time this season. The Aztecs beat New Mexico, then ranked No. 18, 64-59 on Jan. 14.

Rodney Hawkins’ basket with 17 seconds left in regulation gave San Diego State a 70-68 lead. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. BYU’s Brian Taylor made two free throws with two seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

Tony Ross scored 26 points for San Diego State, including six three-point shots, and Mitch McMullen added 19 points.

Jeff Chatman had 23 points, and Michael Smith added 21 for BYU.

San Diego State played erratically Thursday night, as it has most of the season. But that didn’t bother Jim Brandenburg, Aztec coach.

“Sometimes we play ugly, and sometimes we play brilliantly,” Brandenburg said. “The most important thing is that we ended up with the most points at the end of the game in front of a great crowd.”

San Diego State led, 32-30, at halftime, but could have led by more. In the first half, the Aztecs were made only 4 free throws in 10 tries.

North Carolina State 88, Clemson 63--Sophomore Brian Howard scored 26 points, and Chucky Brown added 25 as the No. 14 Wolfpack overpowered the Tigers in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Clemson, S.C.

The Wolfpack (18-5, 6-3 in the ACC) made 64.3% of their shots while taking a 43-34 lead at the half, and outscored the Tigers, 8-3, in the first four minutes of the second half to push the lead to 51-37.

Jerry Pryor scored 18 points for Clemson (11-11, 1-8), which lost its sixth straight game.

Bradley 83, Creighton 67--Hersey Hawkins had 35 points and 8 rebounds to lead the No. 17 Braves past the Bluejays in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Omaha.

The Braves (18-4, 8-2) started to take charge by scoring seven straight points to take a 40-31 lead early in the second half.

Rod Mason scored 31 points for Creighton (13-13, 5-7), which made 17 turnovers.

Wyoming 79, Air Force 63--Fennis Dembo scored 24 points, including three free throws down the stretch, as the No. 19 Cowboys pulled away from the Falcons at Colorado Springs, Colo., in a Western Athletic Conference game.

Air Force (11-11, 4-7) was within 66-62 but scored just one point in the final 4 1/2 minutes.

Eric Leckner added 17 points, and Reggie Fox had 16 for Wyoming (19-5, 8-5), which trailed by 10 points in the first half. Randy Dudley had 26 points for Air Force.

Indiana 95, Michigan State 58--Jay Edwards scored 24 points, including five three-point shots, and Rick Calloway added 18 points and 8 assists as the Hoosiers overwhelmed the Spartans in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

The Hoosiers (15-7, 7-5) hit 20 of 24 shots while rolling to a 44-21 halftime lead, with Joe Hillman making all 5 of his shots and scoring 10 points.

Kirk Manns scored 15 points for Michigan State (8-14, 3-9).

Kansas 64, Kansas State 63--Kevin Pritchard hit a three-point shot with 18 seconds left, and the Jayhawks beat the Wildcats in a Big Eight game at Manhattan, Kan.

Ron Meyer hit a pair of free throws at the 1:34 mark to move Kansas State (15-7, 7-3) into a 61-61 tie before Pritchard connected.

Mitch Richmond’s basket got the Wildcats close, and Keith Harris missed a free throw to give K-State another chance, but Jeff Gueldner made a steal to secure the victory for Kansas (17-8, 6-4).

Danny Manning scored 18 points for Kansas.

Notre Dame 59, Dayton 47--Gary Voce and David Rivers scored 18 points each, and the Irish beat the Flyers at South Bend, Ind.

Rivers scored 12 points as Notre Dame (16-7) built a 27-16 halftime lead and broke the game open with a 10-3 burst to start the second half.

Anthony Corbitt scored 13 points for Dayton (10-14).