College Basketball Roundup : Williams Leads Tar Heels Past Arizona, 79-72

Scott Williams sparked a late run with 8 of his 17 points as 10th-ranked North Carolina scored a 79-72 victory over No. 11 Arizona Friday night in the first round of the Tournament of Champions at Charlotte, N.C.

In the other game, No. 8 Missouri defeated No. 17 Temple, 91-74, in double overtime, setting up a championship game tonight between the Tar Heels and the Tigers.

Nine days ago, Missouri defeated North Carolina, 91-81, in the semifinals of the Big Apple NIT.

Williams started his run after Ron Curry scored on a jumper to give Arizona a 63-62 lead with 4:32 left. Williams retaliated with a layup at 4:10, hit a short hook at 3:40 and added a hook in the lane with 3:03 remaining to give North Carolina a 68-63 lead.

The Wildcats cut the deficit to 68-65 on two free throws by Matt Muehlebach with 2:52 left. But Kevin Madden hit a jumper from the left baseline, and Williams ended his run by making a layup with 2:08 to play, stretching North Carolina’s lead to 72-65.

Arizona, playing the final 4 1/2 minutes without Sean Elliott, who fouled out, got a 3-point basket from Ken Lofton to move within 74-70. The Wildcats took a timeout after that basket but failed to answer the buzzer in time to begin play, and Jeff Lebo went in for an uncontested layup to seal the victory.

Pete Chilcutt scored 16 points for North Carolina (5-1), and Madden added 11.

Elliott scored 16 points for Arizona (1-1); Jud Buechler added 14, Curry 11 and Harvey Mason 10.

“The crucial time was once we lost Elliott. We were struggling, but we did battle them right to the end,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said. “If I have one indication of great concern for this game, it was our lack of rebounding.”

North Carolina out-rebounded Arizona, 40-31.

Missouri (5-1) overcame a 16-point deficit in the first half to beat Temple, which was playing its first game of the season. The Tigers outscored the Owls, 18-1, in the second overtime.

Byron Irvin scored 33 points for the Tigers, while Mark Macon had 30 for the Owls.

Syracuse 120, East Tennessee State 81--Derrick Coleman scored 19 points to lead 6 players in double figures as the No. 4 Orangemen hit their first 7 shots in the opening round of the Carrier tournament at Syracuse.

Sherman Douglas added 18 points and Matt Roe 17 for the Orangemen (6-0).

The 120 points were a tournament record for Syracuse, which scored 111 last season against South Florida.

Syracuse will face Louisiana Tech in tonight’s final. The Bulldogs (3-0) defeated Miami (Ohio), 69-62 behind senior guard Darryl Knight, who scored 28 points, including 6 during a decisive 12-3 run in the second half.

Miami (0-2) was led by senior forward Karlton Clayborne with 20 points.

Stanford 90, Cornell 45--Guard Todd Lichti scored 17 points, and forward Howard Wright added 15 to lead the Cardinal (2-2) in the first round of the Apple Invitational at Stanford.

The Cardinal took a 40-7 lead, led by Wright, who scored 9 points during that span.

Cornell did not score its first field goal until center Paul McRae hit a jump shot on his team’s 17th possession, 8:40 into the game. It made only 3 of 21 field-goal attempts in the first half.

McRae led Cornell with 17 points.

Stephen F. Austin 70, Washington State 67--Scott Dimak scored scored 29 points, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, as the Lumberjacks won the opener of the McDonald’s Zip tournament at Akron, Ohio.

Stephen F. Austin (1-1) raced to a 16-4 lead and was ahead at halftime, 31-24.

Washington State (1-3) was led by Darryl Woods with 26 points. The Cougars trailed, 62-49, with 2:59 left and made 5 of 7 3-point shots to make the final score the closest margin of the game.

In tonight’s final, Stephen F. Austin will face Akron, a 105-66 winner over Delaware State (1-2). Eric McLaughlin scored 28 points for Akron (2-1).

Oral Roberts 91, Alabama 86--Howard Suggs had 19 points and 4 steals for Oral Roberts in the first round of the Gator Bowl Tip-Off tournament at Jacksonville, Fla. Both teams are 2-1.

Michigan 102, Grambling 62--Glen Rice scored 23 points, and Rumeal Robinson had 19 for the No. 2 Wolverines who outshot the Tigers, 58% to 35%.