College Basketball Roundup : Battle Leads Illinois Over Missouri

Kenny Battle scored 28 points, including the go-ahead foul shots with 26 seconds left, and fifth-ranked Illinois overcame an 18-point deficit to beat No. 10 Missouri, 87-84, Monday night at St. Louis.

Battle had 19 points in the second half and his 2 free throws gave the Illini (8-0) an 85-84 lead. Missouri (9-3) made a bad pass trying to set up for a final shot and Illinois’ Larry Smith scored at the buzzer.

Illinois trailed, 39-21, with 4:16 left in the first half. But a 22-4 burst made it 43-43, and Marcus Liberty’s 3-point shot gave Illinois its first lead, 54-52.

Missouri rallied three times from 5-point deficits and Doug Smith’s dunk put the Tigers ahead, 84-83, with 1:04 left.

Lowell Hamilton scored 21 points for Illinois and Byron Irvin had 26 for Missouri.

Purdue 71, Wichita State 61--Melvin McCants scored 23 points and the Boilermakers hit 10 of 12 free throws in the final 2:09 at West Lafayette, Ind., to hand the Shockers their first defeat of the season.

Tony Jones, who had 14 points, made 6 straight free throws in the final minutes for Purdue (6-3).

Florida 101, Miami (Fla.) 81--Clifford Lett scored 22 points and Livingston Chatman added 20 as the Gators snapped a 3-game losing streak by beating the Hurricanes at Gainesville, Fla.

Dwayne Davis added 18 points and 18 rebounds for Florida (4-4).

Dennis Burns of Miami (4-3), who had a 16.5 point average, was held to 4 points. Kevin Presto scored 26 points for the Hurricanes.

St. Mary’s 76, E. Washington 56--Dan Curry and James Dailey scored 13 points each and the Gaels downed the Eagles at Moraga, Calif.

It was the 200th career coaching victory for Lynn Nance and gave St. Mary’s (8-0) the best start in school history.

David Peed scored 24 points for Eastern Washington (2-8).

USF 94, The Citadel 80--Led by center Mark McCathrion’s 21 points, the University of San Francisco Dons advanced to the championship game of the Met Life tournament at San Francisco.

The Dons (6-2) will face the University of Hawaii in the final tonight. The Rainbow Warriors advanced by beating Indiana State, 80-61, in the other semfinal.

Reggie Cross scored 22 points to lead the Warriors (5-2).

Oregon St. 74, Gonzaga 51--Teo Alibegovic scored 20 points to lead the Beavers (4-2) to a nonconference win over the Bulldogs (4-3) at Corvallis, Ore. The Beavers forced 32 turnovers and had 20 steals.

Jim McPhee scored 20 points for Gonzaga.

Virginia 86, Jacksonville 81--Richard Morgan scored 18 points and the Cavaliers held on to beat the Dolphins at Charlottesville, Va.

Jacksonville (4-4) scored 7 points in a 24-second span to get within 85-81 on Pat LaGuerre’s 3-point shot with 18 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Virginia (6-1).

Dee Brown had 31 points for Jacksonville.

Duquesne 80, Pitt 76--Shawn Kelly hit 3 baskets in the stretch to help the Dukes beat the Panthers at Pittsburgh.

The Dukes (4-4), playing their city rivals on campus for the first time in 54 years, nearly blew a 9-point lead in the final 1:08, but Pitt’s Brian Shorter, who had 20 points, missed a potential game-tying shot with 7 seconds left.

Collins Dobbs preserved Duquesne’s first victory over Pitt (4-3) in 10 games by making 2 free throws with 3 seconds left. Duquesne lost to Pitt by 27 points last season and hadn’t beat the Panthers since Pitt joined the Big East Conference in 1982.

U.S. International 94, Coppin State 89--Steve Smith hit 2 free throws with 6 seconds left to secure the Gulls’ victory over the Eagles at Baltimore.