College Basketball Roundup : Oklahoma, No. 1 in Nation, Loses in Home State, 77-73

The No. 1 jinx hit Oklahoma Saturday as the Sooners, in only their second game as the nation’s top-ranked team, lost to Big Eight rival Oklahoma State, 77-73, at Stillwater, Okla.

The Cowboys outrebounded Oklahoma, 55-43, outshot the Sooners, 43% to 39%, and blocked a Big Eight-record 16 shots compared to 5 for Oklahoma.

Oklahoma follows Duke and Illinois as the latest team to lose after being No. 1. The Sooners (18-3 overall, 5-1 in the Big Eight) moved up from No. 4 last Monday.

“They did an outstanding job today,” Sooner Coach Billy Tubbs said of the Cowboys. “They’re physically as good as anybody we’ve played this year.”

Richard Dumas led the Cowboys (13-6, 4-2) with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Thomas Jordan added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Byron Houston had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan had 7 blocks, Houston had 6 and Dumas 3.

“The big difference in the game, and to their credit, is they just beat us on the boards,” said Tubbs.

Oklahoma State didn’t clinch the victory until freshman Darwyn Alexander made 2 free throws with 22 seconds left for the final points.

Tony Martin, who scored 22 points, gave Oklahoma a 73-72 lead on a basket with 2:50 left. Houston, also a freshman, tied the score with a free throw 13 seconds later.

After Oklahoma’s Terrence Mullins missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2:14 left, Houston scored to make it 75-73 with 1:35 left.

Mookie Blaylock had a chance to tie the score with 1:22 remaining, but he also missed on the first of a one-and-one. Jordan missed a jumper at the other end, but Dumas got the offensive rebound and passed to Alexander.

Sooner center Stacy King scored 18 points, 6 below his average, and had only 4 points in the final 18 minutes.

Missouri 73, Kansas State 68--Gary Leonard’s 22 points helped the No. 5 Tigers withstand a rally by the Wildcats in the Big Eight game at Columbia, Mo., to become the first Division I team to win 20 games this season.

The Tigers (20-3, 6-0) have won 11 straight and are 15-1 since losing to North Carolina Dec. 3.

Two free throws by Byron Irvin put Missouri ahead, 71-66, with 28 seconds left. After the Wildcats (12-6, 3-3) turned the ball over, Irvin was called for an offensive foul, and Steve Henson made both free throws to make it 71-68 with 9 seconds remaining. Doug Smith clinched the victory by making 2 free throws with 7 seconds left.

Louisville 101, Memphis State 85--Kenny Payne scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half and Felton Spencer took charge down the stretch to lead the No. 7 Cardinals to the Metro Conference victory at Memphis.

The Cardinals (16-3, 5-0) appeared in control after Payne led them to a 50-32 halftime lead, but had to survive two Tiger rallies.

Memphis State (14-8, 3-3) outscored Louisville, 13-0, at the start of the second half to cut the Cardinal lead to 50-45 and pulled to within 82-73 with 5:05 left with a 10-0 run.

Payne’s basket early in the second half increased the lead to 56-49. Spencer, who finished with 22 points, scored 8 straight points later in the half to give the Cardinals a 90-75 lead with 3:23 remaining.

Florida State 66, Cincinnati 65--Tat Hunter’s tip-in with 2 seconds left capped a rally that erased a 13-point deficit in the final 9 minutes and gave the No. 8 Seminoles the Metro Conference victory at Cincinnati.

Andre Tate scored 15 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to give the Bearcats a 54-41 lead with 9:10 remaining. Florida State (17-2, 5-1) went on a 16-7 run to close to 61-57 with 3 minutes left.

George McCloud made 2 baskets to give Florida State its first lead of the second half, 64-63, with 1:02 remaining. But Elnardo Givens’ jumper put Cincinnati (10-8, 1-4) ahead with 20 seconds left.

Seton Hall 105, Boston College 82--The No. 10 Pirates used their height advantage and accurate free- throw shooting to beat the Eagles in the Big East game at Newton, Mass.

Seton Hall (19-3, 6-3) made 33 of 40 foul shots, and Boston College was 15 for 24 in getting its sixth straight loss. The Eagles (8-10, 1-7), beaten at home by Seton Hall for the first time since 1970, were forced to shoot from outside much of the time, and made only 9 of 28 from 3-point range.

John Morton scored 20 points for the Pirates, who outrebounded the Eagles, 49-28. Dana Barros, who extended his 3-point streak to 59 games, led the Eagles with 28 points.

Michigan 82, Michigan State 66--Glen Rice scored 8 of his 29 points during a 16-4 run late in the second half, and the No. 11 Wolverines overcame a 6-point halftime deficit to down the Spartans in a Big Ten game at Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Spartans (12-7, 3-6) led, 31-25, at halftime, but Michigan (17-4, 5-3), with Terry Mills scoring 7 of his 17 points, went on a 15-8 run to take its first lead, 40-39, on a hook by Loy Vaught with 14:16 left. A 3-pointer by Michigan State’s Kirk Manns tied it, 48-48, with 10:03 left when Michigan made its big run.

Vaught made 2 free throws and Rumeal Robinson drove the length of the floor for a layup to start the run and Rice continued it with his 8 points, including a dunk on an alley-oop pass from Robinson to give the Wolverines a 64-52 lead with 5:20 remaining.

Indiana 66, Minnesota 62--The No. 17 Hoosiers, whose final 6 points came on free throws, rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to get past the Gophers in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

Jay Edwards and Joe Hillman, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half, each made 2 foul shots to give Indiana (18-5, 8-1) a 64-59 lead.

A 3-point basket by Kevin Lynch cut the lead to 2 points with a minute left. The Gophers had a chance to tie, but Melvin Newbern missed a shot, and Edwards was fouled. He made the final 2 free throws for a 4-point lead with 28 seconds to go.

Minnesota (12-7, 4-5) remained winless on the road in the Big Ten and lost to Indiana for the 14th straight time.

DePaul 81, North Carolina State 74--Stephen Howard and Stanley Brundy each scored 19 points and the Blue Demons pulled away early in the second half to knock off the No. 13 Wolfpack at Rosemont, Ill.

The loss was the second straight for the Wolfpack (14-4). It was the first win over a ranked team for DePaul (14-9) after 6 straight losses.

DePaul led, 60-56, with 5 minutes left when Brad Niemann made two 3-pointers and Chucky Brown made 2 free throws to give the Wolfpack a 64-60 lead. Howard scored 6 points down the stretch to clinch the victory.

Syracuse 103, Pittsburgh 80--Stephen Thompson, who missed only 1 shot from the field, scored 29 points, and Sherman Douglas had 25 points and 11 assists as the No. 14 Orangemen routed the Panthers in a Big East game at Pittsburgh.

Thompson, who made 14 of 15 shots, scored 11 points--including 4 baskets on feeds from Douglas--as the Orangemen (19-4, 5-4) ran away from Pitt (11-9, 4-5) with a 22-5 run in the final 6 minutes of the first half to break open a tight game.

Thompson, who was only 1 of 5 from the free-throw line, made consecutive layups off Douglas assists to give Syracuse the lead for good, 34-31, during a rally that included runs of 8-0 and 12-0.

Mississippi State 96, Louisiana State 79--The Bulldogs ended a 6-game losing streak by beating the No. 19 Tigers for the fourth straight time over the last 2 seasons in the Southeastern Conference game at Starkville, Miss.

Mississippi State (9-10, 3-10), which trailed by 9 points late in the first half, broke open the game with a 22-8 run midway through the second half to take a 71-61 lead with 8:03 left. LSU (15-6, 7-3) never got closer than 8 points after that.

Reserve guard Greg Boykin, who finished with 16 points, had 8 points in the run and Greg Lockhart, who scored 24, had 6.

Freshman guard Chris Jackson, the nation’s No. 2 scorer, led LSU with 23, but had only 4 points in the second half until the final 4:20.

Virginia Tech 107, Southern Mississippi 92--Bimbo Coles scored 42 points to help the Hokies beat the Golden Eagles and snap a 4-game losing streak in the Metro Conference game at Blacksburg, Va.

Coles scored 6 points in a 12-4 run in the opening 3:39 of the second half that gave the Hokies a 62-49 lead. They took their biggest lead of the game, 94-71, with 5:11 left on a steal and dunk by Coles that capped a 14-5 run.

But Southern Mississippi (7-10, 2-4) responded with a 13-0 run and pulled to within 94-84. Coles scored 8 points down the stretch as Virginia Tech (8-12, 1-5) pulled away.

The Hokies also got 18 points from Wally Lancaster, who continued his NCAA record streak by making at least one 3-point basket in 65 consecutive games.

Georgia Tech 87, Maryland 74--Tom Hammonds scored 9 of his 31 points during a 22-7 run early in the second half that helped the Yellow Jackets defeat the Terrapins in the Atlantic Coast Conference game at Atlanta.

Georgia Tech was leading, 46-42, when former St. Bernard High star David Whitmore started the run 3 minutes into the second half. Maurice Brittian capped it with 2 free throws 10 minutes later as the Yellow Jackets (14-6, 4-2) built a 68-49 lead.

Freshman Jerrod Mustaf scored 24 points for the Terrapins (7-13, 0-7), who have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

Nebraska 74, Kansas 70--Clifford Scales made a key last-minute 3-point play to help the Cornhuskers win their first Big Eight game of the season at Lincoln, Neb.

Nebraska (13-9, 1-5) had a 39-23 halftime lead, but Kansas (16-6, 3-4), behind the strong second-half play of Milt Newton and Mike Maddox, tied the score, 66-66, with 1:32 left.

After each team made a free throw, Scales drove for a the basket and was fouled. He made the free throw to give the Cornhuskers a 70-67 lead. Ray Richardson and Eric Johnson each made 2 free throws in the final minute to clinch the victory.