College Basketball Roundup : This Time, Las Vegas Survives Scare and Wins

The final minutes of Nevada Las Vegas’ game with North Carolina State Sunday at Raleigh, N.C., caused a flashback for Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Free throws weren’t dropping for his team and three-pointers were falling for the Wolfpack, and Tarkanian saw scenes of last Thursday night’s game against Cal State Fullerton.

The No. 19-ranked Rebels lost that game, 93-92, in overtime, but they used defense down the stretch to beat No. 17 North Carolina State, 89-80.

The loss for the Wolfpack snapped a 17-game home winning streak, dating back to last season.

“Really, Fullerton was a nightmare for me,” Tarkanian said. “I’ll never get over that as long as I live.

“We’re worse than any team I’ve ever heard of at the free-throw line and it just killed us. I thought it was going to kill us at the end of this game. It was like a nightmare when they kept fouling us.”

The Runnin’ Rebels were nursing a five-point lead when they missed the front end of two one-and-one situations in the final minute. But their defense created turnovers that offset the misses.

David Butler scored 21 points and Stacey Augmon added 20 to lead Las Vegas (16-6).

The Rebels got off to a 26-9 start and held a 49-34 lead at halftime. And they held a 63-52 lead with 12:37 left on the strength of Augmon’s shooting. The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward scored 10 of Las Vegas’ first 14 points in the second half.

But the Wolfpack (15-5) rallied, using a 14-5 run to cut the deficit to 68-66 with 7:12 left.

Sophomore Rodney Monroe, who finished with a career-high 37 points, hit two three-point jumpers and a 12-footer to spark the run.

“At times we felt it slipping away,” Augmon said. “Everything was going for them. We had to stay calm and put the ball in the hole.”

In the end, Las Vegas’ defensive effort shut down the Wolfpack comeback.

Stanford 82, Washington 74--Todd Lichti scored 19 points, including half of his team’s 16 points in overtime, in leading the Cardinal past the Huskies in a Pacific 10 game at Stanford.

Lichti made two shots and four consecutive free throws during the overtime.

With Stanford ahead, 76-74, and 32 seconds left in overtime, Scott Meinert was fouled by Washington’s Mike Hayward and made both free throws. Washington got no closer.

Stanford is now 19-5 overall and 10-3 in the Pac-10, while Washington drops to 9-13 and 5-8.

The teams exchanged the lead several times during the second half before Washington’s Dion Brown made a short jumper with four seconds left in regulation, tying the score at 66-66 and sending the game into overtime.

Elridge Recasner scored 23 points for Washington. Howard Wright had 17 for Stanford.

Indiana 64, Purdue 62--Jay Edwards made an 18-foot jumper with 4 seconds left to lift the No. 13 Hoosiers past the Boilermakers in a Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind. It the was conference-leading Hoosiers’ 14th straight win at home, a streak that started last season.

Of his big shot, Edwards, who scored 27 points, said: “I thought I shot it a little early, but I had a good feeling. It felt good once I released it.”

Said Coach Bob Knight: “Jay’s shot under pressure was about as good a shot as I’ve seen a kid take under those circumstances. I knew it was good when it went through the net. Before that I wasn’t sure.”

Purdue was plagued by fouls as Boilermakers Melvin McCants and Keith Stewart fouled out and Indiana ended up with a 23-16 advantage on free throws.

Purdue Coach Gene Keady cringed at losing another close one. Purdue is 3-8 in games decided by five points or less, while Indiana is 5-0.

“This is the same thing that has been happening all year,” Keady said. “I hope that at the end of the season we are a tougher and smarter team. It’s just a shame. Our kids work hard all game and then always find a way to lose at the end.”

Indiana is now 20-5 and 10-1, and Purdue, 10-13 and 3-7, has lost six of seven.

The Boilermakers led, 59-51, with 4:56 left, but Indiana scored six straight to close within 59-57 with 2:49 left.

Joe Hillman, who scored 17, made a three-pointer to give Indiana a 62-60 lead with 1:02 left.

Tony Jones of Purdue made a bank shot to tie the game 62-62 with 27 seconds left before Edwards, after an Indiana timeout, made the game-winner.

Kip Jones came off the bench to lead Purdue with 11 points.

North Carolina 85, Virginia 67--With this Atlantic Coast Conference win at Chapel Hill, N.C., the No. 6 Tar Heels avenged a 106-83 loss to the Cavaliers last month and also snapped a two-game losing streak.

Steve Bucknall scored 19 points to lead North Carolina.

North Carolina (19-5, 6-3) made eight of its first 11 shots while Virginia made just two of its first 12.

The Cavaliers (13-8, 5-4) never got the deficit below seven points after that.

The Tar Heels shot 62% in the first half but cooled off to 49% for the game. Virginia made only 26 of 80 shots for 33%, its worst this season.

Rick Fox scored 14 points for North Carolina, Jeff Lebo 12, Scott Williams 11 and J.R. Reid 10 before fouling out.

Freshman Bryant Stith had a career-high 20 for the Cavaliers.

Temple 98, Duquesne 55--Mike Vreeswyk scored 25 points and freshman guard Mik Kilgore added a career-high 19 to lead the Owls (14-8, 12-2) in an Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Duquesne (8-14, 3-10) shot just 27% from the field.