College Basketball Roundup : Elliott’s Missile Brings Down Duke

February has yet to run its course, but this game made you think of March.

Sean Elliott scored 24 points, including a three-point basket with 54 seconds left to power second-ranked Arizona to a 77-75 victory over ninth-ranked Duke at East Rutherford, N.J.

“This was the kind of game you usually have to play to advance to the Final Four,” Elliott said.

Instead, it means that the Wildcats (22-3) will become the top team in the Associated Press poll today since No. 1 Oklahoma was beaten by Missouri Saturday.

After Elliott’s three-pointer, Duke (21-5) missed two three-point shots before Anthony Cook gave Arizona a 75-70 lead with a layup. Quin Snyder hit a three-pointer to make it 75-73 with 19 seconds left, but Elliott sank two free throws one second later. Snyder’s layup with 7 seconds left made it 77-75.

After Cook missed a free throw with six seconds left, Duke’s Christian Laettner was fouled with one second left. He also missed and Elliott grabbed the rebound.

Duke rallied from a 30-11 deficit eight minutes into the game.

Temple 74, West Virginia 56--Freshman Mik Kilgore made seven three-pointers and scored 33 points as the Owls bumped off the No. 11 Mountaineers in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Philadelphia, ending the nation’s longest winning streak at 22 games.

It was the first defeat for West Virginia (23-3, 16-1) since a 70-68 setback to Bradley on Dec. 3. Herbie Brooks scored 24 points for the Mountaineers.

Temple (16-10, 14-3), which has won 25 consecutive home games, rolled to a 23-6 lead as Kilgore scored 11 points.

Virginia 76, North Carolina State 75--Bryant Stith scored 29 points, including two free throws with 90 seconds left, and the Cavaliers held on to upset the No. 17 Wolfpack in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Raleigh, N.C.

The defeat prevented N.C. State (18-7, 8-4) from moving into a first-place tie with North Carolina.

Chucky Brown scored 23 points, including a basket with 1:48 left to give the Wolfpack a 75-74 lead. After Stith’s free throws, N.C. State missed its last four shots.

Illinois 94, Ohio State 71--Nick Anderson scored 35 points and the 10th-ranked Illini made 22 of 30 shots in the second half to rout the Buckeyes in a Big Ten Conference game at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State (17-10, 6-8) started the second half with a 7-2 surge for a 44-39 lead before Illinois (23-4, 10-4) took over with an 18-2 run.

Iowa 84, Purdue 67--Roy Marble scored 22 points and B.J. Armstrong added 15 while becoming the No. 14 Hawkeyes’ all-time assist leader in a Big Ten victory over the Boilermakers at Iowa City.

Matt Bullard and Armstrong hit consecutive three-pointers early in the second half to put Iowa (21-6, 9-5) in command, 45-35. Armstrong had seven assists to give him 486, breaking Ronnie Lester’s school record of 480.

Stephen Scheffler scored 16 points for Purdue (12-16, 5-10).

Syracuse 89, Kentucky 73--Junior forward Stephen Thompson scored 13 of his 27 points in a second half surge that carried the sixth-ranked Orangemen past the Wildcats at Syracuse, N.Y.

Kentucky (12-17) had a 10-point lead in the first half and was within 73-69 when Syracuse (23-5) closed out the game with 15-4 run.

Cal 78, Oregon 74--Leonard Taylor scored 26 points and the Bears downed the Beavers in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Eugene, Ore.

Steve Ranniger of Oregon (8-18, 3-13) hit a three-point shot with 13 seconds left to cut lead to 75-74, but Ryan Drew hit two free throws for Cal (18-10, 9-7) with 10 seconds left and Bill Elleby added another.