COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : North Carolina Falls to Colorado State

Forward Mike Mitchell scored 34 points and guard Mark Meredith hit all five of his three-point attempts in the second half to lead Colorado State to a 78-67 victory over No. 24 North Carolina Friday night in the Mile High tournament at Denver.

Colorado State (9-2) held a 31-28 lead at halftime but came out in the second half with a near error-free attack to distance itself from the Tar Heels.

North Carolina center Scott Williams, who had 14 points in the first half, was ineffective after hitting the first basket of the second half to close the margin to 31-30.

From there, Colorado State tightened its defense and opened up its outside game. Three-point baskets by Mitchell and Eric Friehauf put the Rams ahead, 43-34, with 15:22 left.

Meredith then connected on three three-point baskets to increase the Rams’ lead to 57-40 with 9:50 left. His last three-point basket gave the Rams their biggest lead at 65-45.

North Carolina (7-5) made a brief run at Colorado State, highlighted by a pair of three-point baskets by Rick Fox and Jeff Denny, to close to within 66-57.

But Mitchell, who scored 22 of his points in the second half, repeatedly broke through the Tar Heels’ full-court press for easy dunks and layups.

Williams led the Tar Heels with 23 points; Fox added 15.

No. 2 Kansas 103, Texas-Pan American 83--Pekka Markkanen and Jeff Gueldner led six players in double figures as the Jayhawks remained unbeaten with a victory in the first round of the Holiday tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas’ 12-game winning streak ties the 10th longest in school history and the 12-0 start is the first since the 1956-57 team started 12-0 en route to the NCAA title game.

No. 3 Georgetown 83, Northern Iowa 49--Mark Tillmon scored 20 points and Alonzo Mourning added 18 to lead the Hoyas to victory at Las Vegas.

Northern Iowa (6-2) trailed, 38-35, at halftime and twice pulled within one point before falling victim to a 22-0 run by the Hoyas (9-0) early in the second half.

No. 4 Illinois 97, Grambling 73--Ervin Small scored a career-high 16 points and Andy Kaufmann had 15 as the Illini took control at Rosemont, Ill.

Small fouled out with 9:36 remaining. His previous high was 15 points against Chicago State earlier this month. Kaufmann had scored 14 points Dec. 20 against Missouri.

No. 6 Oklahoma 147, North Texas 94--Tony Martin scored 30 points and Terry Evans had 26 as the Sooners continued their high-scoring ways in the opening game of the All-College tournament at Norman, Okla.

The 147 points were a tournament record, breaking the mark of 144 scored by Oklahoma against Oral Roberts in 1987. The 241 total points were a tournament record, as was the 53-point spread.

The Sooners (7-0) have won four games by 50 or more points, and raised their nation-leading average victory margin to 50 points.

Martin had 24 points in the first half against the outmanned, cold-shooting Eagles (0-12).

No. 13 Duke 95, Cincinnati 83--Led by Christian Laettner, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds, the Blue Devils (7-2) used a 19-0 run late in the first half to advance to the final of the 26th annual Rainbow tournament at Honolulu.

Cincinnati trailed, 61-38, with 18:45 left, but Louis Banks scored 11 points in the next 3:40 to pull the Bearcats within 65-52. Cincinnati (6-3) eventually closed to 85-78 with 3:42 left, but Banks, who finished with 27 points, fouled out and Cincinnati’s hopes ended.

No. 15 Memphis State 76, Ball State 73--Elliot Perry, who tied a career-best with 33 points, hit a game-winning jump shot with five seconds remaining in overtime as the Tigers rallied to victory at Rosemont, Ill.

Memphis State (7-2) scored the first four points in the overtime to take a 71-67 lead, but Paris McCurdy tied the score, 73-73, before Perry scored the winning basket.

No. 17 St. John’s 83, Davidson 65--Jayson Williams scored 23 points at New York as the Redmen won their sixth consecutive game.

Malik Sealy scored eight points and Williams had four as St. John’s (11-2) jumped to a 21-6 lead. Williams got 16 in the first half. Sealy had 20 for the game, while Rob Werdann had 11 as the Redmen led, 47-28, at halftime.

No. 19 North Carolina State 65, Seton Hall 62--Tom Gugliotta scored 18 points to lead the Wolpack to a hard-fought victory at New York.

The Wolfpack (9-2) did not get the game it expected from the backcourt of Rodney Monroe and Chris Corchiani, but the two guards came through in the final minutes with some big plays to secure the victory. Seton Hall is 6-3.

No. 22 Alabama 78, Iona 39--Melvin Cheatum scored 18 points as the Crimson Tide (8-2) limited the Gaels to 13 second-half points at Santa Clara.

It was the 200th victory for Coach Wimp Sanderson.

No. 23 Oregon State 82, Louisiana Tech 81--Gary Payton capped a 35-point performance by hitting a five-foot jump shot with nine seconds to play, giving the Beavers a victory in the semifinals of the Far West tournament at Portland, Ore.

The Beavers (8-2) trailed, 77-68, with 3 1/2 minutes to play after losing an 11-point halftime lead.

But Payton, who also had 12 assists, hit four field goals in the final 2:10 as Oregon State outscored the Bulldogs (8-2) 14-4 at the finish.

In the other semifinal game, Oregon defeated Illinois State, 81-79, as Keith Reynolds scored 23 points and Terrell Brandon added 20. Oregon is 7-3.

Stanford 70, Missouri-Kansas City 50--Adam Keefe scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half as the Cardinal took control early in the first round of the Holiday tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Stanford (8-0) is off to its best start since the the 1953-54 team won its first nine games.

Washington State 72, Ohio University 69--Brian Paine scored a three-point play with one second left to give the Cougars (7-3) a victory in the opening game of the Volunteer tournament at Knoxville, Tenn.

California 82, Cornell 49--Roy Fisher and Brian Hendrick scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds apiece to lead the Bears (9-2) to victory at Berkeley.

Arizona State 62, Georgia 61--Mark Becker’s layin with one second remaining gave the Sun Devils (6-4) a victory at Tempe, Ariz.