COLLEGE BASKETBALL : POSTSEASON CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS : Creighton Upset; Illinois State Wins Semifinal

Illinois State overcame a 32-point effort by Bob Harstad to upset Creighton, 69-64, and advance to the final of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament Sunday at Normal, Ill.

Harstad, the conference player of the year, kept Creighton in the game, using an assortment of drives, long shots and inside moves to score.

Illinois State, on the other hand, had several stars, including senior guard Rickey Jackson, who led the team with 17 points and made a key layup with less than 90 seconds remaining to give Redbirds a 64-61 lead.

Creighton trailed, 36-30, at halftime, but came back to take a 48-47 lead with 9:15 to play.

The Redbirds, playing on their home court, countered Harstad’s one-man show with a balanced attack and a tight defense that frustrated the Bluejays.

The Redbirds improved their record to 17-12 and advanced to the final Tuesday night to face regular season champion Southern Illinois, which beat Tulsa.

Creighton’s record dropped to 21-11.

Southern Illinois 75, Tulsa 65--The Salukis took control midway through the second half when junior guard Sterling Mahan’s seven points keyed a 19-6 run that gave them a 64-51 lead in the other semifinal of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Mahan, who scored 17 points, and senior guard Freddie McSwain, who scored 28, led the Salukis. Tulsa (17-12) never got closer than seven points.

The win advances regular-season champion Southern Illinois (26-6) into the championship game Tuesday night.

North Carolina Charlotte 61, Alabama Birmingham 57--Freshman guard Benny Moss’ three-point shot with just over a minute to play and Jack Bolly’s two free throws with 27 seconds left gave the 49ers the upset win over the top-seeded Blazers in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament at Birmingham, Ala.

The 49ers will play South Florida in the title game tonight, with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Bulls defeated Jacksonville, 86-59, in the other semifinal.

The Blazers (22-8) took a 57-54 lead with 3:20 left on Andy Kennedy’s three-point shot, but fifth-seeded UNCC (16-13) closed to within one on a basket by Henry Williams. Moss then hit from the top of the key.

Rutgers 80, Rhode Island 79--Earl Duncan scored on a driving layup with one second left to give the Scarlet Knights the victory in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Philadelphia.

Rhode Island’s Kenny Green scored with 11 seconds left to put the Rams ahead before Duncan, the former St. Monica High star who transferred to Rutgers from Syracuse, drove from halfcourt for the winning basket.

Rutgers (16-15) led, 51-41, at the half despite losing starting guard Craig Carter, who suffered a dislocated ankle with 16:21 remaining. Rich Dadika replaced Carter and scored 14 points in the half, including 12 on three-point shots. Rhode Island (15-13) made 23 of 25 foul shots and Rutgers five of six.

The Scarlet Knights will meet Penn State in tonight’s semifinals. The Nittany Lions (21-7) beat George Washington, 83-72.

Massachusetts 78, West Virginia 55--Jim McCoy scored 25 points as the Minutemen defeated the cold-shooting Mountaineers in another quarterfinal game in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

West Virginia (16-12) shot only 31% for the game. With the score tied at 32-32 with 17:38 remaining, Massachusetts (16-12) went on a 15-3 run and took a 47-35 lead with 12:15 to play. A free throw by Tony Barbee boosted the lead to 59-43 with 5:09 left.

Temple 61, Duquesne 50--Mark Macon scored 21 points in leading the Owls into the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

The Owls (18-10) will meet Massachusetts in tonight’s game.

Duquesne (7-22) used a 9-2 spurt at the start of the second half to take a 35-32 lead. But the Owls then scored nine straight points as part of a 13-2 run and led 45-37 on a three-point shot by Mik Kilgore with 11:05 remaining.

East Tennessee State 96, Appalachian State 75--Major Geer completed a record-setting three-point shooting performance at Asheville, N.C., as the Bucaneers built a 19-point halftime lead and ran away from the Mountaineers to repeat as Southern Conference tournament champions.

The top-seeded Bucs (27-6) set a team record for wins and received the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. East Tennessee State’s 1952-53 squad had a 26-4 mark.