THE NIT : New Mexico Wins in Record Appearance

Kurt Miller equaled his season high with 22 points and New Mexico held off a late Oregon rally for an 89-78 victory Friday in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament at Albuquerque, N.M.

New Mexico (18-12) is making a record seventh consecutive appearance in the NIT. Providence appeared in six in a row from 1959-1964.

Oregon (15-14) lost its final four games, including a 94-76 first-round loss to UCLA in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament.

Kevin Mixon led Oregon with 21 points, all on three-point shots. Sophomore All-Pacific 10 point guard Terrell Brandon scored 18.

DePaul 89, Creighton 72--The Blue Demons took control midway through the second half and held off a rally for the first-round victory at Chicago.

DePaul (19-14) was led by Stephen Howard, who scored 23 points. Holland and David Booth each scored 17 points. Creighton (21-12) was led by Bob Harstad’s 27 points.

St. Louis 85, Kent State 74--Anthony Bonner became St. Louis University’s career scoring leader with 31 points, and he also had 13 rebounds in leading the Billikens (18-11) at St. Louis.

Ric Blevins had 24 points for Kent State (21-8).

Bonner’s 1,901 career points topped Roland Gray’s 1,877 points set last season.

Rutgers 87, Holy Cross 78-- Keith Hughes scored 24 points and Mike Jones made 10 free throws down the stretch to lead the Scarlet Knights at Piscataway, N.J.

Rutgers (17-16) took control in the final 7 1/2 minutes with a 10-3 run.

Holy Cross finished 24-6, its best season since 1953-54.

Cincinnati 75, Bowling Green 60--Brady Hughes scored his only points on three key three-point shots in the second half at Cincinnati, helping the Bearcats (20-13) to their first 20-victory season in 13 years.

Joe Moore led Bowling Green (18-11) with 30 points.