COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : LSU Rips Chapman to Prepare for Arizona

Both coaches felt 18th-ranked Louisiana State was calculating in its 101-68 victory over Chapman College on Friday night in Baton Rouge, La.

LSU’s third consecutive victory sent Dale Brown’s Tigers into today’s nationally televised game against No. 2 Arizona with a 3-1 record.

“I think Dale’s done a very good job of preparing his team,” said Chapman Coach Bob Boyd, whose team fell to 3-3 with its third consecutive loss.

“I’m sure his main concern is with tomorrow’s game against what I feel is the nation’s best team, Arizona. Everybody’s talking about Vegas, but I think Arizona is the top team in the country.”

Shaquille O’Neal, LSU’s 7-foot-1 sophomore center, had 18 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots in the 20 minutes. Four teammates also scored in double figures.

“The game went just about the way I expected it to. We were just outclassed and outmanned,” Boyd said.

Chapman, a Division II team, never tested bigger, deeper LSU. The Tigers did not trail, outshooting Chapman from the field, 54% to 40%, with a 50-32 rebounding edge.

“We wanted to be cautious of running up the score,” Brown said, “but, on the other hand, we didn’t want to let it get too close and lose the game by being Mr. Nice Guy.”

Roger Middleton’s 22 points led Chapman. Andre Hill added 14.

No. 4 Syracuse 103, Alaska Anchorage 85--The Orangemen received 16 points each from Billy Owens and Conrad McRae and took an 18-point halftime lead en route to their 14th consecutive opening-round victory in the Carrier tournament at Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse finished with five players in double figures, including McRae, a sophomore whose previous best was 12 points against North Carolina State.

Syracuse (6-0) meets North Carolina Charlotte in tonight’s championship game. The 49ers overcame a 22-point first-half deficit to defeat Florida, 94-92.

The Orangemen have won 16 consecutive games in their tournament since losing the 1981 championship game to St. Joseph’s.

No. 7 Indiana 101, Niagara 64--Calbert Cheaney scored 19 points and ignited two big runs as the Hoosiers romped in the opening round of the Indiana tournament at Bloomington.

Indiana (6-1) also got 16 points in recording its fourth victory in a row.

Indiana plays San Diego, a 75-51 winner over North Carolina Wilmington, in the championship game.

The game marked the first time the schools played each other since 1968, when Calvin Murphy scored 47 points for Niagara in Indiana’s 86-83 victory.

No. 17 St. John’s 76, George Mason 65--Malik Sealy scored 29 points and keyed the decisive runs in each half as the Redmen improved to 5-0 by winning the opening game of the Cougar tournament at Provo, Utah.

St. John’s will meet host Brigham Young in the championship game. The Cougars defeated Eastern Kentucky, 90-86, as 7-foot-6 freshman center Shawn Bradley scored 29 points and blocked a school-record 12 shots.

No. 23 Texas 112, Loyola (Md.) 68--Dexter Cambridge scored 25 points on nine-of-10 shooting and Joey Wright added 21 as Texas (2-2) had an easy time in the opening round of the Longhorn tournament at Austin.

Loyola (2-4) led, 18-10, as the Greyhounds held Wright in check early. But Cambridge, a highly touted 6-7 junior college transfer, came off the bench to score 14 points in the first half.

Texas plays Texas Pan American, a 113-97 winner over Sam Houston State, in the championship game.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

WEST

Luc Longley, a 7-2 Olympian from Australia, had 24 points and 13 rebounds and New Mexico solved New Mexico State’s pressure defense with a 71% second-half shooting blitz for a 94-88 victory over the previously unbeaten Aggies at Albuquerque.

MIDWEST

Popeye Jones scored 32 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to spark Murray State to a 79-65 victory over Texas Southern in the first round of the Citizens Bank tournament at Jonesboro, Ark. Jones hit 13 of 17 from the floor to move the Racers into the championship game against Arkansas State, an 80-67 winner over Oral Roberts. . . . James Scott hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 54 seconds left and became Arkansas Little Rock’s career scoring leader in pacing the Trojans to a 67-60 victory over Cal State Sacramento in the opening game of the Milwaukee tournament.. . . Guard Glenn Taggart scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, leading North Carolina A&T; to a 62-48 victory over cold-shooting Pacific in the first round of the Pizza Hut tournament at Springfield, Mo. Pacific shot 27% for the game.

EAST

Kit Mueller scored 17 points as Princeton improved to 5-0 with a 63-45 victory over St. Mary’s in the Manufacturers Hanover tournament at New Rochelle, N.Y.