COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : North Carolina Roster Too Deep and Talented for Slumping DePaul

North Carolina utilized its size and depth to dismantle DePaul Saturday in the Red Lobster tournament at Orlando, Fla.

Coach Dean Smith used 15 players as the No. 7 Tar Heels beat the Blue Demons, 90-75, and advanced to tonight’s championship game against Stanford, a 70-61 winner over Central Florida.

“Their size wore us down,” DePaul Coach Joey Meyer said. “We were worn out. Every time we turned around they brought in a new player. They just keep coming at you.”

Rick Fox scored 21 points for North Carolina (8-1), which won its sixth consecutive game. It was the fifth consecutive loss for the Blue Demons (4-5).

Stanford built a 57-40 lead against Central Florida, then made only three shots from the field in the final 12 minutes before hanging on for victory.

It was the fifth victory in six games for the Cardinal (7-2) and the third loss in four games for the Knights (5-3).

No. 1 Nevada Las Vegas 92, Pacific 72--Stacey Augmon scored 26 points and Larry Johnson added 18 as the Rebels beat the Tigers in a Big West Conference opener at Stockton.

It was the 17th consecutive victory over two seasons for the Rebels (6-0) and their 22nd in a row against the Tigers (4-6).

No. 2 Arkansas 126, Jackson State 88--The Razorbacks (10-1) went on a 22-7 three-minute run in the first half and cruised past the Tigers (5-8) at Little Rock, Ark.

Todd Day scored 15 of his 24 first-half points during the spurt and finished with 31 points for the Razorbacks, who outscored Jackson State, 40-12, in the last nine minutes.

No. 3 Syracuse 101, Wagner 55--Jim Boeheim earned his 355th victory, tying him with Lew Andreas as the winningest coach in Syracuse history, as the Orangemen (12-0) routed the Seahawks (2-7) at Syracuse, N.Y.

No. 8 Duke 97, Lehigh 67--The Blue Devils (9-2) won their 62nd consecutive home game against a nonconference opponent behind the scoring of sophomore guards Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill, who combined for 37 points against the Engineers (3-5) at Durham, N.C.

No. 11 Pittsburgh 84, Stetson 69--Jason Matthews scored five of his 24 points during an 18-6 run in the first half that started the Panthers (11-1) on their way to a victory over the Hatters (5-5) in the semifinals of the Rainbow tournament at Honolulu.

Maryland 78, No. 12 South Carolina 69--Walt Williams, a 6-foot-8 junior point guard, dominated play with 26 points and led the Terrapins over the Gamecocks in the championship game of the ECAC tournament at New York.

The Gamecocks (9-2) had pulled to within 63-62 with 6:25 left when Williams started the Terrapins (6-3) on a game-deciding 11-0 run over the next 2:45.

No. 13 Connecticut 90, Rhode Island 69--The Huskies (8-1) opened the second half with an 11-2 spurt that gave them a 48-26 lead en route to a victory over the Rams (4-3) in the championship game of the Connecticut Mutual tournament at Hartford, Conn.

No. 14 Oklahoma 112, Tulsa 99--Brent Price and Jeff Webster keyed a 23-6 second-half run that helped the Sooners (10-2) pull away from the Hurricane (6-4) and win the All-College tournament at Oklahoma City.

No. 15 Louisiana State 118, Nicholls State 76--Vernel Singleton scored 25 points and Shaquille O’Neal added 24 for the Tigers (7-2), who tuned up for next week’s Southeastern Conference opener by routing the Colonels (1-11) at Baton Rouge. La.

No. 16 Georgetown 63, Houston 51--In the first meeting between the Hoyas and Cougars since the championship game of the 1984 NCAA tournament, Georgetown (7-2) forced Houston (8-2) into 26% shooting and ended a two-game losing streak with the victory at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Purdue 64, No. 17 Georgia 63--Woody Austin made two free throws with 2:28 left that gave the Boilermakers (8-2) a 57-56 lead and they hung on to beat the Bulldogs (7-3) at Athens, Ga., ending Georgia’s 15-game home winning streak.

No. 18 Kentucky 93, Louisville 85--Jeff Brassow made six three-point shots and Richie Farmer made four to help the Wildcats (8-2) end a two-game losing streak against the Cardinals (5-2) with the victory at Louisville, Ky.

No. 19 Virginia 79, Minnesota 72--John Crotty scored 19 points and had 12 assists for the Cavaliers (7-2) in a victory over the Gophers (6-3) at Minneapolis.

No. 20 East Tennessee St. 94, North Carolina St. 91--Calvin Talford scored a career-high 30 points and made a tiebreaking three-point shot with 1:17 left to lift the Buccaneers (9-1) over the Wolfpack (5-2) at Johnson City, Tenn.

No. 21 Southern Mississippi 122, Wyoming 112--Darrin Chancellor scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half as Southern Mississippi (5-1) beat the Cowboys (10-2) to win the Cowboy Shootout at Casper, Wyo.

No. 24 New Mexico State 128, Morgan State 71--Terry Bennett made a school-record nine three-point shots--all in the second half--as the Aggies (8-1) extended their home winning streak to 23 games with the victory over the Golden Bears (0-9) at Las Cruces, N.M.

No. 25 Michigan State 77, Louisiana Tech 62--Forward Matt Steigenga was selected most valuable player of the Cutlass tournament for the second consecutive year after scoring a career-high 29 points for the Spartans (7-3) in the championship game at East Lansing, Mich.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

EAST

Seton Hall made a school-record 16 three-point baskets during a 106-49 rout of Winthrop at South Orange, N.J. . . . Terry Dehere scored 19 points and made five three-point shots for the Pirates (8-1). Winthrop is 1-6 . . .Providence got 32 points from Eric Murdock, who also had four steals to move into third place on the all-time NCAA list as the Friars defeated Liberty, 102-78 at Providence, R.I. Providence is 8-2. Liberty is 1-10.

SOUTH

Alabama (6-3) held North Carolina Charlotte (6-4) to its lowest point-total of the season and the Crimson Tide won the Blue Angels tournament by defeating the 49ers, 93-67, at Pensacola, Fla. . . . James Madison defeated Virginia Tech, 73-58, to win the Times-Dispatch tournament at Richmond, Va. Barry Brown scored 17 points for the Dukes (5-4). The Hokies are 5-3.

At Memphis, Tenn., Deon Thomas of Illinois (10-3) scored 28 points to lead the Illini to an 84-75 victory over Memphis State (5-4).

WEST

Washington State won its sixth consecutive game and set a school-record for points with a 121-82 victory over Seattle at Pullman, Wash. The Cougars (7-2) eclipsed the record of 115 set against Idaho in 1966 and tied the next season against Montana State. Dave Horner had 18 points for the Chieftains (6-7). . . . Isaac Austin scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Arizona State (9-1) held off Texas (5-4), 89-82, to win the Tribune tournament at Tempe, Ariz.

At Santa Clara, Rhea Taylor scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half as Santa Clara rallied to defeat Princeton, 59-53, and win the Cable Car tournament. . . Santa Barbara got 16 points from Lucius Davis as the Gauchos (5-3) defeated Marist, 64-52, in the consolation game of the Cable Car tournament. Marist is 0-8.

New Mexico held Southern, the nation’s top-scoring team, 34 points below its average during a 94-83 victory in the championship game of the Lobo Invitational at Albuquerque, N.M. Luc Longley scored 29 points for the Lobos (10-2). Southern is 5-2 . . . Terrell Brandon scored 30 points to lead Oregon to a 78-71 victory over Oregon State in a nonconference game at Portland, Ore. The Ducks (5-5) and the Beavers (5-4) played on a neutral court in the absence of the traditional Far West tournament.

Dion Brown’s 17-point performance, which included a free throw with six seconds left, gave Washington (8-1) a 59-57 win over Texas Tech in the consolation game of the Sun Carnival Basketball tournament at El Paso. . . . Utah used a 16-4 run over the final 4:29 to defeat rival Utah State, 74-63, at Logan, Utah. Josh Grant scored 20 points for the Utes (11-1), and Rich Jardine and Kendall Youngblood each had 17 points for the Aggies (3-6).

Tod Bernard scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half as Fresno State (5-4) beat Portland (1-9), 88-76, at Fresno.