COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Southern Mississippi Makes Plays at Finish to Beat South Carolina

Clarence Weatherspoon hit two key baskets and Russell Johnson made four free throws in the final eight seconds to help No. 19 Southern Mississippi defeat No. 21 South Carolina, 64-58, Thursday night in a Metro Conference game at Columbia, S.C.

With the score tied, 54-54, Weatherspoon drove the lane for a dunk to give Southern Mississippi (7-1 overall, 2-0 in the conference) the lead for good with 3:19 left. He muscled inside for another basket with 2:42 left to stretch the lead to 58-54.

Jeff Roulston’s follow shot with 50 seconds cut the lead to 58-56, but Daron Jenkins made two free throws for the Golden Eagles.

No. 2 Arkansas 101, Texas 89--Arlyn Bowers scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, including four free throws in the final 1:06, and the Razorbacks won a Southwest Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Texas (7-5, 2-1) rallied from a 16-point deficit to get within 88-83 with 2:40 left, but Ron Huery and Bowers each sank two free throws and Arkansas (14-1, 3-0) pulled away.

Oliver Miller and Todd Day each had 21 points for the Razorbacks. Joey Wright scored 21 for Texas.

No. 4 Ohio State 102, Northwestern 62--Jim Jackson scored 23 points and the Buckeyes romped in a Big Ten Conference game at Evanston, Ill.

Northwestern (5-7, 0-3), which lost by 41 points Saturday to Indiana, managed only one basket during an 8:40 stretch of the first half and trailed, 44-26, at halftime.

The Buckeyes (13-0, 3-0), who have beaten Northwestern 12 times in the last 13 games, opened the second half with a 25-4 surge.

No. 9 Connecticut 115, Central Conn. State 47--Chris Smith scored 23 points at Storrs, Conn., and the Huskies dealt the Blue Devils their 12th loss in a row.

Scott Burrell scored 17 points, John Gwynn added 16 and Rod Sellers had 13 points and 14 rebounds for Connecticut (12-1), which won its ninth consecutive game and 22nd in a row at home.

Kevin Swann had 25 points for the Blue Devils (1-12), whose losing streak breaks a school record set four years ago.

No. 16 East Tennessee State 86, Liberty 55--Calvin Talford had 17 points and the Buccaneers won at Johnson City, Tenn.

Keith Jennings, Major Geer and Alvin West each had 14 points for the Buccaneers (11-1). Mike Coleman had 20 for Liberty (1-13).

No. 22 Iowa 79, Michigan 78--Rodell Davis had 22 points to lead the Hawkeyes in a Big Ten game at Iowa City.

Acie Earl made one of two free throws to give Iowa (13-2, 2-1) a 79-75 lead with 18 seconds left.

James Voskuil made a three-pointer for Michigan (7-6, 0-3) at the buzzer.

Brigham Young 83, No. 25 Texas El Paso 67--Steve Schreiner had 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Cougars won a Western Athletic Conference game at Provo, Utah.

Shawn Bradley, limited to 24 minutes by foul trouble, had 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for BYU (8-8, 2-1).

Mark McCall had 16 points for UTEP (10-3, 2-1).

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

WEST

Adam Keefe scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half and Stanford (8-5, 1-2) trounced Washington, 87-55, in a Pacific 10 Conference game at Palo Alto. Doug Meekins had 20 points for the Huskies (9-3, 1-2). . . . Terrence Lewis scored scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and Washington State (9-3, 2-1) overcame 33 points by Brian Hendrick of California (4-8, 0-3), beating the Bears, 90-81, in a Pac-10 game at Berkeley. . . . Josh Grant scored 22 points as Utah (14-1, 3-0) won its 11th in a row, a 65-53 Western Athletic Conference victory over New Mexico (11-4, 1-2) at Salt Lake City.