COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Brown Finds the Mark and Kansas Wins

Missing five three-point shots in a row might worry some players, but not Terry Brown, who has long been one of the Big Eight’s most streaky shooters.

Against Oklahoma on Saturday, Brown missed the first five times he tried a long-range shot. But he made his next four as the eighth-ranked Jayhawks took control and eased to a 109-87 Big Eight Conference victory over struggling Oklahoma at Lawrence, Kan.

“I never worry when I start out like that because once I hit the first one, it gets me pumped up and I’m more relaxed on the next shot,” said Brown, who led Kansas with 24 points.

“Terry Brown made some big ones for us to get it rolling,” said Coach Roy Williams, whose Jayhawks (20-5, 9-3) withstood a rally in the second half that trimmed a 24-point deficit to 10.

Oklahoma (15-12, 4-8), which has lost five key players to academic problems and injuries, lost its sixth in a row and ninth in 10 games.

No. 2 Ohio State 63, Minnesota 62--Jamaal Brown made a 15-foot jump shot with 32 seconds left and Chris Jent batted away a loose ball in the closing seconds as the Buckeyes got a scare before winning at Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio State (24-1, 14-1 in the Big Ten) trailed, 58-50, with 6:14 left but scored the next nine points, seven of them by Jim Jackson, who led the Buckeyes with 26 points. His 12-foot baseline shot with 3:13 left put the Buckeyes ahead, 59-58.

Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins thought it should have been more than a scare, blaming the three officials--Ted Hillary, London Bradley and Steve Welmer--for his team’s defeat.

“We really played well and we really won the game,” Haskins said. “We beat the No. 2 team in basketball and, unfortunately, the headlines tomorrow are going to show that we lost the game. But the Gophers won the game by one point to seven points if we don’t get the big-time screws put to us at the end.”

Ohio State trailed for most of the game and was behind by as many as eight points in each half.

“Any time you play like we did tonight and don’t come up with a win, it’s really, really tough in coaching,” Haskins said.

No. 3 Arkansas 111, Texas A&M; 72--The Razorbacks clinched at least a tie for their third consecutive Southwest Conference title by routing the Aggies at College Station, Tex.

Todd Day scored 23 points and Oliver Miller added 20 as Arkansas (27-2, 14-0) set a school record for regular-season victories. The 1977-1978 Hogs had 26 regular-season victories en route to a Final Four appearance.

No. 6 North Carolina 73, Clemson 57--The Tar Heels became the first team in NCAA history to win 1,500 games.

North Carolina (21-4, 9-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) is 1,500-548. The Tar Heels won despite shooting below 50% for the first time in seven games. But their defense held Clemson (10-14, 1-10) below 39%.

No. 12 Kentucky 90, Florida 74--Deron Feldhaus scored eight points to key a 19-7 run in the second half that enabled the Wildcats to take control of the Southeastern Conference game at Gainesville, Fla. Kentucky has 1,499 victories.

John Pelphrey’s basket gave Kentucky (20-6, 12-4) a nine-point lead with 3:51 left. The Wildcats scored their next 12 points from the free-throw line. Florida is 11-14 and 7-9.

Marshall 107, No. 13 East Tennessee State 103--The Thundering Herd made eight free throws in the final minute of overtime to upset the Buccaneers at Huntington, W.Va.

Marshall (13-14 overall, 6-7 in the Southern Conference) led for good after John Taft’s basket five seconds into overtime broke a 95-95 tie. His free throw with 34 seconds left in overtime gave the Herd a 104-97 lead. Taft scored 31 of his 43 points after halftime.

Keith Jennings, who scored a career-high 37 points, hit three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 23 seconds left and made a three-point shot 11 seconds later to pull East Tennessee State (24-4, 10-3) to within 105-103.

No. 14 Nebraska 85, Kansas State 78--Free throws were the difference in the Big Eight game at Lincoln, Neb., as the Cornhuskers (23-5, 8-4) made 22 of 33, including eight of 10 in the final 2:25. Kansas State (12-13, 2-10) made 15 of 26.

No. 18 St. John’s 57, Notre Dame 55--The Redmen scored 10 of the games’s final 12 points, including David Cain’s two free throws with 1:14 left and Jason Buchanan’s free throw with 15 seconds left at Madison Square Garden.

St. John’s trailed, 53-47, with 5:46 left after a basket by Notre Dame’s Kevin Ellery. The Redmen (19-6) went ahead with seven consecutive points before Elmer Bennett made the last basket for the Irish (11-17) with 3:29 left for a 55-54 lead.

No. 19 Louisiana State 119, Tennessee 87--Shaquille O’Neal scored 33 points at Baton Rouge, La., as the Tigers (19-7, 12-4) moved into sole possession of first place in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky is on probation and ineligible for postseason play and conference honors.

LSU’s biggest second-half lead was 103-65. Allan Houston led Tennessee (9-18, 3-13) with 24 points.

North Carolina State 83, No. 20 Virginia 76--Rodney Monroe scored 30 of his 32 points in the second half to help the Wolfpack rally from a 20-point deficit at Raleigh, N.C.

Monroe’s basket with 4:03 left gave N.C. State (16-8, 7-5) a 71-70 lead. Bryant Stith scored for Virginia (19-9, 6-7) at 3:40, but N.C. State got successive baskets from Monroe and Bryant Feggins and took the lead.

Alabama 97, No. 21 Mississippi State 72--At Tuscaloosa, Ala., the Crimson Tide shot 55.6% and used a 49-24 rebounding advantage to prevent Mississippi State from moving into a tie for the SEC lead.

Alabama (17-8, 11-5) outscored the Bulldogs (18-7, 11-5), 40-19, in the final 15 minutes of the first half to lead, 50-32, and scored the first eight points to start the second half to extend the lead to 58-32.

No. 23 Princeton 68, Cornell 53--The Tigers remained undefeated in the Ivy League, rolling past the Big Red at Princeton, N.J.

The victory was the 12th in a row for Princeton (20-2, 11-0), which clinched its third consecutive Ivy League title Friday. The Tigers had no problem with Cornell (12-12, 5-7), which got no closer than the final margin.

No. 24 Seton Hall 90, Villanova 73--Oliver Taylor capped an 11-1 second-half run with a steal and a dunk to lead the Pirates to their fifth consecutive victory.

The victory at East Rutherford, N.J., moved Seton Hall (18-7, 8-6 in the Big East) another step closer to an NCAA tournament berth. Villanova is 14-11 and 7-7.

No. 25 Georgetown 71, Connecticut 57--The victory at Landover, Md., kept alive the Hoyas’ slim hopes of winning the regular-season Big East title. Georgetown (16-9, 7-7), is tied for fourth with Seton Hall. They trail conference leader Syracuse by a 1 1/2 games.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

EAST

Northeastern led from the start and routed New Hampshire, 73-57, at Durham, N.H. The Wildcats have lost 33 of their last 34 home games. They snapped a record 32-game home losing streak last week against Holy Cross. . . . Temple, playing without leading scorer Mark Macon, who sprained his right ankle earlier in the week, and the entire the second half without Coach John Chaney, who was ejected with one minute left in the first half for bumping official Phil Bowa, lost to West Virginia, 91-66, at Morgantown, W.Va.

Eric Murdock scored 23 points to break the single-season Big East scoring record with 405 points as Providence defeated Boston College, 64-63, at Providence, R.I. Chris Mullin of St. John’s set the record with 398 points. . . . La Salle defeated Iona, 93-70, to remain in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Doug Overton, La Salle’s leading scorer and the school’s career assist leader, missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right ankle.

SOUTH

Walt Williams, playing his first game since breaking his right leg Jan. 12, came off the bench with 13:23 left and scored seven points to spark a Maryland comeback as the Terrapins clinched a winning season by beating Wake Forest, 86-78, in an ACC game at College Park, Md. . . . Chancellor Nichols made a driving layup at the buzzer to give James Madison a 75-74 victory over George Mason at Fairfax, Va. James Madison (19-8, 12-2) clinched its second consecutive regular-season title in the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Andy Kennedy scored 35 points to lead Alabama Birmingham to a 107-99 Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama at Birmingham. . . . Georgia made 12 of 13 free throws in the last 2:06 to clinch an 86-77 SEC victory over Auburn at Auburn, Ala. . . . William & Mary came from behind for a 71-69 Colonial Athletic Assn. victory over Richmond at Williamsburg, Va. It’s the first time since 1984 that the Tribe has beaten Richmond, a string of 14 games.

Popeye Jones scored 31 points, six during a second-half run at Murray, Ky., that gave Murray State a 91-86 victory over Middle Tennessee and the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title. It’s the fourth consecutive league title that the Racers have won outright or shared.

MIDWEST

Michigan State continued its drive for an NCAA tournament berth by defeating Purdue, 75-58, in a Big Ten game at East Lansing, Mich. It was the third victory in a row for the Spartans. The Boilermakers have lost eight of their last 11. . . . Andy Kaufmann scored 24 of his 32 points in the second half and Illinois held off Iowa to beat the Hawkeyes, 79-74, in a Big Ten game at Iowa City. James Moses, who finished with 30 points, scored 23 of Iowa’s last 31 points in the final 10:53.

Iowa State outscored Missouri, 34-10, after a technical foul was called on Cyclone Coach Johnny Orr with 11 1/2 minutes left and went on to beat the Tigers, 89-76, at Ames, Iowa. Victor Alexander scored 32 points for the Cyclones. . . . Creighton assured itself of a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title with a 76-73 victory over Southern Illinois at Omaha.

ROCKIES

Ken Roberts scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds as Brigham Young beat Air Force, 70-61, in a Western Athletic Conference game at the Air Force Academy. Shawn Bradley, BYU’s 7-foot-6 freshman center, was held to season lows of two points, no rebounds and one blocked shot. . . . Senior guard Mark Meredith made six of seven three-point shots and finished with 27 points to lead Colorado State to a 71-62 victory over Hawaii in a WAC game at Ft. Collins, Colo.

WEST

Washington State ended a five-game losing streak against Washington by beating the Huskies, 80-76, in a Pacific 10 game at Seattle.