COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : No. 3 Indiana Wakes Up, Stays Alive

Calbert Cheaney got going up in the second half, a little later than his Indiana teammates.

Cheaney was scoreless in the first 20 minutes, but the third-ranked Hoosiers turned the game around with 17 consecutive points just before halftime and beat Minnesota, 75-59, Thursday night at Bloomington, Ind., to keep their Big Ten title hopes alive.

“I told my players at the half that the last five minutes we played great basketball and had a chance to put the game away,” Indiana Coach Bobby Knight said.

Minnesota (11-16 overall, 4-13 in the Big Ten) had a 21-13 lead and was in front, 24-20, with 3:18 left when Indiana (26-4, 14-3) went on its run.

Cheaney’s layup at the start of the second half gave the Hoosiers 19 consecutive points and a 39-24 lead. Cheaney scored 16 points and Minnesota never recovered.

“I kept thinking, ‘keep shooting,’ ” Cheaney said. “Once you hit one you feel pretty confident. I felt like that in the second half.”

Indiana needs a victory Sunday at Illinois and a loss by second-ranked Ohio State at Iowa to share the title with the Buckeyes.

Iowa 79, Northwestern 76--James Moses scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half to rally the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten victory over the Wildcats, who lost their 18th consecutive game and 21st in a row in the conference at Evanston, Ill.

Iowa (19-10, 8-9) scored seven consecutive points to take a 69-68 lead on Chris Street’s layup with 4:21 left. Northwestern regained the lead on Pat Baldwin’s basket, but Moses’ three-pointer gave the Hawkeyes the lead for good, 72-70, 28 seconds later.

Don Brotz scored 25 points and Baldwin added 20 for Northwestern (5-22, 0-17).

TOURNAMENTS

METRO

Louisville 83, No. 22 Southern Mississippi 76--Everick Sullivan scored 28 points and the Cardinals continued their late-season surge by knocking off the top-seeded Golden Eagles in the first round at Roanoke, Va.

Louisville (13-15), seeded eighth after being either No. 1 or No. 2 the previous 14 years, forced Southern Mississippi (21-7) into 24 turnovers and won its fourth consecutive game.

The Cardinals scored 10 consecutive points to build a 57-40 lead with 11:46 left, and Sullivan’s two three-pointers held the Golden Eagles in the closing minutes.

Darrin Chancellor had 22 points for Southern Mississippi.

Memphis State 84, Tulane 77--Elliot Perry scored all 14 of his points in the second half and the Tigers held Tulane scoreless for nearly 12 minutes in the second half and moved into the semifinals against Louisville.

Tulane (15-13) went up, 57-54, on Michael Christian’s baseline drive with 13:46 left. But Memphis State didn’t allow the Green Wave another field goal until the 1:50 mark, when a tip-in by Kim Lewis cut the Tigers’ lead to 73-69.

John McLaughlin followed with a three-pointer and Memphis State (16-13) pulled away.

Florida State 65, South Carolina 55--Douglas Edwards scored 13 points and the Seminoles overcame 38% shooting to eliminate the Gamecocks.

The second-seeded Seminoles (18-10) extended their longest winning streak of the season to five games. It was the last Metro Conference basketball game for South Carolina (19-12), which is moving to the Southeastern Conference next season.

Jo Jo English scored 16 points for the Gamecocks (19-12).

Virginia Tech 75, Cincinnati 69--Rod Wheeler scored the Hokies’ last 10 points after they blew a 12-point lead and had to hold on to beat Cincinnati (17-11).

Wheeler scored 25 points and Anthony Moses had 24 for Virginia Tech (13-15), which won for the fifth time in seven games and advanced to today’s semifinals against Florida State.

BIG EAST

Villanova 74, Boston College 73--Lance Miller made two free throws with two seconds left to cap a 15-4 run over the final 2 1/2 minutes that gave the Wildcats a first-round victory over the Eagles (11-20) at New York.

The Wildcats (15-13) will face fourth-ranked Syracuse (26-4, 12-4) in tonight’s quarterfinals.

SOUTHWEST

Texas A&M; 57, Texas Tech 46--Freddie Ricks scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and the Aggies secured a spot in the quarterfinals by downing the Red Raiders (8-23) at Dallas.

Texas A&M; (8-20) will play fifth-ranked Arkansas tonight.

SOUTHEASTERN

Tennessee 94, Mississippi 85--Allan Houston had 14 of his 27 points in the final 7:22 to lead the Volunteers past the Rebels (9-19) at Nashville, Tenn.

Houston’s three-point play started his burst, giving Tennessee (10-21) a 71-65 lead with 7:35 left. The Volunteers advanced to a quarterfinal game against No. 18 Mississippi State today.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Hawaii 68, New Mexico 67--Ray Reed came off the bench to score 22 points, including a three-point shot with 35 seconds left, and the Rainbows (16-12) upset New Mexico at Laramie, Wyo.

New Mexico (20-9) took a 67-65 lead with 1:09 left on a three-pointer by Rob Robbins before Reed hit his game-winner.

BYU 69, Colorado State 56--Steve Schreiner scored 18 points and Shawn Bradley added 16 as the Cougars defeated the Rams.

BYU (18-12) pulled away from Colorado State (15-14) on three three-pointers by Mark Heslop, building a 63-48 lead with 2:06 left.

Wyoming 71, Texas El Paso 67--Brian Rewers had 16 points, including two free throws with 17 seconds left, and the Cowboys (19-10) defeated the Miners.

UTEP (16-13) got to within 69-67 when Mark McCall sank a three-pointer, but Rewers threw a long pass to Travis Butler for a layup just before the buzzer.

No. 8 Utah 67, San Diego State 56--Walter Watts scored 13 points and the Utes (27-2) moved into tonight’s semifinals against Wyoming.

Marty Dow scored 18 points for San Diego State (12-16).

ATLANTIC 10

Penn State 81, George Washington 75--The Nittany Lions got their first NCAA tournament berth in 26 years by defeating George Washington at State College, Pa., and took their only Atlantic 10 title before moving to the Big Ten.

Penn State (20-10) built a 31-12 lead, and the Colonials (19-11), seeking their first NCAA berth since 1961, never seriously threatened.

MIDWESTERN COLLEGIATE

Xavier 66, Detroit 59--Jamal Walker scored six points in the final 1:17 and the top-seeded Crusaders scored 11 consecutive points to down the Titans in the first round at Dayton, Ohio.

Detroit (9-19) took a 53-46 lead on a pair of free throws by Dwayne Kelley, but Xavier (19-9) scored the next 11 points to take control.

OHIO VALLEY

Murray State 79, Middle Tennessee 67--Popeye Jones had 21 points and 18 rebounds as the Racers beat the Blue Raiders in the title game at Murray, Ky.

Murray State (24-8) earned a second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. Robert Taylor scored 25 points for Middle Tennessee (21-9).

TRANS AMERICA

Georgia State 80, Arkansas Little Rock 60--The Panthers ended a 16-game losing streak against the Trojans (10-20) and earned their first NCAA tournament berth by winning the title at Deland, Fla.

Phillip Luckydo scored 21 points for Georgia State (16-14).

NORTH ATLANTIC

Northeastern 74, Hartford 59--Ron Lacey had 20 points and Marcellus Anderson added 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Huskies beat the Hawks in the semifinals at Boston.

Northeastern (21-10) advanced to Saturday’s championship game against Maine. The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Hartford (12-16).

Maine 71, Boston U. 58--Derrick Hodge had 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Black Bears (13-15) beat the Terriers at Orono, Me.

Reggie Stewart scored 17 for Boston U. (11-18).

AUTOMATIC BIDS Schools (18) that have received automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. The Big Ten, Ivy League and Pacific 10 bids are by regular-season title; all others are by conference tournament championship or NCAA qualifying (play-in) game.

SCHOOLS CONFERENCE Arizona Pacific 10 *Coastal Carolina Big South Creighton Missouri Valley East Tennessee State Southern Georgia State Trans America Louisiana Tech American South Murray State Ohio Valley *NE Louisiana Southland Ohio State Big Ten Penn State Atlantic 10 Pepperdine West Coast Princeton Ivy League Richmond Colonial Athletic *St. Francis (Pa.) Northeast St. Peter’s Metro Atlantic South Alabama Sun Belt Towson State East Coast Wisconsin Green Bay Mid-Continent

* Receives automatic bid by winning NCAA qualifying (play-in) game.