COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Villanova Does It Again, This Time Upsetting Syracuse

Villanova won its second Big East tournament game in as many days with a wild rally, this one a 70-68 victory over top-seeded and fourth-ranked Syracuse Friday at Madison Square Garden.

The Wildcats (16-13) became just the second eighth-seeded team to win a quarterfinal game in the 12 conference tournaments played, and they will face No. 21 Seton Hall, a 70-69 winner over Pittsburgh, in one of today’s semifinals.

The loss ended a string of eight consecutive semifinal appearances for the Orangemen (26-5), who may have also lost a chance at a No. 1 seeding for next week’s NCAA tournament.

Villanova had earned the right to play Syracuse with a 74-73 victory over Boston College on Thursday night in the opening-round game. The Wildcats trailed the Eagles by 10 points with 2 1/2 minutes to play.

“I saw a spark last night, the kind of thing I’ve seen in teams before,” Villanova Coach Rollie Massimino said. “It started to come together last night. It finally got there. It was what we needed.”

The Wildcats trailed, 63-47, with 9:35 left, but the foul-plagued Orangemen made one basket the rest of the game as Villanova found the range on three-point shots, making four in the final 7:37.

Greg Woodard, who finished with 18 points, made two free throws with 4.7 seconds left for the victory. Woodard was also the catalyst early in the comeback. He started and finished a 7-0 run to start the comeback with a short jumper and a three-point basket.

Michael Edwards then scored Syracuse’s only basket over the final 9 1/2 minutes. Villanova’s Arron Bain then went on a 6-0 run of his own with a three-point play and a three-point basket.

That gave the Wildcats a 13-2 run and Billy Owens, who had 17 points and 22 rebounds for Syracuse, sat out 2:35 of that after picking up his fifth personal foul.

“With Billy out we don’t react well to pressure or play well offensively,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “We don’t play well without him, but they made the key plays down the stretch. Villanova plays us tough. They always have.”

Owens, the conference player of the year, returned with 5:17 left and he made one free throw to restore the lead to 66-60, but Lloyd Mumford scored his only points of the game, on a three-point shot, and Marc Dowdell made a basket to bring the Wildcats to within one with 2:12 left.

Conrad McRae made two free throws with 1:52 left--Syracuse’s only points from a non-starter in the game--for a 68-65 lead and Chris Walker tied it with a three-point shot with 1:25 left.

Owens had the ball knocked away from him at the foul line with 38 seconds left and the Wildcats called a timeout with 31 seconds left. They ran the clock down until Woodard was fouled as he attempted a jump shot.

Syracuse’s last chance ended when David Johnson’s jumper at the buzzer bounded off the rim.

Providence 72, No. 20 St. John’s 64--The Friars held the Redmen to one basket in a span of nearly 12 minutes in the second half to win the first-round game.

The seventh-seeded Friars (17-11) handed second-seeded St. John’s (20-8) its fifth consecutive loss in the conference tournament since the Redmen won the Big East in 1986.

St. John’s started the second half with a 9-2 run to take its largest lead, 44-34, with 15:57 left. Then the Redmen went more than 7 minutes without a basket as Providence outscored them, 19-1 for a 53-45 lead with 9:15 left.

No. 21 Seton Hall 70, Pittsburgh 69--Oliver Taylor drove the lane for a layup with one second left, enabling the Pirates to advance to the semifinals.

Anthony Avent scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half for Seton Hall (20-8), which trailed 19-6 in the first half and 39-30 early in the second half. Avent scored 15 points in the final 11:39, bringing the Pirates back from a 52-46 deficit.

His two free throws with 1:29 left gave Seton Hall a 68-65 lead, but Taylor had a turnover and a missed shot on its next two possessions, and Pitt (20-11) took a 69-68 lead on Jason Matthews’ two free throws and Brian Shorter’s tip-in with 11 seconds left.

Georgetown 68, Connecticut 49--Dikembe Mutombo grabbed a conference-record 27 rebounds as the Hoyas (17-12), despite 28% shooting, kept their NCAA at-large hopes alive.

Mutombo broke the tournament record of 23 set by Syracuse’s Derrick Coleman last season. Syracuse’s Danny Schayes also had 23 rebounds in a regular-season game in 1981.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

SOUTHEASTERN

Tennessee 87, No. 18 Mississippi State 70--The Vols continued their improbable progression in the tournament at Nashville with another upset of a team that had beaten them twice during the regular season.

The Vols (11-21), seeded last in the nine-team tournament, defeated Mississippi, 94-85, Thursday night.

Mississippi State (20-8) led, 43-38, early in the second half, but Tennessee went on a 16-0 run for a 54-43 lead with 10:33 remaining. The Bulldogs went 6:36 without a point before Tony Watts made two free throws.

Auburn 92, No. 16 Louisiana State 77--Freshman Wesley Person scored nine of his 25 points during a decisive 19-3 run as the Tigers rallied to advance to the semifinals.

It was the second loss in a row for LSU, which played without 7-foot-1 SEC player of the year Shaquille O’Neal, sidelined with a hairline fracture of his left leg.

LSU (20-9) had cut Auburn’s lead to 39-36 on Geert Hammink’s two free throws with 1:50 left in the first half.

That’s when Auburn (13-15) went on the 19-3 run over a five-minute span. Person scored nine and Chris Brandt five, including a driving layup to give the Tigers a 56-39 lead with 16:55 left.

No. 24 Alabama 71, Florida 65--After the Gators cut the lead to 67-65 on a Dwayne Davis dunk with 15 seconds left, Gary Waites and Melvin Cheatum each made two free throws in the final 10 seconds to clinch the quarterfinal victory for the Crimson Tide (19-9).

Cheatum scored 22 of his 26 points in a second-half comeback that kept alive the Crimson Tide’s hopes of winning the tournament title for the third year in a row.

ATLANTIC COAST

No. 7 North Carolina 67, Clemson 59--The Tar Heels didn’t score a basket in the final 8:16, but King Rice made four free throws in the final 56 seconds as they advanced to the semifinals of the tournament at Charlotte, N.C.

North Carolina (23-5) took a 60-51 lead on a layup by Chilcutt with 8:17 remaining and after Clemson (11-17) closed to within 61-57, Rice made a free throw. After Clemson missed, Rice was fouled and made two free throws with 25 seconds left.

North Carolina State 82, Georgia Tech 68--By upsetting the defending tournament champion Yellowjackets, the Wolfpack (19-9) will meet sixth-ranked Duke, which earned an opening-round bye in the tournament by winning the regular-season championship.

Leading, 49-40, with 14:45 left, N.C. State made five of its next seven shots and extended the lead to 64-47. Georgia Tech (16-12) had a 10-1 run capped by Malcolm Mackey’s basket on a goal-tending call with 5:20 left to play. That pulled the Yellow Jackets to within 65-57, but they never got closer.

Virginia 70, Wake Forest 66--John Crotty’s driving layup with 34 seconds left helped the Cavaliers (21-10) hold off the Demon Deacons in the first round.

Anthony Oliver added a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left. Crotty’s drive stopped a rally by Wake Forest (18-10), which pulled to within 65-64 on a rebound basket by Anthony Tucker with 1:26 to play.

SOUTHWEST

No. 5 Arkansas 108, Texas A&M; 61--The Razorbacks set a Southwest Conference tournament record for victory margin in the quarterfinal game at Dallas.

Arkansas (29-3), which is seeking its third consecutive league title, topped the previous SWC tournament record victory of 111-67, set by Houston against Texas Christian in 1977.

Texas A&M; (8-21) made 29 turnovers that led to 42 Hog points.

No. 23 Texas 88, Baylor 78--Senior guard Courtney Jeans, averaging only 5.9 points, scored a career-high 26 as the Longhorns advanced to the semifinals.

Baylor (13-14) was led by Kelvin Chalmers, who scored a career-high 31 points. His previous high was 25 points against Texas last year.

Texas (21-7) made 40 of 50 free throws, breaking the tournament record of 31 by Houston against Texas Christian in 1977.

Southern Methodist 65, Houston 62--The Cougars had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Byron Smith’s three-point shot hit the rim.

Sixth-seeded SMU (12-16) pulled ahead, 60-58, with 3:19 left on two free throws by Mike Wilson, then made five more free throws as third-seeded Houston (18-10) tried to get back into the game by fouling the Cougars.

BIG EIGHT

No. 14 Oklahoma State 77, Kansas State 66--The top-seeded Cowboys (22-6) trailed in the first-round game at Kansas City by a point with 3 1/2 minutes to play, but Byron Houston made two foul shots and Sean Sutton made a three-point basket to give them the lead for good.

Jean Derouille and Keith Amerson kept the Wildcats (13-15) close. Derouille scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half, including nine of his team’s 13 at one stage.

No. 12 Kansas 82, Colorado 76--The Jayhawks made 11 of 14 free throws in the final 2:52 to win the first round game.

Kansas (22-8) built a 15-point lead with eight minutes left, then were outscored, 20-5, over the next six minutes as the Buffaloes (15-13) moved into a 72-72 tie with 2:28 left.

No. 13 Nebraska 117, Oklahoma 113--Clifford Scales sparked a late rally that helped force overtime, then made a key steal as the Cornhuskers (25-6) won their first game in this tournament since 1986.

Oklahoma (16-14) hadn’t lost in the first round of the tournament since 1983.

Missouri 97, Iowa State 81--Doug Smith, the Big Eight co-player of the year, scored 32 points, including 13 in a row during one stretch, to help the Tigers win the first round game.

Missouri (18-10) is on NCAA probation and ineligible for the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that goes to the Big Eight tournament champion.

Center Victor Alexander led Iowa State (12-19) with 31 points.

METRO

Louisville 72, Memphis State 70--LaBradford Smith’s reverse layup with five seconds left at Roanoke, Va., moved the Cardinals to within one victory of their fourth consecutive tournament title.

Eighth-seeded Louisville (14-15) won its fifth game in a row, including an upset of top-seeded Southern Mississippi Thursday.

Florida State 91, Virginia Tech 71--The Seminoles beat the Hokies for the third time this season.

The second-seeded Seminoles (18-10) will take a six-game winning streak into today’s title game against Louisville.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Brigham Young 73, Hawaii 71--Scott Moon’s hook shot bounced on the rim three times and dropped through as time ran out to give the Cougars the overtime victory in the semifinals at Laramie, Wyo.

Brigham Young (19-12) trailed Hawaii, 63-60, with 35 seconds left in regulation after Troy Bowe made both ends of a one-and-one. But Mark Heslop’s three-point shot tied the score with 21 seconds left.

Ray Reed, who had 25 points for Hawaii (16-13), missed a jumper from the right side at the buzzer.

No. 8 Utah 69, Wyoming 63--Walter Watts tipped in an errant shot to break a 62-62 tie and the Utes went on to get a shot at their first WAC tournament title.

Wyoming (19-11), forced to foul in order to stop the clock, pulled to within 66-63 as Brian Rewers made one of two free throws with 27 seconds left. Maurice Alexander fouled Jimmy Soto, whose two free throws gave the Utes (28-2) a five-point lead.