COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Oklahoma State Beats Georgia Tech to Win Preseason NIT Title

No. 11-ranked Oklahoma State defeated No. 18 Georgia Tech, 78-71, Friday night at New York to win the preseason NIT.

Sean Sutton had 20 points and MVP Byron Houston added 19 for Oklahoma State, which held a comfortable lead for the opening 25 minutes before going scoreless for 6:44 as the Yellow Jackets (3-1) cut a 52-36 deficit to four points with a 12-0 run.

Oklahoma State finally scored again with 8:13 left on a three-point play by Bryant Reeves. Georgia Tech was never closer than six points during the final 6 1/2 minutes.

“In the first half we played as well as we could play,” Cowboy Coach Eddie Sutton said. “In the second half we got fatigued and careless and you have to give Georgia Tech credit.”

Matt Geiger led Georgia Tech with 19 points.

No. 24 Pittsburgh 91, Texas 87--Chris McNeal scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Panthers slowed things down enough to beat Longhorns and take third place.

The Panthers (3-1) played at Texas’ typical fast pace until they began to use more of the 45-second shot clock in the second half, especially on three key possessions in the final two minutes.

Texas (2-2) held the lead most of the way despite some poor shooting. For the game, Texas shot 41% (36 of 47).

No. 14 Utah 75, San Jose State 57--Phil Dixon scored 12 of his 17 points during the second half and the Utes (3-0) beat the Spartans (0-2) at San Jose for their first road victory.

Utah took a 55-39 lead on Dixon’s 17-foot baseline jumper with 9:44 to play before San Jose battled back with an 11-3 run to close within 58-50. But then the Utes pulled away.

No. 15 Connecticut 79, Yale 55--Scott Burrell scored 20 points and Chris Smith added 19 as the Huskies (2-0) held off a rally by the Elis (2-1) midway through the second half and won easily at Hartford, Conn.

The victory was the 350th of Coach Jim Calhoun’s career and his 100th at Connecticut. Yale nearly upset the Huskies last year using a slow-down game, but the smaller Elis couldn’t slow the Huskies this time.

Ed Petersen led Yale with 18 points.

No. 20 DePaul 92, Memphis State 89--David Booth scored a game-high 29 points and Howard Nathan made two free throws with two seconds left to give the Blue Demons an overtime victory at Memphis, Tenn.

Nathan’s free throws came four seconds after Memphis State’s Marcus Nolan was called for a charging foul. Memphis State, which had a school-record 31 turnovers, also missed all four of its free throws in the extra period.

A three-pointer by Memphis State’s Anfernee Hardaway with seven seconds remaining sent the game into overtime.

The game marked the christening of The Great American Pyramid, Memphis’ $65-million arena on the banks of the Mississippi River. A capacity crowd of 20,142 attended.

UC Santa Barbara 58, San Diego 53--Lucius Davis scored 24 points in leading the Gauchos (2-0) over the Toreros (2-1) at San Diego.

TOURNAMENTS

HAWAII TIP-OFF

No. 3 Arizona 84, Dayton 68--Center Ed Stokes scored 10 of his 12 points and guard Matt Othick had nine of his 19 points during a 31-6 second-half run to lead the Wildcats at Honolulu.

The Wildcats (1-0) trailed 36-28 at halftime, but scored 56 second-half points on 71% shooting (22 of 31). Sean Rooks finished with 15 points and Chris Mills added 14 for the Wildcats. Chip Jones led Dayton with 21 points.

LAPCHICK MEMORIAL

No. 8 St. John’s 75, North Carolina Wilmington 57--Rob Werdann, a 6-foot-11 center who made his first seven shots, tied his personal best with 21 points to lead the Redmen at New York in the opening round of the tournament named in memory of former St. John’s coach Joe Lapchick.

The victory was St. John’s 33rd in a row in the tournament. St. John’s has won all 16 previous tournament titles.

Malik Sealy added 20 points for the Redmen (2-0), who will play Drexel in today’s title game. The Dragons (1-1) advanced with a 70-64 overtime victory over St. Mary’s (Calif.) in the first game.

GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT

Oregon State 80, Alaska Anchorage 66--Scott Haskin scored 18 of his 24 points during the second half and Chad Scott also had 24 as the Beavers (2-0) held off the Division II Seawolves (2-1) in the first round at Anchorage, Alaska.

In another first-round game, Ervin Johnson had 25 points and 11 rebounds to lead New Orleans (1-1) to a 73-56 victory over Idaho (2-1).

SAN JUAN SHOOTOUT

Texas Christian 53, Iowa State 52--Ken Fiedler came on for an injured teammate to make a free throw with nine seconds to play to give the Horned Frogs a victory over the Cyclones in the first round at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

With TCU trailing, 52-50, with 24 seconds remaining, guard Brent Atwater was awarded a basket on a goaltending call and was also fouled on the play. Atwater was hurt and had to leave the game, so TCU Coach Moe Iba inserted Fiedler, whose only point won the game.

Michael Strickland led the Horned Frogs (4-0) with 24 points. Iowa State is 2-1.

RICHMOND

La Salle 99, California 76--Randy Woods scored a tournament-record 42 points to lead the Explorers after the Bears in the first round at Richmond, Va.

Brian Hendrick led Cal with 20 points.

La Salle (1-0) advances to the championship game against Richmond, which defeated Virginia Tech, 84-51.

MONTANA

Texas Arlington 113, San Francisco 81--Johnny McDowell and Leonard Wilson scored 28 points each as the Mavericks (2-1) beat the Dons (0-2) in the opening round at Missoula, Mont.

Earlier, Montana (4-0) beat Southeastern Louisiana, 89-47.

FRESNO

Gonzaga 77, Baylor 75--Jarrod Davis scored 24 points to lead the Bulldogs (2-1) to a victory at Fresno. Two free throws by Davis and two more by Jeff Brown sealed the victory. In tonight’s title game, Gonzaga will play host Fresno State, an 84-70 winner over Northeastern of Boston.