COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Spencer Handles a Very Tall Order, UNLV Beats LSU

Nevada Las Vegas’ home opener against No. 9 Louisiana State figured to be dominated by a 7-foot center. It just didn’t figure to be UNLV’s Elmore Spencer.

Spencer held off fellow 7-footer Shaquille O’Neal as unranked UNLV broke open the game in the second half Saturday night en route to a 76-55 victory over LSU.

Spencer scored 12 of his career-high 20 points in the second half and had 12 rebounds as the revamped Runnin’ Rebels opened the home portion of Coach Jerry Tarkanian’s final season on a positive note.

“They just whipped us in every part of the game,” LSU Coach Dale Brown said. “They outhustled us, they outrebounded us. They beat us totally.”

O’Neal scored 26 points but had only seven rebounds and was ineffective playing much of the second half with three fouls.

“I have no excuses,” O’Neal said. “Elmore is pretty big. He played real hard. I caught the two early fouls, and I had to ease off a bit.”

UNLV used a 14-3 surge early in the second half to turn a 39-33 lead into a 53-35 advantage, and the Rebels led by as many as 21 down the stretch.

It was the 34th consecutive home victory for UNLV (2-0), which is 117-6 at its campus arena.

LSU (2-1) was plagued by poor shooting and a cast of supporting players who gave little help to their All-American center.

The Tigers shot 31% and made only two of 16 three-point attempts while UNLV shot 38%. UNLV had 55 rebounds to 41 for LSU.

J.R. Rider added 21 points for UNLV, and Harold Boudreaux had nine for LSU.

LSU is the only ranked team on UNLV’s schedule. The Rebels are banned from postseason NCAA play.

“I had told our coaching staff that this was their Big West tournament, their NCAA playoffs, their Final Four,” Brown said. “You could see the intensity in their eyes.”

No. 1 Duke 118, Harvard 65--Thomas Hill and Grant Hill each scored 17 points and eight Duke players scored in double figures at Durham, N.C.

Duke shot 68% from the field on the verge of Thursday’s ACC-Big East Challenge matchup against eighth-ranked St. John’s.

The Blue Devils (2-0) have won 67 consecutive games against non-Atlantic Coast Conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and 37 of the last 38 games overall on their 52-year-old home court.

The game also marked the return to action of Christian Laettner, who sat out the season opener against East Carolina with a bruised right foot. He scored 10 points in 15 minutes.

Harvard (0-3) put up a brief fight and pulled to 15-12 after a follow-up by Tyler Rullman with 13:56 left before halftime. That would be Harvard’s last basket for the next five minutes.

Grant Hill started a 19-point run with a dunk at 13:35. He ended it with a jump shot with 9:15 left before halftime and Duke was ahead, 34-12.

The Blue Devils had cleared their bench by the final minute of the first half. Ron Burt, a walk-on, added a layup off a turnover with 31 seconds left before halftime, and Kenny Blakeney scored at the buzzer for a 59-28 advantage.

All 11 Duke players scored at least four points.

Duke made 71% of its field-goal attempts in the second half and forced 26 turnovers in the game.

Cherokee Parks scored 15 points, Bobby Hurley 13, Kenny Blakeney 12 and Brian Davis and Marty Clark joined Laettner with 10 points apiece.

Matt McLain made three three-point baskets and scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to pace Harvard. Jared Leake had 14 for the Crimson.

No. 5 Ohio State 116, Chicago State 44--Jim Jackson scored 30 points as the Buckeyes matched their highest point-total and set a record for victory margin at Columbus, Ohio.

The 116 points matched the mark set when the Buckeyes beat Delaware State 116-67 on Nov. 28, 1990.

The 72-point margin of victory broke Ohio State’s existing mark. On Jan. 11, 1960, Ohio State beat Delaware 109-38. That Buckeye team, led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, went on to win the national championship.

Jamaal Brown added 15 points, Alex Davis 14, Jamie Skelton 12 and Mark Baker and Tom Brandewie 10 apiece for the Buckeyes (2-0).

Ohio State forced 29 turnovers, raising to 54 the number of turnovers by the Buckeyes’ first two opponents.

No. 8 St. John’s 81, Drexel 61--The Redmen won the Lapchick Memorial tournament at New York by going on a 12-0 run 2:38 into the second half.

The decisive run started with St. John’s (3-0) leading, 36-31, and was predicated on defense as the Redmen used their size and speed advantages to force turnovers on three consecutive possessions.

Malik Sealy, who finished with 21 points, and Jason Buchanan made three-point shots during the run.

The Redmen shot 61% in the second half (17 of 28) by making 14 steals and starting fast breaks which led to layups.

The Redmen led by as much as 67-40 on a jumper by Lamont Middleton with 8:33 to play.

Buchanan had 18 points and seven assists. Robert Werdann added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 10 Indiana 97, Butler 73--Calbert Cheaney scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half at Bloomington, Ind., and the Hoosiers used four runs for the blowout.

The game was never close as Indiana (1-1) scored the game’s first seven points and ran off streaks of 10-0, 9-0 and 14-0 en route to a 50-18 halftime lead over Butler (2-1).

The Bulldogs, coming off an upset at Notre Dame, were no match for Indiana, which took command from the outset with its defense and transition game.

Butler closed to 26-7 with 10:44 left in the half, only to see Indiana pull away with its 14-0 run.

Indiana’s biggest first-half margin was the 32-point difference at the break as Butler made only five of its 20 shots. Indiana shot 52% in the first half (22 of 42), allowing Coach Bob Knight to clear his bench with five minutes remaining in the half.

Greg Graham had 17 points and freshman Alan Henderson 16 with 11 rebounds for the Hoosiers.

J.P. Brens led Butler with 18 points.

No. 12 Kansas 83, Central Missouri State 54--Adonis Jordan scored 23 points at Lawrence, Kan., as the Jayhawks won their 21st consecutive home game.

Kansas (3-0) also won its 27th consecutive non-conference matchup at Allen Fieldhouse.

Jordan made four three-point baskets. Rex Walters added 10 points for Kansas.

Steve Phillips scored 15 points for Central Missouri (2-2), an NCAA Division II team that committed 32 turnovers and suffered through a nearly eight-minute scoring drought in the first half, then went 7 1/2 minutes without a basket in the second.

The Jayhawks have won their first three games, all at home, by an average margin of 35 points.

No. 17 Georgetown 95, Hawaii Pacific 65--Alonzo Mourning had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead the Hoyas at Honolulu.

The victory improved the Hoyas (2-0) to 20-0 in Hawaii over the past decade. Georgetown has opened the season in Hawaii every year since 1981.

The Hoyas, with Mourning dominating at both ends, took control early and were never threatened by the Sea Warriors (1-2), an NAIA school.

Georgetown raced to a 10-2 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes and led, 19-15, with 11 minutes left in the half. A 14-3 run over the next 3:52 made it 33-18, and the Hoyas increased their lead to 21 points on a dunk by Mourning 1:16 before halftime.

No. 19 Oklahoma 119, Missouri-St. Louis 78--Damon Patterson scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Sooners at Norman, Okla.

Patterson made two three-point baskets and Brent Price, who scored 27 points, added another to cap a 16-2 run that saw the Sooners (3-0) stretch a four-point lead to 51-33 late in the first half.

Oklahoma led by 16 points at halftime, then scored on eight of its first nine possessions in the second half to open a 68-39 lead over the Division II Rivermen (2-2).

Bryan Sallier had 24 points and Jeff Webster 16 for the Sooners.

Missouri-St. Louis committed 30 turnovers.

No. 22 Wake Forest 91, Fairfield 62--Rodney Rogers scored 20 points, 14 of them in the first half as the Demon Deacons coasted to victory at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Rogers led the way in the first half as the Deacons built a 49-24 lead with 1:45 left.

Wake Forest (3-0) led 49-26 at halftime as Fairfield (0-1) shot 28% in the first half, making only nine of 32 shots.