COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Michigan State Blocks Stanford

It took only one Stanford possession for No. 9 Michigan State to set the tone Saturday night in the championship game of the Spartan Classic tournament.

The first time Stanford had the ball, it went inside to forward Adam Keefe, who tried a short turnaround jump shot that was blocked by Mike Peplowski.

Keefe, who entered the game averaging 27 points, finished with 18 but also committed 10 turnovers and Michigan State went on to beat the Cardinal, 72-62, at East Lansing, Mich.

“That block really unsettled him,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “He’s been making that shot all year, and when it came right back at him, it affected his play.”

Michigan State (10-0) set a school record for the longest winning streak to start a season. The previous record was set by the 1916-17 team.

Stanford (6-1) rallied in the second half but never could pull even.

Michigan State led, 43-32, at halftime and increased the lead to 13 points before Stanford scored nine consecutive points to make the score 57-56 with 8:15 left.

Michigan State answered with a six-point run of its own to lead by seven with 4:48 left. The Spartans made eight free throws in the last two minutes to clinch the victory.

Shawn Respert and Matt Steigenga each scored 19 points for Michigan State. Peplowski added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Peter Dukes led Stanford with 20 points and Keefe had 12 rebounds.

Michigan State scrapped its normal inside game for a fast-paced attack in the first half.

Respert scored 10 points to help Michigan State to a 25-10 lead. Stanford pulled within eight late in the half, but Kris Weshinskey made his third three-point basket with three seconds left to give the Spartans an 11-point halftime lead.

No. 4 Kansas 97, Temple 73--Richard Scott scored 20 points and Rex Walters added 19 to lead the Jayhawks at Kansas City, Mo.

The 97 points were the most given up by Temple in John Chaney’s 10 seasons as the Owls’ coach, surpassing the 95 scored by Kansas in 1988.

Kansas (8-0) has won 24 of its last 29 games at Kemper Arena.

Aaron McKie led Temple (4-1) with 19 points and Eddie Jones added 13.

Kansas used its fast break in the first 10 minutes to produce a 28-4 run that included 17 consecutive points by five players.

No. 5 Connecticut 87, Furman 68--Chris Smith scored 23 points and pressure defense helped the Huskies win a tournament at Hartford, Conn.

Connecticut (8-0), which forced 27 turnovers, is off to its best start in six seasons and won the tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

Furman (5-4) was able to stay with the Huskies for the opening 14 minutes, but a three-point basket by Smith started a 16-2 run that gave Connecticut a 37-23 lead. Scott Burrell had nine points during the run.

No. 6 Arizona 83, Evansville 76--Sean Rooks scored 24 points and Khalid Reeves had 23 to give Arizona the victory in the first round of a tournament at Tucson.

Arizona (6-1), which has won 67 consecutive home games, will face Rutgers (5-1), a 95-79 winner over Maryland (7-2).

Evansville (6-3) twice trailed by 18 points during the second half. The Purple Aces pulled to within 82-76 with eight seconds left on a layup by Parrish Casebier, who scored 36 points.

Chris Mills scored 15 points and Wayne Womack added 11 for Arizona.

No. 10 Indiana 94, Indiana State 44--In the first meeting between the in-state rivals in 31 years, Damon Bailey scored a season-high 23 points to lead the Hoosiers to the championship of their tournament at Indianapolis.

It was Bailey’s best offensive performance since an 18-point effort in a season-opening loss to UCLA.

Greg Graham scored 15 of his 24 points during the second half for Indiana (8-2).

Indiana State (1-7) shot 29.6% during the first half and did not get its second field goal until the 13:10 mark.

No. 11 Michigan 86, Brigham Young 83--Michigan freshman Chris Webber scored nine of his 19 points during a 24-7 run to open the second half and the Wolverines held off a late rally for a first-round victory in a tournament at Orlando, Fla.

Jalen Rose scored 23 points, Jimmy King had 14 and Ray Jackson had 11 as four freshmen scored more than 10 points for Michigan (7-1).

Rose scored 13 of his points in the final eight minutes, including five of six free throws in the last 3:39.

Kevin Nixon made 12 of 16 shots and finished with a game-high 27 points for Brigham Young, which pulled to 74-70 with 2:34 left.

No. 13 Georgia Tech 97, Mercer 67--Malcolm Mackey scored 18 points as the Yellow Jackets won at Atlanta.

Georgia Tech (8-2) led, 9-8, before it went on a 30-10 run.

All of Georgia Tech’s starters scored more than 10 points.

Kenny Brown scored 23 points for Mercer (3-7).

No. 14 Oklahoma 78, Texas Christian 73--Damon Patterson scored 25 points, including seven during a late 13-0 run that helped the Sooners win a tournament at Oklahoma City.

TCU (8-2) led, 66-60, with 5:13 left before Oklahoma (8-0) came back and held the Horned Frogs scoreless until the final 33 seconds.

Bryan Sallier made a short jump shot to give the Sooners a 68-66 lead with 1:16 left.

Patterson then stole the in-bounds pass, made another short jump shot and was fouled. He converted the three-point play to make the score 71-66 with 1:14 left.

No. 15 Arkansas 89, Jackson State 66--Roosevelt Wallace came off the bench to score 15 points and lead the Razorbacks at Little Rock, Ark.

Arkansas (6-2) led, 48-31, at halftime, but Jackson State (4-7) started the second half with a 10-2 run, cutting the lead to 50-41.

Arkansas came back with six consecutive points, including a dunk by Lee Mayberry on a long pass from Oliver Miller, to make the score 56-41 with 15:05 left.

No. 16 Missouri 92, Murray St. 52--Anthony Peeler scored 23 points and Jevon Crudup added 20 for the Tigers at Columbia, Mo.

Missouri (9-0) used a 31-6 run to take a 33-point lead shortly before the end of the first half.

Popeye Jones scored 25 points for Murray State (3-6), which committed 20 turnovers.

No. 18 St. John’s 75, Memphis State 54--Malik Sealy scored 24 points as St. John’s won the ECAC Holiday Festival in New York for the 11th time.

St. John’s (6-2) led, 40-30, at halftime and increased the lead throughout the second half.

Memphis State (5-3) led by 17-9 when the Redmen went on a 13-2 run to take the lead for good.

Memphis State was held scoreless during a span of 5:38 as the Redmen increased a 53-42 lead to 63-42 with 6:33 left.

Weber State 72, No. 19 Utah 59--Al Hamilton scored 24 points and David Baldwin made two three-point baskets in the final minutes for Weber State at Ogden, Utah.

Weber St. (5-5) used a full-court press to force Utah (9-2) into 25 turnovers.

Utah held a 28-26 lead early in the second half, but Weber State scored 12 consecutive points to take a 38-28 lead with 14:22 left. The closest Utah came was 47-41 with 9:30 left.

No. 20 Alabama 71, Bradley 62--Latrell Sprewell scored seven of his 22 points during a 19-5 run at the start of the second half to help the Crimson Tide to the victory in the opening-round game of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

Alabama (9-1) trailed, 39-29, at the half before the run carried Coach Wimp Sanderson to his 250th victory.

James Hamilton scored 19 points for Bradley (5-8).

South Florida 85, No. 23 Iowa 78--Derrick Sharp scored 25 points to lead the Bulls to the upset in the championship game of a tournament at Tampa, Fla.

Radenko Dobras scored 21 points and Gary Alexander added 18 points and nine rebounds for South Florida (8-1). Acie Earl led Iowa (7-2) with 16 points. James Moses and Chris Street both added 11 points for the Hawkeyes.