COLLEGE BASKETBALL : REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS : Memphis State Upsets Arkansas

Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson is becoming concerned about his team’s inability to win close games.

Earlier in the week, the Razorbacks lost a Southeastern Conference game to Tennessee by two points.

And Saturday, No. 5 Arkansas was upset by Memphis State, 92-88, in a nonconference game at Memphis, Tenn.

“It was one of our worst outputs of the season,” Richardson said of Saturday’s loss. “You just have to go out and play basketball. We haven’t finished off the close games like we should.”

Billy Smith scored 23 points for Memphis State (13-6) and helped keep Arkansas’ Todd Day in check. Day scored 20 points, four below his average.

“He (Smith) did a good job,” Memphis State Coach Larry Finch said. “You can’t stop Todd, you can just contain him.”

Arkansas (17-5) made several runs during the second half, but could never overtake the Tigers.

Arkansas trailed, 90-88, with 13 seconds left when Lee Mayberry missed a shot with eight seconds to play. Anfernee Hardaway rebounded for Memphis State and passed to David Vaughn, who scored on a dunk as time expired.

Anthony Douglas scored 24 points and had nine rebounds for Memphis State. Vaughn added 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Mayberry scored 17 points and Oliver Miller had 15 for the Razorbacks.

“Our guys played with a lot of poise because I’ll tell you what, we just beat a pretty good ballclub,” Finch said. “They never quit. They kept coming at us and got themselves in position to make a run at the end.

“But our youngsters showed the poise you have to have at the end of the year.”

Memphis State, of the Great Midwest Conference, led, 82-70, when Smith made a three-point shot with 6:18 to play.

But Arkansas, with Day controlling the offense, went on an 11-1 run, cutting the Memphis State margin to 83-81 when Darrell Hawkins got a steal and basket with 3:41 left.

EAST

Trent Forbes scored 20 points and Providence (11-12, 3-8) used a stifling defense at Landover, Md., in an 86-63 victory over Georgetown (13-6, 6-4), the Hoyas’ worst Big East loss ever. . . . Malik Sealy scored 26 points to lead St. John’s (13-7, 7-5) to a 69-53 Big East victory over Villanova (8-11, 5-5) at New York.

Princeton (16-3, 6-0) held Cornell (2-15, 0-6) to two field goals during the second half and extended its winning streak to 11 games with an Ivy League victory at Princeton, N.J. . . . Ricky Robinson scored 15 points as West Virginia (16-5, 8-1) beat St. Bonaventure (7-13, 1-8), 70-42, at Morgantown, W. Va., for its 10th consecutive victory.

MIDWEST

Arriel McDonald’s short hook shot with one second left gave Minnesota (14-9, 6-4) a 57-55 Big Ten Conference victory over Northwestern (8-12, 1-9) at Evanston, Ill. . . . Askia Jones scored 25 points and made a three-point shot with 41 seconds left to give Kansas State (12-7, 2-4) a 70-66 upset of Nebraska (15-5, 3-4) in a Big Eight Conference game at Manhattan, Kan.

Darin Archbold scored 25 points to lead Butler (16-5, 4-1) to a 95-84 victory over Detroit (9-12, 1-5) in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference game at Indianapolis. . . . Cornelius Holden of Louisville (14-6) scored 10 points during a 21-3 run in the Cardinals’ 86-73 nonconference victory over Xavier (11-8) at Cincinnati.

Tony Bennett scored 24 points to lead Wisconsin Green Bay (18-2, 9-1) to a 78-70 victory over Northern Illinois in a Mid-Continent Conference game at DeKalb, Ill.

SOUTH

Stacey Poole of Florida (11-9, 4-5) scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds in an 87-66 Southeastern Conference victory over Mississippi State (13-7, 5-4) at Gainesville, Fla. . . . Curtis Blair scored 22 points to lead Richmond (15-6, 6-2) to an 89-64 Colonial Athletic Assn. victory over East Carolina (7-12, 2-6) at Richmond, Va.

WEST

Jimmy Soto scored 17 points and Utah (17-5, 7-3) took a 26-point halftime lead en route to a 72-53 Western Athletic Conference victory over San Diego State (2-19, 0-9) at San Diego. . . . Will Scott scored 17 points and reserve Steve Logan made eight consecutive free throws in 70 seconds as New Mexico (13-9, 7-3) beat Colorado State (10-12, 4-4), 61-47, in a WAC game at Albuquerque.

Peter McKelvey scored 18 points to lead Portland (10-11) to a 63-58 West Coast Conference victory over St. Mary’s (11-13) at Portland, Ore. . . . Jeff Brown of Gonzaga (16-5, 6-2) scored 26 points, including five in the final 36 seconds, in the Bulldogs’ 90-88 WCC victory over San Francisco (9-13, 1-8) at Spokane, Wash.

Dell Demps scored 30 points and Tony Amundsen scored 23 as Pacific (8-11, 4-6) defeated San Jose State (2-16, 1-9), 98-64, in a Big West Conference game at San Jose.