COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : North Carolina State Upsets No. 4 North Carolina, 99-94

North Carolina State must win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to gain a berth in the NCAA tournament.

The Wolfpack backed itself into that situation by losing a school-record nine games in a row.

But North Carolina State showed that it may be primed for a late-season run by ending its losing streak with a 99-94 upset over No. 4 North Carolina Saturday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

The victory gave North Carolina State two wins over the Tar Heels in a month. The last time the Wolfpack beat North Carolina twice during the regular season was in 1974, the year North Carolina State won the NCAA championship.

“To have been in the hole we’ve been in, it could have been easy for our season to go by the wayside,” North Carolina State Coach Les Robinson said. “Today’s victory gives us hope, gives us something to play for.”

Kevin Thompson scored 29 points for North Carolina State, which improved to 10-15 overall and 4-8 in the ACC by making 61% of its shots. The Wolfpack equaled its point total in last month’s 99-88 upset at Raleigh, the most points North Carolina State had ever scored against the Tar Heels.

North Carolina State freshman Mark Davis made seven three-point shots and finished with 25 points. Tom Gugliotta added 24, including three free throws in the closing seconds.

North Carolina (18-5, 8-4) led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 10 early in the second half after the Wolfpack had taken a 47-46 lead at halftime.

But Thompson, a 6-11 junior, continued to work free inside for easy layups. He made 12 of 14 shots and scored nine points in a four-minute span to tie the score, 77-77, with eight minutes left.

North Carolina State made six of eight free throws in the final 1:09 to clinch the victory.

Hubert Davis scored 30 points or North Carolina, 19 in the second half.

No. 3 Kansas 54, Kansas State 52--Steve Woodberry’s 12-foot jump shot at the buzzer gave the Jayhawks a Big Eight Conference victory at Manhattan, Kan.

Kansas (20-3, 8-2) overcame a six-point halftime deficit to gain its ninth consecutive victory at Manhattan, where the Jayhawks have not lost since 1983.

Kansas got its last possession when Rex Walters rebounded a missed shot by Askia Jones of Kansas State (13-10, 3-7). After a timeout, Woodberry worked free on the right side and made the winning shot.

No. 10 Arkansas 90, No. 14 Alabama 87--Todd Day scored 16 points and broke an 87-87 tie with a bank shot with 23 seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to victory in a Southeastern Conference game at Fayetteville, Ark.

Warren Linn scored 22 points for Arkansas (20-6, 9-3), which took over first place in the Western Division of the SEC.

Latrell Sprewell scored 27 points for Alabama (20-6, 7-5), but missed a three-point shot with six seconds left.

No. 11 Michigan State 70, Purdue 68--Mark Montgomery stripped the ball from Woody Austin and scored on a breakaway layup with 50 seconds left to give the Spartans the Big Ten Conference victory at East Lansing, Mich.

Dwayne Stephens scored 20 points for Michigan State (18-5, 8-5), which trailed by 16 points in the first half and by 11 at halftime.

Craig Riley scored 22 points for Purdue (13-12, 5-8).

No. 12 Nevada Las Vegas 69, New Mexico State 58--J.R. Rider scored 27 points and had seven rebounds as the Rebels won their 10th consecutive Big West Conference regular-season championship.

UNLV (24-2, 16-0) extended its winning streak to a nation-leading 21 games but is ineligible for the Big West postseason tournament and the NCAA tournament because of NCAA sanctions.

UNLV led, 33-31, at halftime and outscored New Mexico State, 15-7, in the first eight minutes of the second half. The Aggies did not come closer than six points after that.

Sam Crawford scored 14 points for New Mexico State (17-5, 9-4).

No. 19 Cincinnati 104, South Alabama 78--Herb Jones scored 27 points and the Bearcats used two second-half runs for the nonconference victory at Mobile, Ala.

Cincinnati (20-4) led by five points at halftime, but went on a 14-0 run early in the second half to take a commanding lead that South Alabama (13-12) never trimmed to less than 11 points.

No. 20 Michigan 76, Northwestern 63--Chris Webber scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half and led a late 17-4 run that helped the Wolverines win a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Michigan Coach Steve Fisher started five freshmen for the fifth consecutive game. The Wolverines (17-6, 8-5) responded with their fifth win in six games.

Charles Howell scored 15 points for Northwestern (8-15, 1-12), which has lost five in a row.

No. 21 Connecticut 94, Providence 73--Chris Smith scored 32 points and became Connecticut’s all-time leading scorer in the Huskies’ Big East Conference victory at Storrs, Conn.

Smith, who has 2,017 points, broke the record of 1,990 held by Tony Hanson as Connecticut (17-6, 8-6) broke a five-game losing streak.

Michael Smith scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds for Providence (13-14, 5-10).

Villanova 74, No. 22 Seton Hall 59--Lance Miller scored 25 points and Greg Woodard added 16 as the Wildcats ended the Pirates’ five-game winning streak with a Big East victory at Philadelphia.

With the score 34-34, Villanova (10-13, 7-7) went on a 15-4 run to take a lead it never relinquished.

Terry Dehere scored 19 points for Seton Hall (16-7, 8-6).

Nebraska 80, No. 23 Iowa State 70--The Cornhuskers handed the Cyclones their first home loss this season as Eric Piatkowski scored 23 points and made four free throws in the final minutes of a Big Eight game at Ames, Iowa..

Nebraska (17-6, 5-5), which defeated No. 3 Kansas on Wednesday, overcame 26 turnovers to beat Iowa State (18-8, 4-6), which had won 15 consecutive games at Hilton Coliseum.

No. 24 St. John’s 71, Pittsburgh 65--Malik Sealy scored all but four of St. John’s points in the final seven minutes of the Redmen’s Big East victory at New York.

St. John’s (16-7, 10-5) has won six games in a row.

Orlando Antigua scored 13 points for Pittsburgh (15-12, 7-7).

EAST

Howard Eisley of Boston College (15-8, 7-7) scored eight of his 14 points during an 11-3 second-half run that helped the Eagles to a 55-49 Big East Conference victory over Miami (6-19, 1-13) at Newton, Mass. . . . Princeton (20-3, 10-0) clinched at least a tie for its fourth consecutive Ivy League championship and extended its winning streak to 15 games with an 87-50 victory over Harvard (4-19, 3-7) at Princeton, N.J.

MIDWEST

Ron Curry scored 21 points and Robb Logterman had 16 as Marquette (13-11, 3-4) ended a three-game losing streak with a 71-48 victory over St. Louis (5-19, 0-8) in a Great Midwest Conference game at Milwaukee. . . . Center Kevin Sams scored 22 points and had eight rebounds as Drake (6-17, 3-11) ended a six-game losing streak with a 70-62 Missouri Valley Conference victory over Bradley (7-20, 3-12) at Peoria, Ill.

SOUTH

Eric Burks scored 21 points and Chris Witney added 14 as Clemson (14-9, 4-9) held off a rally by Maryland (10-13, 3-10) for an 87-70 Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Clemson, S.C. . . . Jon Barry of Georgia Tech (17-9, 5-7) scored eight of his 11 points in the final 10:07 to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 52-49 ACC victory over Virginia (12-11, 5-7) at Charlottesville, Va.

Shaquille O’Neal scored 30 points, had 20 rebounds and blocked 11 shots to lead Louisiana State (16-7, 9-3) to a 99-82 Southeastern Conference victory over Auburn (11-12, 4-8) at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Kevin Anglin scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half as Vanderbilt (12-11, 4-8) held off Tennessee (15-10, 6-6) for an 89-84 SEC victory at Nashville.

Craig Brown of Florida (14-9, 7-5) scored 16 points and helped the Gators overcome an 11-point halftime deficit in a 50-48 SEC victory over South Carolina (10-13, 2-10) at Columbia, S.C. . . . Virginia Commonwealth (13-10, 5-5) made 10 of 14 free throws in the final 1:34 to hold off North Carolina Charlotte (17-7, 5-4) for a 69-66 Metro Conference victory at Richmond, Va.

Joe Harvell scored 35 points as Mississippi (11-12, 4-8) beat Mississippi State (14-9, 6-6), 86-78, in an SEC game at Oxford, Miss. . . . Billy Smith scored 24 points and Tony Madlock added 16, including six in the final minute, to lead Memphis State (16-7, 5-3) to a 63-58 Great Midwest Conference victory over Alabama-Birmingham (19-6, 3-5) at Memphis.

SOUTHWEST

Bryan Sallier scored 22 points and had 16 rebounds for Oklahoma (17-6, 5-5) in a 99-83 Big Eight Conference victory over Colorado (12-11, 3-7) at Norman, Okla. It was the 400th victory for Sooner Coach Billy Tubbs.

WEST

Tyson Maroney of Colorado State (13-13, 7-5) made all five of his three-point shots in the second half as the Rams handed San Diego State (2-23, 0-13) a 74-66 Western Athletic Conference defeat at San Diego. San Diego State has lost a school-record 18 consecutive games. . . . Steve Logan of New Mexico (15-10, 9-4) scored nine of his 19 points in overtime, including six free throws in the final 1:42, as the Lobos stayed in the race for the WAC title with a 95-84 victory over Brigham Young (18-6, 9-4) at Albuquerque.

Waymon Strickland came off the bench to score 27 points and lead San Diego (12-13, 4-8) to a 79-76 West Coast Conference victory over Portland (10-15, 3-9) at Portland. . . . Eric Bamberger of St. Mary’s (13-14, 4-8) scored 37 points, including 13 points in the final 1:09, but San Francisco (11-14, 3-9) held on for a 78-75 WCC victory game at San Francisco.

Ron Reis made a tie-breaking free throw with one minute left to lift Santa Clara (12-13, 8-4) to a 61-58 WCC victory over Gonzaga (18-7, 8-4) at Spokane, Wash. . . . Jay Goodman scored a game-high 23 points to lead Utah State (14-10, 8-7) to an 84-79 Big West Conference victory over San Jose State (2-20, 1-13) at San Jose.

Dell Demps scored 25 points and led Pacific (10-13, 6-8) to a 77-70 Big West victory over Fresno State (15-12, 6-9) at Stockton.