NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT : Washington State Fails to Blaze Trail for UCLA

Take note, UCLA.

A Pacific 10 team, Washington State, went into The Pit at Albuquerque Monday night and came away a loser.

New Mexico defeated the Cougars, 79-71, in a second-round National Invitation Tournament game.

“I thought this was a game in which the selection committee probably decided the outcome,” said Washington State Coach Kelvin Sampson, who also complained that some critical calls by the officials down the stretch were costly.

Steve Logan, who scored 19 points, sank the tying and go-ahead baskets for the Lobos (20-12).

For Washington State (22-11), this was its first postseason tournament since 1983. Cougar guard Terrence Lewis made six three-pointers and had 20 points.

Notre Dame 64, Kansas State 47--The Wildcats, shooting only 26% in the first half, didn’t get into double figures until 12:08 into this second-round game and lost to the Irish at South Bend, Ind.

Daimon Sweet scored 16 points to lead Notre Dame (16-14), and LaPhonso Ellis added 15.

Askia Jones scored 19 points for Kansas State (16-14).

Manhattan 62, Rutgers 61--Junior point guard Chris Williams dribbled the length of the court for a layup at the buzzer to give Jaspers (25-8) a second-round victory at Piscataway, N.J.

The Scarlet Knights (15-14) hurt themselves by missing six of 10 foul shots in the final 2:40.

Virginia 77, Tennessee 52--Bryant Stith, the Virginia’s all-time leading scorer, and Allan Houston, who ranked third on Tennessee’s career scoring list, played to a standoff in this second-round game at Charlottesville, Va., so the Cavaliers’ rebounding ended up being the decisive factor.

Stith and Houston each scored 19 points, but Virginia (17-13) outrebounded the Volunteers, 43-33.

Virginia’s man-to-man defense held the Volunteers (19-15) to a season-low 32% shooting (20 of 63).

Purdue 67, Texas Christian 51--Craig Riley scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as the Boilermakers (18-14) beat Texas Christian (23-11) in a second-round game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Texas Christian was led by Reggie Smith with 21 points.

Florida 77, Pitt 74--Sophomore Craig Brown scored 17 points, including four free throws in the final minute at Pittsburgh, to lead the Gators (18-12) over the Panthers (18-16) and into the tournament’s quarterfinals.

Pitt had one last chance when Florida’s Dan Cross missed the second of two free throws with four seconds remaining. But Sean Miller’s desperation jumper missed.

Stacey Poole also scored 17 points for Florida.