COLLEGE BASKETBALL REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Ohio State Not So Big, Loses to West Virginia

Those claims that the Big Ten is the best conference in college basketball were ignored Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va., where West Virginia of the Atlantic 10 played a little bit bigger in beating Ohio State, 78-69.

Tracy Shelton and Marsalis Basey scored 17 points for West Virginia (3-2), which handed the Buckeyes their first loss in five games.

The Buckeyes, playing without four starters from a team that advanced to the final eight in last season’s NCAA tournament, were led by Lawrence Funderburke, who scored 24 points and had 13 rebounds.

EAST

David Cain’s jump shot from the foul line with one second remaining enabled St. John’s to overcome 26 points by Demetrius Dudley for a 58-56 victory over Hofstra in New York. The Redmen (4-2) have beaten the Flying Dutchmen (2-5) 15 consecutive times . . . Aaron McKie made a three-point shot to give Temple the lead for the final time and the Owls (5-0) made seven foul shots in the final minute to remain unbeaten with a 67-62 victory over Florida (3-1) at Orlando. . . . Jamal Phillips scored a career-high 29 points and Rutgers (3-3) held off a late charge to take a 99-87 victory over Long Island (2-4) at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Jerry McCullough, a sophomore guard, scored a career-high 29 points to lead Pittsburgh (4-1) to a 102-91 victory over Duquesne (4-2) at Pittsburgh.

MIDWEST

Cedric Neloms scored 23 points and Kevin Rankin added 22 at Evanston, Ill., in leading Northwestern (4-1) to a 79-73 victory over Loyola of Chicago (1-4). . . . Voshon Lenard scored 20 points, leading Minnesota (4-0) to a 92-50 victory over at Bethune-Cookman (1-6) at Minneapolis.. . . Jeff Malham scored 20 points and Gary Collier made some key baskets down the stretch as Tulsa (4-4) opened Missouri Valley Conference play with a 74-61 victory over Illinois State (2-3) at Tulsa.

SOUTH

Keith Jackson scored 23 points, including the winning basket with four seconds remaining, and Old Dominion (4-2) edged Alabama, 93-91, at Norfolk, Va. Old Dominion led by as many as 10 points before Alabama (3-1) went on a 14-4 run to tie the score, 91-91, on James Robinson’s free throw with 51 seconds remaining . . . Allan Houston of Tennessee (4-2) made four three-point baskets to became the leading three-point shooter in Southeastern Conference history during of a 97-55 rout of Western Carolina (1-3) at Knoxville. . . .Curtis Marshall converted a three-point play with 20 seconds left, giving North Carolina State (2-3) a 69-68 victory over Oregon State (2-3) at Raleigh, N.C. . . . Clemson’s front line scored 54 points, including 22 from forward Devin Gray, as the Tigers (5-0) remained unbeaten with a 76-54 victory over The Citadel (1-4) at Clemson, S.C. . . . Stanley Jackson scored 17 points at Birmingham to lead five players in double figures as Alabama Birmingham (8-1) ran to a 111-61 victory over Prarie View (1-5) for its eighth consecutive victory and 300th in school history. . . . Rich Manning and Mark Pope each scored 16 points to give Washington (3-2) a 78-65 victory over host Jacksonville (2-2). . . . Ronnie McMahan scored 20 points to lead Vanderbilt (8-1) in a 116-71 rout over Austin Peay (3-3) at Clarksville, Tenn.

WEST

Idris Jones scored 19 points to lead undefeated UC Santa Barbara (4-0) to a 79-37 victory over St. Mary’s (2-3) at Moraga. The defeat was the worst ever suffered by the Gaels (2-3) at McKeon Pavilion. . . . Brent Williams scored 14 points and Nick Ravn came off the bench to add 12, leading Stanford (3-2) to a 71-46 victory over Howard (1-4) at Palo Alto.. . . Wyoming (3-1) got 21 points from David Murray to upset previously unbeaten Colorado, 79-72, in Laramie, Wyo. The Buffalos (4-1) lost their 11th consecutive road game. . . . George Irvin’s 21 points led Air Force (4-2) to a 96-65 victory over Portland (3-3) at Colorado Springs. . . . Jeff Potter scored 19 points to lead Oregon (4-4) to a 101-68 victory over Missouri St. Louis (4-3) at Eugene, Ore. . . . Troy Amundsen scored 19 points to lead Pacific (2-4) to a 70-49 victory over Fresno State (3-2) at Fresno. . . . Al Hamilton scored 29 points to lead visiting Weber State (6-1) to an 87-73 victory over host San Diego (2-3).