COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : No Kidd-ing: Cornell Surprises Cal, 74-54

Jason Kidd will never forget his first trip to the East Coast as a college basketball player.

Neither will Cornell, which stunned California, 74-54, while Kidd, the Bears’ star freshman guard, watched from the bench with a bruised back and rib Wednesday.

The No. 19-ranked Bears came to East Rutherford, N.J., for the Seton Hall/Meadowlands Tournament with a 5-0 record and their first national ranking since 1961. Three days later, it is 5-2 and Kidd does not know when he will play again.

“This has been a nightmare,” said Kidd, whose status is day-to-day. “It’s definitely been a real bad trip.”

Cornell (3-3) defeated a nationally ranked team for the first time in 26 seasons, since it beat Kentucky during the 1966-67 season.

No. 1 Duke 106, Boston University 62--Eric Meek, a reserve center, scored a career-high 21 points as the Blue Devils (9-0) breezed.

Duke ran to a 55-16 halftime lead as Thomas Hill scored all 16 of his points during the first 20 minutes. The Terriers (1-6) trailed by as many as 55 points before closing to within 40 against Duke reserves.

Duke has won 21 consecutive games--two short of a school record--and 33 consecutive games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

No. 3 Kentucky 86, St. John’s 77--Rodrick Rhodes, a freshman, scored 23 points and seldom-used Junior Braddy sank two important three-pointers, as the Wildcats (8-0) held off the Redmen (5-4) in the championship game of the ECAC Holiday Festival at New York.

The Wildcats remained unbeaten even though leading scorer Jamal Mashburn, averaging 24.9 points, missed his first 10 shots and scored only seven points, making one field goal.

No. 5 North Carolina 101, Hawaii 84--It didn’t take North Carolina long to bounce back from its devastating loss to Michigan, as the fifth-ranked Tar Heels (9-1) used a career-high 28 points from Eric Montross and 19 from George Lynch to dominate the Rainbows (4-4) for third place in the Rainbow Classic.

No. 7 Seton Hall 87, James Madison 66--Terry Dehere scored eight of his 24 points in a 13-point run to start the game as the Pirates won the championship of the Seton Hall/Meadowlands Tournament. The victory was the eighth in a row for Seton Hall (11-1), while snapping a three-game winning streak for James Madison (6-3).

Northeast Louisiana 87, No. 9 Arkansas 78--Isaac Brown made consecutive three-pointers to give Northeast Louisiana the lead for good, and Maurice Stephens had 22 points and 19 rebounds as the Indians (6-2) stunned the Razorbacks (8-1) at Little Rock, Ark.

It was Northeast Louisiana’s first victory over a ranked team since the 1975-76 season.

Arkansas took the lead, 31-30, and held it until Anthony Smith swiped the ball and hit a basket that tied it, 63-63, with 8:29 remaining. Brown hit his two long shots and the Indians never trailed again.

Boston College 94, No. 12 Syracuse 93--Howard Eisley sank a 23-footer with 0.6 seconds remaining in overtime at Syracuse, ending Boston College’s 10-year losing streak at the Carrier Dome in a Big East opener.

The Eagles (6-2) denied Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim the 400th victory of his career.

Boston College wasted a 17-point first half lead against the Orangemen (8-1), then had to come back after falling behind, 91-85, two minutes into overtime.

Eisley’s game-winning shot followed blocked shots by Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten and Conrad McRae. Eisley, who finished with 23 points, chased down McRae’s block and threw it in to send Syracuse to its first overtime loss ever in the Carrier Dome. McRae had 17 second-half points and finished with a career-high 21.

No. 15 Oklahoma 85, Texas 76--Bryan Sallier scored 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, leading the Sooners (9-1) over the Longhorns (5-3) for their sixth consecutive championship of the All College Tournament at Oklahoma City.

No. 16 Nevada Las Vegas 79, Hofstra 41--J.R. Rider scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds at Las Vegas as UNLV (5-0) whipped Hofstra (2-8) to extend its nation-best winning streak to 28 games. Evric Gray added 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Runnin’ Rebels won their 51st straight home game, dating to 1990.

No. 17 Michigan State 77, Washington State 61--Mike Peplowski had 24 points and 14 rebounds as the Spartans (7-1) defeated the Cougars (5-3) for their fourth consecutive Spartan Classic championship at East Lansing, Mich.

No. 18 Florida State 94, South Florida 73--Sam Cassell tied a career best with 34 points and backcourt mate Bob Sura keyed a second-half surge with three three-pointers to lead the Seminoles (8-3) over the Bulls (2-4) at Tallahassee, Fla.

No. 20 Nebraska 79, Fordham 55--The Cornhuskers (8-3) snapped a three-game losing streak while Fordham (2-6) lost its fifth consecutive game in the seventh-place game of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

No. 22 Arizona 75, West Virginia 74--Mike Boyd of West Virginia made a crucial mistake, driving for a layup instead of pulling up for a three-pointer with two seconds remaining, enabling Arizona (4-2) to escape with the championship of the Fiesta Bowl Classic at Tucson.

Boyd stole a pass from Damon Stoudamire with five seconds remaining and drove for the layup as time ran out on the Mountaineers (4-3).

Stoudamire hit two free throws with 32 seconds remaining to pad Arizona’s lead to 75-69, but Tracy Shelton sank a three-pointer with 20 seconds left for West Virginia before Boyd made his steal.

OTHER GAMES

Anthony Bean made a jumper from the top of the key with seven seconds remaining to give Kansas State (6-2) to a 60-59 victory over UC Santa Barbara (6-1). . . . James Robinson scored 28 points as Alabama (5-2) held off stubborn Santa Clara (5-5) for a 65-58 victory to win the Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara.

New Mexico State (7-3) worked the ball inside to center James Dockery and forwards Cliff Reed, Darrin Jackson and Eric Traylor, and it paid off in 64 points during an 83-69 win over East Texas State (0-10) at Las Cruces, N.M. . . . Keith Bonds and Kraig Conger each hit free throws in the final seconds to lift Colorado State (8-2) to a 79-75 victory against Rice (2-4) at Fort Collins, Colo.

Brandon Cole scored a career-high 27 points and guard Terry Davis added 21 as DePaul (6-4) withstood a second-half comeback by Jacksonville (2-3) to defeat the Dolphins, 80-71, at Rosemont, Ill. . . . Mike Jones scored five of his 17 points in overtime and Rutgers (5-4) took advantage of poor free throw shooting by Manhattan (6-3) to take an 80-76 victory in the consolation game of the Holiday Festival in New York.

Randolph Childress scored 19 points and Wake Forest (6-1) benefited from a second-half surge in a 74-47 victory over Lafayette (1-7) at Winston-Salem, N.C. . . . Chris Pavlic scored a career-high 24 points to lead Princeton (6-3) to a 75-60 victory over New Hampshire (0-5) for third place in the Spartan Classic tournament at East Lansing, Mich.

Lance Miller had 14 points and Aaron Bain added 13 as Villanova (4-2) survived a late rally by Columbia (4-4) to defeat the Lions at Philadelphia, 75-63. . . . Geert Hammink scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds as Louisiana State (8-2) overcame a shaky start to win its second game in two nights with a 90-68 victory over Tennessee State (3-4) at Baton Rouge, La.

Sharone Wright scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Clemson (8-0) remain unbeaten with an 87-69 victory over Mercer (4-4) at Clemson, S.C. . . . Shandon Anderson scored 15 points off the bench for Georgia (4-4) to lead the Bulldogs to a 75-63 victory over Colorado (5-3) at Athens, Ga. . . . Melvin Booker and Jevon Crudup each scored 14 points and Missouri (6-2) shut down Marist (4-5) in the second half to roll to a 69-56 victory for fifth place of the Big Island Invitational at Hilo, Hawaii. . . . G.J. Hunter’s season-high 21 points led Tulane (7-3) against Prairie View A&M; (1-6) in the Green Wave’s 107-74 victory at New Orleans. . . . Chuck Robinson hit a short jumper with three seconds remaining to lift Navy (1-5) to a 57-56 victory over Eastern Washington (3-7) in the Fresno State Classic consolation game at Fresno. The win snapped a 12-game losing streak for Navy.