COLLEGE BASKETBALL / REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Meyer Leads Iowa State, 94-74

Loren Meyer, a 6-foot-11 sophomore, scored 18 of his career-high 22 points in the first half to spark a fast start that carried Iowa State to a 94-74 victory over Colorado in a Big Eight game Saturday at Ames, Iowa.

Iowa State, 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big Eight, bolted to a 22-2 lead in the first six minutes; led, 53-23, at halftime and handed Colorado its 68th regular-season conference road loss in 69 games.

Colorado (8-11, 0-7) committed a school-record 20 turnovers in the first half. The Buffaloes bounced back to shoot 61% in the second half but were too far behind to make it a game.

Randy Robinson led Colorado with 20 points, and Donnie Boyce scored 19--17 in the second half. Coach Joe Harrington benched Boyce in the second half of Colorado’s 85-61 loss to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, and the 6-5 sophomore did not start Saturday. But he entered the game with 3:55 gone and ended up playing 28 minutes.

MIDWEST

Jamie Skelton scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half and Ohio State came back from a 15-point deficit in the final 8 1/2 minutes to beat Penn State, 62-59, in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes (10-8, 3-6), who did not shoot a free throw in the first half, were 16 of 20 at the line in the second half. Penn State fell to 6-11, 1-7. . . . Junior center Deon Thomas scored 20 points to lead Illinois (14-6, 7-2) to an 82-67 Big Ten victory over Northwestern (5-12, 0-8). The Wildcats showed signs early of pulling off an upset, but Illinois took control early in the second half. Down 37-35, the Illini went on a 25-3 run.

WEST

Two nights after upsetting No. 10 Nevada Las Vegas in Stockton, Pacific lost a Big West game at home to San Jose State, 54-50. Lossie Mitchell made two free throws and a field goal in the final 16 seconds for the Spartans (6-11, 3-6), who had not won on the road in 17 games and had not beaten the Tigers since 1990. Pacific (10-9, 6-5) led, 50-45, with 2:53 left, but the Spartans scored the final nine points. . . . All Fresno State starters scored in double figures as the Bulldogs (10-10, 5-6) defeated San Diego State, 78-70, in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fresno. Brian Santiago scored 16 points for Fresno, and Joe McNaull had 16 and 11 rebounds for San Diego State (6-14, 2-9). . . . Gary Trost scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead Brigham Young (17-5, 10-1) to a 75-62 WAC victory over Wyoming (10-10, 4-7) at Provo, Utah. . . . Jarinn Akana scored 20 points and Fabio Ribeiro added 17 to lead Hawaii (8-11, 4-7) to a 78-69 WAC victory over Air Force (8-12, 2-9) at Air Force Academy, Colo. . . . Chris Johnson scored 27 points to lead St. Mary’s (6-13, 2-6) to a 60-49 come-from-behind West Coast Conference victory over Portland (8-12, 2-6) at Moraga, Calif.

SOUTHWEST

Eric Dailey, who scored 23 points, made a basket in the final seconds that lifted Texas Christian to a 68-66 victory over Houston in a Southwest Conference game at Ft. Worth. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Cougars (11-6, 4-4) since moving into the top 25 at No. 25 two weeks ago. The Horned Frogs (5-13, 2-5) led by as many as eight points in the second half before Houston mounted a 14-4 run for a 55-52 lead with 8:28 remaining. Neither team led by more than a basket the rest of the way. . . . Aundre Branch scored 29 points and Baylor made 12 free throws in overtime to beat Texas Tech, 105-102, in an SWC game at Lubbock, Tex. The Bears (12-6, 4-3) built a 104-94 lead with 41 seconds left in the overtime before Tech mounted another comeback that fell short when Will Flemons missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. Flemons led the Red Raiders (11-7, 3-4) with 27 points. . . . Tim Mason, who had 20 points, converted two free throws with 12 seconds left in overtime at Dallas, sending Southern Methodist (14-5, 7-1) into sole possession of first place in the SWC with a 78-77 victory over Rice (12-6, 6-2).

SOUTH

Jason Caffey scored 22 points and Andre Perry sparked a second-half rally as Alabama notched its first Southeastern Conference road victory of the year, 85-81 over Tennessee at Knoxville, Tenn. The Crimson Tide (12-7, 4-5), losers of their first four SEC road games under Coach David Hobbs, also got 15 points from James Robinson. Tennessee (10-10, 2-7) was led by Allan Houston, who had 22 points and scored the Volunteers’ final 12 points. . . . Clifford Rozier scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as Louisville overpowered Southern Mississippi, 86-71, in a Metro Conference game at Louisville. Rozier, the tallest player on the court at 6-9, had only two points and two rebounds in the first half as Louisville (13-5, 8-0) struggled to take a 34-27 lead at halftime. But Rozier scored eight points and Dwayne Morton added nine as Louisville opened the second half with a 30-17 run to take its largest lead, 66-44, with 9:41 remaining. Southern Mississippi (6-13, 2-6) never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.

Michael Gardner scored a career-high 21 points as Miami (7-11, 4-6), which has lost 30 in a row on the road, made it four out of five at home in Big East play with an 81-74 victory over Syracuse (13-6, 5-6). . . . Chris Whitney had 10 of his 20 points in overtime and Clemson (12-6) missed only one shot in the extra period to defeat South Carolina, 89-84, at Columbia, S.C. . . . Sophomore center Charles Claxton had a career-high 23 points and Georgia shot nearly 62% as the Bulldogs (9-9, 4-5) beat Auburn, 96-69, in an SEC game at Athens, Ga. . . . Kevin Watkins scored 19 points and Mississippi held Mississippi State without a field goal for 14 minutes in the second half as the Rebels (11-9, 3-6) beat the Bulldogs (6-11, 3-6), 56-53, in an SEC game at Starkville, Miss.

EAST

St. Joseph’s rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit to score a 77-66 victory over Villanova at Philadelphia. Rap Curry had 21 points and Carlin Warley had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks (13-5). Villanova (7-10) led, 29-10, with 10:02 left in the first half. But the Wildcats fell behind by halftime, committing 13 turnovers. . . . Holy Cross, coming off a loss to Fordham, spoiled Mike Connors’ debut as the coach of Army, routing the Cadets, 110-73, in a Patriot League game at Worcester, Mass. The Crusaders (15-5, 8-1) provided Coach George Blaney with his 399th victory. Connors was promoted Thursday to fill in for fired coach Tom Miller, who was fired by Army for publicly degrading his players despite warnings to stop. . . . Victor Mickel scored 21 points and Wes Cooper added 20 as Navy broke open a close game with a 19-5 run in the second half to defeat Lehigh, 83-74, in a Patriot League game at Bethlehem, Pa. Lehigh (2-17, 0-8) held a 36-35 halftime lead before Navy (7-11, 5-4) hit seven of their first nine shots in the second half. . . . Sophomore forward Lou Roe scored a career-high 25 points to lead Massachusetts to an 82-67 victory over Rutgers in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Amherst, Mass. It was the ninth consecutive victory for Massachusetts (15-4, 7-1). Rutgers fell to 10-10, 3-4.