COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Rider Scores 37, but UNLV Struggles

Despite 37 points by J.R. Rider, it wasn’t a breeze for Nevada Las Vegas as the Runnin’ Rebels remained perfect against San Jose State with a 80-74 Big West Conference victory Thursday night at San Jose.

UNLV is 25-0 against San Jose State, although the Rebels led only 76-72 with 1:10 left. The Spartans made it close after trailing, 72-63, with 5:30 left.

Dexter Boney added 16 points and Lawrence Thomas 12 as the Rebels, winners of 10 of their last 11 games, improved to 16-2 overall and 9-2 in the Big West.

Daryl Scott scored 18 points and Kevin Logan had 15 for San Jose (6-12, 3-7).

No. 16 Utah 88, San Diego State 77--Josh Grant had 18 points as the Utes beat the Aztecs in a Western Athletic Conference game at San Diego.

Jimmy Soto added 16 points and Byron Wilson had 15 points and 15 rebounds as Utah (18-3, 11-1) won for the 13th time in its last 14 games.

Keith Balzer scored 17 points and Joe McNaull added 15 for San Diego State (6-15, 2-10).

No. 20 Tulane 62, Louisville 60--Despite 34 turnovers, the Cardinals still had a chance to beat the Green Wave at the buzzer at New Orleans, but Dwayne Morton’s 35-foot shot bounced off the backboard and missed.

The victory left Tulane (17-4, 7-1) a half-game behind Louisville in the Metro Conference standings. It was only the third victory for the Green Wave in the last 25 games against the Cardinals (13-5, 8-1).

Matt Green scored 16 points for Tulane, which had 29 turnovers, and Morton led Louisville with 19 points.

No. 22 Massachusetts 81, St. Joseph’s 69--Lou Roe grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 16 points to lead the Minutemen in an Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Harper Williams added 21 points and Jeromoe Malloy had 18 as Massachusetts (16-4, 8-1) won its 10th in a row.

Bernard Blunt had 15 points to lead St. Joseph’s (14-6, 6-3).

No. 24 Virginia 75, North Carolina State 66--Cory Alexander, the Cavaliers’ sophomore point guard, did not take a shot during the first seven minutes of this Atlantic Coast Conference game at Charlottesville, Va., but then came to life and finished with 25.

Virginia (14-5, 6-4) defeated the Wolfpack for the fourth consecutive time and the sixth time in their last seven meetings.

Kevin Thompson led North Carolina State (5-13, 1-9) with 18 points.

No. 25 New Orleans 81, Texas Pan American 63--Ervin Johnson grabbed 23 rebounds and scored 21 points to lead the Privateers over the Broncos in a Sun Belt Conference game at Edinburg, Tex.

Johnson, a 6-foot-11 senior center, also had three steals, two assists and two blocks as New Orleans improved to 18-2, 12-0.

Greg Guy led the Broncos (2-14, 2-10) with 23 points, 7.5 below his NCAA Division I-leading average. The Privateers held Guy to nine points in the first half.

OTHER GAMES

Eddie Rivera hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to give Texas El Paso to a 81-78 double-overtime victory over Wyoming in a Western Athletic Conference game at Laramie, Wyo. Rivera, who finished with 24 points, caught a deflected pass before throwing in the game-winner. UTEP (14-8, 6-5) held a 59-53 lead with 1:41 left in overtime, but Wyoming (10-11, 4-8) came back to tie it. Brian Rewers and Theo Ratliff had career highs of 21 and 19 points for Wyoming, which lost its sixth in a row. . . . Aaron Atkinson scored 16 points and Doug Larson had 12 rebounds to lead Colorado State (15-5, 7-4) to a 67-50 victory over New Mexico (15-5, 7-4) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Ft. Collins, Colo.

Freshman J.J. Polk scored 14 points to lead five Gauchos in double figures as UC Santa Barbara beat Nevada, 93-60, in a Big West game at San Barbara. Santa Barbara is 12-7, 5-6. Nevada (7-13, 2-10) was led by Rod Brown with 17 points. . . . Pacific (11-9, 7-5) defeated New Mexico State, 71-68, in a Big West game at Stockton. The Aggies (17-5, 9-2) fell back into a tie for first place in with UNLV. . . . Brian Brazier scored 22 points as St. Mary’s defeated Portland, 74-68, in a West Coast Conference game at Portland, Ore. Freshman Jumoke Horton had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Gaels (7-13, 3-6). Grant Tracy had 24 points for the Pilots (8-13, 2-7). . . . Jeff Brown scored 32 points as Gonzaga defeated San Francisco, 85-64, in a West Coast Conference game at Spokane, Wash. The Bulldogs (14-7, 6-3) led, 44-32, at halftime. Wilson Stephens had 18 points for the Dons (16-8, 6-3).