COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Murray Scores 23 to Lead Cal Past Tulane for Title

Lamond Murray’s 23 points led five Golden Bears in double figures Sunday and No. 25 California defeated Tulane, 83-70, to win the Otis Spunkmeyer Classic at Oakland.

Tulane (4-2), whose two losses have come against ranked teams, trailed by 10 at halftime, and never threatened in the second half. The Bears (4-2) led, 77-55, with 5:10 left.

The game featured a matchup between Cal Coach Todd Bozeman, the youngest in Division I, and his mentor, Tulane’s Perry Clark. In the second half, the Bears shot 58%, making 15 of 26 shots.

After starting the last three games, freshman Randy Duck came off the bench to score 15 points. Freshman Anwar McQueen added 11, and Ryan Jamison of Los Angeles had 10 before fouling out with 8:40 left. Jason Kidd finished with 12.

In its two games since a loss to Santa Clara, Cal has outscored its opponents by 45 points.

“It’s all about progress and guys improving,” Bozeman said. “Sometimes you can learn a lot from a loss. The offense is starting to come around and now we’re starting to get a grasp of it.”

Princeton 67, Maryland-Baltimore County 55--Rick Hielscher scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Tigers (4-3) in the consolation game of the Otis Spunkmeyer tournament.

Alabama Birmingham 79, Hawaii 59--Gene Bartow got his 600th coaching victory late Saturday night as the Blazers (5-1) won the Tip-Off Tournament at Honolulu. Robert Shannon scored 22 points and made four three-pointers to beat Hawaii (1-5).

Bartow is the eighth active Division I coach to reach 600 victories, the 27th in history. The coach who started the basketball program at UAB in 1978, began his career at Central Missouri State in 1961. He was 47-21 before he went to Valparaiso, where he was 93-69 over six seasons.

In 1970, he coached Memphis State, taking the team to the 1973 NCAA title game, where it lost to UCLA. His only losing season was at Illinois, where he was 8-18 in 1974-75. He then succeeded John Wooden at UCLA for two seasons before leaving for Alabama because of the pressure.

Marquette 86, Ohio State 66--Damon Key scored 17 points during a 33-15 second-half run as the Warriors handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season in a game at Milwaukee. Key had 29 points and 14 rebounds for Marquette (5-2), which trailed by one at the half after shooting 36%.

Ohio State (3-1) was led by Derek Anderson (17 points) and Nate Wilbourne (14).

St. John’s 70, Hofstra 42--The Redmen (4-2) won the Joe Lapchick Memorial Tournament at New York for the 19th consecutive year, as Shawnelle Scott scored 14 and Charles Minlend 12. Ron Ogden’s jumper gave Hostra (1-5) its only lead at 8-6 with 15:38 remaining in the first half.

Michigan St. 74, Detroit Mercy 63--Shawn Respert scored 29 points, including three three-pointers in the second half, and had 11 rebounds for the Spartans (5-2) at East Lansing, Mich.