COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Arkansas Sticks to Business, 117-105

For once, Nolan Richardson was happy that his Arkansas players didn’t listen to him.

Despite the controversy surrounding a proposed walkout by the Black Coaches Assn., No. 4-ranked Arkansas went about its business and beat Auburn, 117-105, Saturday at Auburn, Ala.

“Today was a coming-out party for us,” the Razorback coach said. “It’s been a long week with all of the talk about the BCA, and I am certainly part of that. And that’s not about basketball totally.”

The BCA had threatened to boycott Saturday’s games after the NCAA refused to reinstate a 14th scholarship.

The Razorbacks, 12-1 overall and 3-1 in the Southeastern Conference, trailed, 86-79, with 10:02 to play, but they scored four consecutive baskets to take an 87-86 lead before pulling away.

The victory ended a tough seven days during which the Razorbacks lost their No. 1 ranking with a 66-64 loss at Alabama, sneaked past Louisiana State, 84-83, and wondered whether they would even make the trip to Alabama.

Scotty Thurman scored 32 points to lead Arkansas. The Tigers are 5-7, 0-4.

No. 1 North Carolina 106, Clemson 62--Eric Montross scored a season-high 25 points and tied his career high with 17 rebounds as the Tar Heels (13-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) overpowered the Tigers (8-6, 0-3) at Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 2 Duke 66, Virginia 58--Cherokee Parks had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Chris Collins added 12 points for the Blue Devils (11-1, 3-1 ACC) at Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers (9-4, 3-1) had their six-game winning streak snapped.

No. 7 Massachusetts 87, St. Bonaventure 60--Lou Roe scored 27 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead Massachusetts (13-1, 5-0 Atlantic 10) at Amherst, Mass.

St. Bonaventure is 5-7 and 1-4.

No. 8 Kentucky 93, Tennessee 74--Rod Rhodes scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Wildcats (13-2, 2-1 SEC) at Lexington, Ky.

Tennessee is 2-10 and 0-4.

No. 12 Wisconsin 75, No. 9 Purdue 69--Michael Finley scored 25 points to lead Wisconsin (12-1, 3-1 Big Ten) at Madison, Wis. Purdue is 14-1 and 2-1.

No. 13 Temple 69, Rhode Island 49--Eddie Jones scored 24 points and Aaron McKie added 21 to lead the Owls (9-2, 3-1 Atlantic 10) at Kingston, R.I.

The Rams are 5-6 and 2-3.

No. 14 Connecticut 85, St. John’s 81--Donyell Marshall scored a career-high 42 points, including 20 of 20 from the free-throw line, to lead Connecticut (14-1, 5-0 Big East) at New York.

St. John’s is 7-6 and 1-4.

No. 15 Louisville 88, No. 17 Georgia Tech 68--Clifford Rozier scored 22 points and Jason Osborne made three three-pointers during two 15-0 first-half runs as the Cardinals (12-2) pulled away from the Yellow Jacket (10-4) at Louisville, Ky.

No. 16 Syracuse 88, Villanova 85--Lucious Jackson scored 20 of his career-high 24 points in the second half as Syracuse (10-2, 3-2 Big East) rallied from an 18-point deficit to defeat Villanova (6-6, 2-3) at Philadelphia.

Penn State 78, No. 18 Minnesota 67--John Amaechi scored 26 points at State College, Pa., to lead the Nittany Lions (8-4, 1-2 Big Ten) to their first victory ever over a ranked conference opponent.

Minnesota is 11-4 and 2-1.

No. 20 Boston College 69, Miami 49--Bill Curley scored eight of his 25 points during a 19-6 run to open the second half as the Eagles (11-4, 3-2 Big East) won at Newton, Mass.

Miami (7-6, 0-5) has lost 22 consecutive league games.

No. 21 Cincinnati 79, Dayton 63--Freshman Darnell Burton scored 14 of his 24 points in the first half as Cincinnati (12-3, 1-1 Great Midwest) took control at Dayton, Ohio.

Dayton (4-9, 0-2) missed 11 of 14 three-pointers in the first half and shot only 21% overall.

Louisiana State 83, No. 24 Vanderbilt 81--Andre Owens banked in an eight-foot jumper with 2.9 seconds to play to lift the Tigers (8-4, 2-2 SEC) at Nashville, Tenn.

Vanderbilt is 8-5 and 1-3.

No. 25 Xavier 86, Butler 80--Brian Grant scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Musketeers (11-1, 1-0 Midwestern Collegiate) at Indianapolis.

Butler is 7-7 and 0-1.

No. 25 Missouri 80, Colorado 72--Melvin Booker scored 27 points, including two key baskets late in the second half, as Missouri (11-2, 2-0 Big Eight) came from behind to defeat Colorado (6-6, 0-2) at Boulder, Colo.

OTHER GAMES

Antoine Gillespie scored 23 points, 17 in the second half, to lead Texas El Paso (11-4, 3-3 Western Athletic) to an 83-64 victory over San Diego State (6-6, 1-4) at El Paso, Tex. . . . Greg Brown scored 22 points and New Mexico (13-3, 5-1 WAC) took over the conference lead with a 74-55 victory over Hawaii (8-8, 4-1) at Albuquerque, N.M. . . . Freshman center Erick Dampier scored 15 points, with a perfect shooting night, to lead Mississippi State (10-2, 4-0 SEC) to a 67-60 victory over Georgia (8-5, 3-1) at Starkville, Miss. . . . Bryant Reeves had 22 points and 16 rebounds to lead Oklahoma State (12-4, 2-0 Big Eight) to a 71-61 victory over Kansas State (11-3, 0-2) at Manhattan, Kan. . . . George Butler scored 23 points and Joey Brown added 16 to get Georgetown’s (9-3, 3-2 Big East) sluggish offense on track en route to a 77-70 victory over Providence (9-3, 3-2) at Landover, Md.