COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Penn State Scores Early, Late to Upset Purdue

Penn State held No. 7 Purdue scoreless for the final 3:35 Thursday night to take a 71-68 Big Ten victory at State College, Pa.

The game, said Purdue Coach Gene Keady, “was lost in the first five minutes.”

Actually, it was lost at both ends.

Penn State hit five of its first seven shots while taking a 14-2 lead. The Boilermakers had six turnovers in the game’s first 4 1/2 minutes. Still, they recovered and led, 68-63, with 3:35 to play.

Purdue, 14-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, missed its last six shots.

The Boilermakers were the highest-ranked opponents Penn State (9-6, 2-4) has beaten since February of 1974, when the Lions upset No. 7 Pittsburgh.

Purdue’s Glenn Robinson led all scorers with 27 points.

Cincinnati 76, No. 8 Massachusetts 74--LaZelle Durden scored 16 points in the final six minutes at Cincinnati, which blew a 22-point lead before rallying.

Dontonio Wingfield, returning from a one-game suspension for missing class, scored five points and took three charges as Cincinnati (13-5) opened a huge first-half lead.

Massachusetts (15-3) caught up with 10 minutes to play, but Wingfield stopped the comeback with a three-pointer. Durden led the Bearcats with 21 points.

No. 12 Louisville 74, Virginia Tech 63--DeJuan Wheat scored 20 points to lead the Cardinals in a Metro Conference game at Blacksburg, Va. Louisville (15-2, 5-1) is off to its best start since 1982-83. Greg Minor and Clifford Rozier each added 17 points for Louisville, which shot 54% from the field compared to 39% for the Hokies (13-3, 2-2).

No. 25 New Mexico State 60, San Jose State 59--Keith Johnson hit two free throws with 10 seconds to play in a Big West game at San Jose. San Jose State (8-8, 4-4) made an 11-5 run to cut the deficit to 56-54 with 2:32 to play and the Aggies (15-1, 7-0) hung on.

OTHER GAMES

Carlin Hartman led a decisive 20-2 run to lift Tulane (10-6) to an 80-62 victory over Florida Atlantic (0-19), the only winless team in Division I. . . . Matt Houle and Jerry Allen sank late free throws to lead Portland (10-10) to a 78-75 victory over Santa Clara (10-7).