COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Charlie Ward’s Layup Decides Game, 74-73

Charlie Ward made a driving layup with two seconds left to give Florida State a 74-73 victory over No. 21-ranked Georgia Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday at Atlanta.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, playing in his fifth game with the basketball team, drove past Travis Best and was fouled by James Forrest as he made the shot. Ward missed the free throw and Georgia Tech grabbed the rebound and called time out with one second left.

Forrest missed a 20-footer as time expired.

Ward finished with 11 points and six assists. Bob Sura led Florida State (9-7 overall and 2-6 in the ACC) with 22 points.

Georgia Tech (11-7, 2-5) lost its second in a row and sixth in eight games. Forrest led Georgia Tech with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 2 Duke 75, No. 18 Maryland 62--Cherokee Parks scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to an ACC victory over the Terrapins at Durham, N.C.

The 6-foot-11 junior center from Huntington Beach’s Marina High outplayed Maryland freshman Joe Smith, who came into the game averaging 21.5 points and 10.8 rebounds. Smith was held to 11 points on three-for-11 shooting and nine rebounds.

Duke (15-1, 6-1) took sole possession of first place in the ACC. The Blue Devils beat Maryland for the 14th straight time and the 20th time in their last 21 meetings.

After shooting 50% in the first half, Maryland (12-4, 5-2) lost its momentum with a slow start in the second half.

No. 3 Kansas 87, Colorado 53--The Jayhawks had 10-0 and 13-0 runs to start each half and handed the Buffaloes their worst home loss since they began playing at Events Center in 1979.

The Jayhawks (19-2, 4-1) posted their most lopsided Big Eight road victory in 84 years. Colorado (9-8, 1-4) had 23 turnovers and shot 32%.

No. 5 Arkansas 65, Tennessee 64--Scotty Thurman’s three-pointer with 9.3 seconds left at Knoxville, Tenn., gave the Razorbacks (14-2, 5-2) a victory over the only Southeastern Conference team they hadn’t beaten since joining the league for the 1992 season. They are 1-3 against the Volunteers.

Tennessee (3-12, 1-7) got one last chance, but Ed Gray’s three-point attempt in traffic was deflected at the buzzer by Corliss Williamson.

No. 6 Connecticut 88, Pittsburgh 67--Donyell Marshall, averaging 29 points in his last five games, scored 25 points to lead the Huskies (18-1, 8-0) to a Big East victory over the Panthers (12-5, 6-3) at Pittsburgh.

Connecticut played without Coach Jim Calhoun, who Thursday was found to have pneumonia. Assistant coach Howie Dickenman took his place.

No. 7 Purdue 75, No. 17 Minnesota 72--Glenn Robinson, scoreless after the first 13 minutes, scored 16 points in a 12-minute span and finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and four steals in the Boilermakers’ Big Ten victory over the Gophers at Minneapolis.

The victory followed Purdue’s (17-2, 5-2) tough loss at Penn State. Minnesota (13-6, 4-3) was held to one basket in the final 3 1/2 minutes and lost for the first time this season at Williams Arena.

No. 10 Temple 64, George Washington 54--Eddie Jones scored 21 points to lead the Owls (13-2, 6-2) to an Atlantic 10 victory at Washington. George Washington (8-8, 2-6) has lost 23 times in its last 24 meetings with Temple.

No. 12 Louisville 94, Virginia Commonwealth 74--Greg Minor scored 24 points to lead the Cardinals (16-2, 6-1) to Metro Conference victory over the Rams (11-6, 3-3) before 12,089 in the Richmond Coliseum, the biggest home crowd ever for Virginia Commonwealth.

No. 14 Syracuse 87, Villanova 68--Lawrence Moten scored 11 of his 23 points during a 21-2 run at the end of the first half as the Orangemen (13-3, 6-3) scored a Big East victory over the Wildcats (6-9, 2-6) at Syracuse.

No. 15 Michigan 79, No. 16 Wisconsin 75--Jalen Rose shrugged off one-for-10 shooting in the first half at Ann Arbor, Mich., and hit six of six in the second half to lead the Wolverines (13-3, 4-3) to a Big Ten victory. Rose finished with 23 points, 18 coming in the second half.

Wisconsin (13-3, 4-3) hit 13 of 28 three-point shots to keep it close. Micheal Finley made seven, had one four-point play and scored 30 points.

St. Bonaventure 72, No. 19 West Virginia 66--The Bonnies (8-8, 2-4), bolstered by a noisy home crowd in Reilly Center at Olean, N.Y., got an Atlantic 10 upset victory over the Mountaineers (13-2, 6-2).

West Virginia had won the last eight meetings with St. Bonaventure and had a 32-3 series led.

No. 22 Marquette 51, Memphis State 46--The Warriors (12-5, 5-1) went on a 9-0 run to break a 38-38 tie and defeat the Tigers (6-10, 1-5) in a Great Midwest Conference game at Memphis.

Marquette shot 33%, the Tigers 26%. “I hope this game wasn’t on national TV,” Marquette Coach Kevin O’Neill said.

No. 23 St. Louis 83, Missouri Kansas City 71--Scott Highmark had 24 points and eight rebounds to lead the Billikens (16-1) at Kansas City.

No. 25 New Mexico State 95, Pacific 94--Thomas Wyatt, injured in the closing seconds of regulation, returned to score four of his 19 points in overtime as New Mexico State (16-1, 8-0) extended its winning streak to 13 games with a Big West victory at Stockton.

Wyatt was fouled by Glenn Griffin and injured his right leg on a three-point attempt with 1.7 seconds in regulation. Corey Rogers, who replaced Wyatt, made three free throws to tie the game at 78-78 send the game into overtime.

Pacific dropped to 12-8, 6-3.

OTHER GAMES

Jason Allen scored 22 points as San Jose State, which never had beaten Nevada Las Vegas in 25 previous meetings, defeated the Rebels, 92-77, in a Big West game at San Jose. Terry Cannon added 21 points for the Spartans (9-8, 5-4). UNLV is now 9-7, 5-3. . . . Jeff Brown scored a game-high 32 points as Gonzaga (14-4, 6-0) recorded a 92-78 West Coast Conference victory over Santa Clara (10-8, 3-3) at Spokane. . . . Carl Ray Harris scored a career-high 29 points to lead Fresno State (11-7, 6-3) to an 81-65 Western Athletic Conference victory over Hawaii (11-9, 7-2) at Fresno. . . . Carlus Groves scored 19 of his team-high 25 points in the second half to lead San Diego State (8-8, 3-6) to a 68-60 WAC victory over Air Force (5-11, 0-9) at Air Force Academy, Colo. . . . Marlow White scored 23 points as New Mexico (15-4, 6-2) scored a 79-72 WAC victory over Texas El Paso (12-6, 4-5) at El Paso. . . . Shawn Respert scored 29 points to lead Michigan State (14-6, 5-3) to an 87-84 Big Ten victory over Iowa (8-8, 2-5) at East Lansing, Mich.