COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Haase Does More Than Usual, Leads Kansas Past Utah

Jerod Haase has a reputation for bloodied noses and scraped knees from his pursuit of loose balls.

He did that and more as No. 2 Kansas defeated No. 8 Utah, 79-68, Saturday night in the opener for both teams at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas point guard Jacque Vaughn spent most of the second half on the bench with four fouls, but shooting guard Haase filled the void, scoring a team-high 17 points, handing out four assists and getting four rebounds.

Kansas pulled away from the Utes in the last seven minutes behind Haase, who made two free throws to open a 64-54 lead with 6:48 to play. He then stole the ball and drove the court, only to be tackled by Terry Preston.

An intentional foul was called on Preston, and Haase made one of two free throws to make it 65-54 with just over six minutes to play.

THE TOP 25

No. 9 Mississippi State 121, Southeastern Louisiana 78--Erick Dampier scored 22 points as the host Bulldogs tied a school scoring record in a season-opening victory.

All five starters scored in double figures for Mississippi State, which built a 65-40 halftime lead behind Russell Walters’ 13 first-half points.

Marcus Bullard, making the switch to point guard, scored 20 points while highly touted junior college transfer Dontae’ Jones scored 17. Darryl Wilson, like Walters, finished with 15 points.

No. 11 Wake Forest 75, Mount St. Mary’s 62--Tim Duncan had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Ricky Peral ignited a second-half run to lead the host Deamon Deacons over a feisty Mount St. Mary’s at Wake Forest.

The Deamon Deacons didn’t score for the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half. But when they did, they put the game away behind Peral. He had 10 points in a 16-0 streak, sparking and ending the run with three-pointers to give Wake Forest a 53-37 edge with 10:09 to go. They preserved the edge from the free-throw line, making 13 of 17 foul shots in the closing four minutes.

No. 12 Memphis 91, No. 24 Purdue 76--Chris Garner scored 21 points and had six steals, leading the Tigers at Kansas City, Mo.

Roy Hairston scored 32 for Purdue, which outrebounded Memphis, 42-33. However, Purdue shot only 44% to 59% for the Tigers.

No. 15 Missouri 86, Wofford 60--Kelly Thames scored 13 points to lead five Tigers in double figures in the season opener at Missouri.

The Tigers led by nine at halftime and broke the game open with a 10-2 run to open the second half.

Missouri also staged a 25-11 run in the second half that included 13 points from twin 7-footers Sammie and Simeon Haley, who dwarfed the smaller Wofford team, playing its first year in Division I.

TOURNAMENTS

Great Alaskan Shootout

Duke 88, No. 10 Iowa 81--The unranked Blue Devils upset the Hawkeyes in the championship game at Anchorage. Chris Collins scored 30 points and Ricky Price 25 for Duke.

No. 6 Connecticut 86, No. 23 Indiana 52--In the third-place game, Ray Allen scored 29 points and Connecticut’s defense kept every Hoosier but Brian Evans out of double figures. Evans was Indiana’s only bright spot, leading all scorers with 30 points. Connecticut led by as many as 30 before Coach Jim Calhoun benched Allen and Sheffer.

Puerto Rico Shootout

No. 13 Louisville 83, Virginia Commonwealth 74--A late surge keyed by two field goals by Brian Kiser and four free throws from DeJuan Wheat led the Cardinals over VCU at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

The victory moved Louisville into today championship game against Auburn--an 82-71 winner over James Madison.

Wheat, who had 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, led the Cardinals to a 44-28 halftime lead as Louisville focused its defense on VCU’s big three--center George Byrd and forwards Ivan Chappell and John Smith.

VCU will play James Madison for third place today.

Fry’s Invitational

No. 18 Stanford 75, Rice 64--Brevin Knight scored 21 points, 10 during a decisive 19-6 second-half run, to lead the Cardinal over Rice in the championship game at Palo Alto. Knight had 10 assists and now has 20 in two games. He added four steals and played 38 minutes despite a lingering leg injury.

OTHERS

Ron Riley scored 21 points to lead six Arizona State players in double figures as the host Sun Devils beat Texas Southern, 103-77. . . . Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 33 points and blocked five shots in his collegiate debut as host California opened a 20-point halftime lead and defeated Northern Arizona, 111-83. . . . Jason Cipolla scored seven of his 14 points in an opening 13-0 burst and Syracuse lead thereafter in beating Lafayette, 87-63, at Syracuse.

Antoni Wyche scored seven of his 16 points in a 30-second spurt as host Notre Dame defeated Akron, 65-54, in the season opener for both teams. . . . Mark Ingles scored 22 points, including five three-pointers, and Kevin Beal added 21 as Texas El Paso beat Southern California College 94-60 at El Paso, Tex. . . . Steve Nash scored 20 points to lead Santa Clara to a 50-45 victory over Oregon State at Portland, Ore.

A.J. Rollins scored 24 points and point guard David Sivulich added 22 to lead host St. Mary’s to an 84-66 victory over Bucknell. . . . Todd Fuller posted career highs with 31 points and 21 rebounds as host North Carolina State opened its season with a 104-78 victory over Virginia Military Institute. . . . Reggie Freeman scored 28 points and Sonny Alvarado added 19 points and 14 rebounds, leading Texas to an 88-67 victory over North Texas for the Longhorns’ 26th consecutive home victory.

Freshman Calvin Booth blocked a school-record eight shots and Glenn Sekunda scored 20 points as host Penn State made new Coach Jerry Dunn’s first game a success by beating Morgan State, 90-65. . . . Eric Washington scored 19 points, including 13 in the first half, to give Alabama a 84-69 victory over Winthrop at Tuscaloosa, Ala. . . . Chianti Roberts scored 12 of his career-high 20 points during a 19-3 second-half run that helped host Oklahoma State open its season with a 76-61 victory over St. Mary’s of Texas.