Kansas Impressive in Big Eight Opener, 76-61

Third-ranked Kansas opened defense of its Big Eight title with a dominating performance Monday night, using a 19-2 run at the start of the second half to defeat Oklahoma State, 76-61, and end the Cowboys’ 24-game home winning streak.

Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce wore out the smaller Cowboys inside, and Jacque Vaughn played his usual solid game at point guard. The Jayhawks, 11-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Eight, won in Stillwater for the first time since 1993.

The loss was the first at home for the Cowboys (8-3, 0-1) since Missouri beat them in January, 1994.

No. 9 Memphis 57, North Carolina Charlotte 55--Lorenzen Wright scored 18 points and Mingo Johnson had 17 at Memphis, Tenn. in the Conference USA debut for both schools.

The victory put Memphis at 9-2, while unranked N.C. Charlotte fell to 6-5.

No. 25 New Mexico 77, San Diego State 74--Freshman Kenny Thomas scored a season-high 24 points, including a pair of free throws with 16.7 seconds left in a Western Athletic Conference game at Albuquerque.

Thomas was 10 for 15 and teamed with sophomore Daniel Santiago to give the Lobos (12-1, 2-1) enough offense to turn back a series of rallies by the Aztecs (6-4, 2-1).

BIG WEST

Pacific 88, Nevada Las Vegas 68--Adam Jacobsen made eight three-point shots and scored a career-high 28 points at Las Vegas.

In the second half, Pacific (5-6, 1-2) shot 67% from the field.

Jermaine Smith had 17 points for UNLV (4-6, 1-1).

San Jose State 74, New Mexico State 60--Olivier Saint-Jean and Roy Hammonds scored 13 points each and all five San Jose State starters reached double figures at San Jose.

Tito Addison had 12 points, Sam Allen 11 and Darren Greene 10 for San Jose State (3-8, 2-1).

William Johnson led New Mexico State (4-6, 1-1) with 12 points and Enoch Davis had 10.

Utah State 75, Nevada 71--Antwan Smith sank two free throws and Eric Franson made a layup in the last 44 seconds of overtime at Reno, Nev.

The Aggies (6-6, 1-1) trailed by as much as 11 points in the second half. But Justin Jones, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, made a basket with 1:50 remaining to tie the score at 69.

Nevada fell to 7-5 and 0-2.

OTHER GAMES

Kimani Jones-Young scored 23 points and Texas El Paso (10-2, 2-1) withstood a furious second half comeback by Hawaii (4-7, 1-2) to post an 85-75 Western Athletic Conference victory at El Paso, Texas. . . . God Shammgod scored 18 points to lead a group of five Providence (8-4) players in double figures in a 91-63 victory over Canisius (9-3) at Providence, R.I. . . . Tim Moore scored 21 points and blocked a shot with one second left and Damon Jones had 20 points and five three-point baskets as Houston (6-6, 1-0) held on for a 63-62 victory over Southern Methodist (6-6, 1-0) in a Southwest Conference game at Houston. . . . The towering twosome of Ray Poindexter and Rafael Maldonado led a dominating inside game in leading Tulsa (8-1) to a 70-55 victory over Alabama Birmingham (11-5), at Tulsa, Okla. . . . Kenneth Roberts scored 21 points to rally Brigham Young (7-4, 1-1) to a tougher-than-expected 68-64 victory over Air Force (4-8, 0-3) in a Western Athletic Conference game at Provo, Utah.

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College Basketball Notes

Nebraska Coach Danny Nee says the issues raised in the case of football star Lawrence Phillips influenced his decision to suspend Chester Surles. Surles was arrested Jan. 2 on charges of suspicion of third-degree assault for striking his girlfriend. After the arrest, Nee suspended Surles from the team “indefinitely.” Although the forward is still practicing with the Cornhuskers (11-3), Nee said Surles will not play until his court case progresses.