Cold Ducks Pop Corks on Huskies

Oregon didn’t score a point in the final four minutes, but held on to beat Washington, 55-52, in a Pacific 10 Conference game Thursday night at Seattle.

Bryant Boston and Mark Sanford of the Huskies missed three-point shots in the final three seconds.

The Ducks, 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the Pac-10, took a 55-46 lead with 4:09 left on Rob Ramaker’s layup. Then they had to hold on.

Washington (13-6, 6-4) scored the game’s final six points but couldn’t catch Oregon on a cold-shooting night for both teams. The Ducks shot 38% and the Huskies 35%.

Washington’s second home loss of the season dealt its aspirations for an NCAA tournament berth a tough blow.

Sanford had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Leading Oregon with 13 points each were Kyle Milling and Terik Brown.

No. 10 Penn State 61, Illinois 58--Matt Gaudio scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half and made two free throws with 10 seconds left as the Nittany Lions (17-2, 8-2) gained a share of the Big Ten lead with Purdue.

When Penn State’s usually accurate three-point shooting failed (6 for 22), the Nittany Lions repeatedly worked the ball inside to Gaudio. His layup with 1:40 left put Penn State up by four.

Kiwane Garris led Illinois (14-8, 3-7) with 20 points, but missed a three-point shot that could have tied the game as time expired.

No. 15 Memphis 68, North Carolina Charlotte 55--Mingo Johnson scored 20 points and the Tigers used a 17-0 run near the end of the first half to establish control of the Conference USA game at Memphis.

Memphis (17-4, 8-2) was coming off its worst defeat of the season, a 74-56 loss at Louisville last weekend.

North Carolina Charlotte (11-10, 4-4) held Memphis’ leading scorer, Lorenzen Wright, to seven points.

Tulane 68, No. 20 Louisville 65--Jerald Honeycutt set up Correy Childs and Chris Cameron for late dunks and accounted for the Green Wave’s final points with two free throws with 18 seconds left in the Conference USA game at Louisville, Ky.

Louisville (16-7, 7-2) had a chance to send the game into overtime, but DeJuan Wheat missed three-point shots from the top of the key and left wing as time ran out.

Honeycutt’s alley-oop pass to Childs gave Tulane (13-6, 5-3) the lead for good at 64-62 with 2:47 left.

OTHER GAMES

Washington State (10-8, 3-7) won its first Pacific 10 home game, beating Oregon State, 61-42, at Pullman, Wash. The The Beavers (3-16, 1-9) managed only 15 first-half points and shot 30%. . . . Kendric Brooks scored 25 points and visiting Fresno State (15-7, 9-3) overcame a 17-point second-half deficit in a 99-89 victory over San Diego State (12-8, 6-5). . . . Olivier Saint-Jean stole the ball and then sank a 32-foot jumper at the buzzer to give San Jose State (4-8, 5-15) a 68-65 Big West victory over Utah State (12-11, 6-5) at San Jose. . . . Enoch Davis made two free throws with 20 seconds remaining to give visiting New Mexico State (8-12, 5-7) a 60-59 Big West victory over UC Santa Barbara.