California Hurts Stanford’s Plans, 85-69

Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 31 points and Ed Gray had 27 as California boosted its hopes for an at-large NCAA tournament berth by damaging No. 25 Stanford’s, downing the Cardinal, 85-69, Sunday at Berkeley.

Tony Gonzalez added 11 points for California, 17-8 overall and 11-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference. The Bears won their fourth in a row and finished unbeaten in seven games at Harmon Gym.

Andy Poppink’s 19 points led Stanford (17-8, 10-6), which was hurt by sloppy play, committing 17 turnovers, six of them by normally sure-handed Brevin Knight.

No. 11 Arizona 67, Washington 65--Corey Williams sank a 12-footer with 21 seconds left in a Pac-10 game at Seattle. Miles Simon paced Arizona (23-5, 12-4) with 24 points.

The loss probably cost Washington (15-10, 8-8) any chance of making the NCAA tournament.

No. 18 Georgia Tech 87, Clemson 74--Matt Harpring scored 24 points and Stephon Marbury 18 at Atlanta as the Yellow Jackets won their first outright regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference title.

In winning its seventh consecutive game, Georgia Tech (20-10, 13-3) received the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which begins Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.

Clemson dropped to 17-9, 7-9.

No. 19 North Carolina 84, Duke 78--Jeff McInnis and Shammond Williams ran a two-man attack that repelled a Duke rally at Durham, N.C.

What was turning into an easy ACC victory for North Carolina (20-9, 10-6) became another bizarre chapter in the series between the two rivals.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled his starters with less than a minute to go and the Tar Heels in control, 80-67. The reserves, whose primary mission was to foul and send North Carolina to the free throw line, staged their own rally, drawing Duke to 81-76, but North Carolina held on.

To make matters worse for Duke (18-11, 8-8), Chris Collins suffered an apparent right foot injury midway through the second half. Krzyzewski said for now, Collins is questionable for the ACC tournament.

OTHER GAMES

Scoonie Penn made a running, off-balance 12-footer as time expired at Newton, Mass., to help Boston College (17-9, 10-8) overcome a six-point deficit in the closing 1:58 to post a 73-72 Big East victory over Rutgers (9-17, 6-12). . . . Junior guard Kiwane Garris scored 21 points at Champaign, Ill., to lead Illinois (18-10, 7-9) to a 73-62 Big Ten victory over Michigan (18-11, 8-8). . . . Chianti Roberts followed a missed free throw with a layup with 8.1 seconds to go as Oklahoma State (17-9, 7-7) rallied from a 13-point deficit for a 51-49 Big Eight victory over Missouri (16-13, 6-8) at Columbia, Mo.

TOURNAMENTS

Colonial Athletic--North Carolina Wilmington (13-15) shut down Old Dominion’s inside game and took a 59-39 upset victory over the Monarchs (18-13) in a semifinal game at Richmond, Va. In the other semifinal, Ben Peabody and Ivan Chappell combined for a run of timely steals and scores as Virginia Commonwealth (23-8, 16-2) rallied for a 75-60 victory over East Carolina (17-11, 9-9).

Metro Atlantic Athletic--Kevin Thompson scored three three-point baskets to rally Canisius (18-10) and Ryan Collins scored the Golden Griffins’ final seven points in the closing minutes as they pulled out a 63-62 victory over top-seeded Iona (21-7) to advance to today’s final in Albany, N.Y. Fairfield (20-8) took advantage of cold-shooting Niagara (13-15), built an early lead and coasted to a 70-47 victory.

Mid-Continent--Top-seeded defending champion Valparaiso (19-10) reached the semifinals with a 118-83 victory over Chicago State (2-25) at Moline, Ill.

Midwestern Collegiate--Iyapo Montgomery made three three-point baskets in a closing 16-2 run at Dayton, Ohio, that gave Detroit (18-10) a 56-50 upset of No. 22 Wisconsin Green Bay in the semifinals. Wisconsin Green Bay (25-3), which upset California in the 1994 NCAA tournament and lost by a point to Purdue in last year’s tournament, now has to hope for an at-large bid to make the NCAA field of 64.

T.J. Lux scored 12 of his 19 points in the first half as Northern Illinois (19-9) pulled away to a 95-60 victory over Illinois Chicago (10-18) in the other semifinal.

Missouri Valley--Deon Jackson made a turnaround three-point basket at the buzzer to lift top-seeded Bradley (22-6) to a 64-62 victory over Southwest Missouri State (16-12) in the semifinals at St. Louis. In tonight’s championship game, Bradley will meet Tulsa (21-7), a 69-52 winner over Illinois State (20-11).

North Atlantic--Jeff Myers made 11 of his tournament-record 15 free throws in the final 2:58 at Newark, Del., leading Drexel (25-3) past Towson State (16-12), 84-74, in the semifinals.

Patriot--Adonal Foyle scored 22 points and had 11 rebounds to lead Colgate to a 67-61 victory over Bucknell (17-11) in a semifinal at Worcester, Mass. In Wednesday’s final, Colgate (14-4) will play host to Holy Cross (16-12), a 68-65 winner over Army (7-20) in the other semifinal.

Sun Belt Conference--Tyrone Garris made a three-point shot in the second overtime to boost conference co-champion New Orleans (20-8) to a 75-71 victory over Southwestern Louisiana (16-12) in the semifinals at Little Rock, Ark. Arkansas Little Rock (23-5) reached Tuesday’s final with a 67-60 victory over Jacksonville (15-13).

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They’re In

Schools that have received automatic bids to the NCAA basketball tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of Big Ten, Ivy League and Pacific 10 conferences, which do not conduct postseason tournaments. The American West and Conference USA do not receive automatic bids.

Automatic Qualifier: Austin Peay

Conference: Ohio Valley

*

Automatic Qualifier: Central Florida

Conference: Trans America Athletic

*

Automatic Qualifier: N.C. Greensboro

Conference: Big South

*

Automatic Qualifier: Purdue

Conference: Big Ten

*

Automatic Qualifier: South Carolina St.

Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic

*

Automatic Qualifier: Western Carolina

Conference: Southern