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).