Cal Loses, Stanford Wins in Arizona

The NCAA tournament bids by California and Stanford, which appeared headed in different directions after the Bears beat the Cardinal last Sunday, took another dramatic turn Thursday night.

Cal, which had won four in a row, was upset by Arizona State, 56-53, at Tempe, Ariz., while Stanford, which had lost three of its last four, stunned No. 11 Arizona, 85-79, at Tucson, Ariz.

Cal, 17-9 overall and 11-6 in the Pacific 10 Conference, shot 28.6% in losing for the sixth consecutive time to Arizona State (11-15, 6-11) at Tempe. Freshman forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 15 points for Cal, seven below his season average, and missed eight of 12 shots though Arizona State had no player taller than 6 feet 9.

Guard Dion Cross made all nine of his shots, including seven three-pointers, and had 27 points as Stanford (18-8, 11-6) swept Arizona (23-6, 12-5) for the first time.

TOURNAMENTS

CONFERENCE USA

No. 8 Cincinnati 62, St. Louis 59--Jackson Julson, a reserve forward, grabbed Damon Flint’s missed free throw with 11 seconds left in overtime and was fouled, setting up his two free throws that gave the Bearcats (23-4) the quarterfinal victory over the Billikens (16-13) at Memphis.

Cincinnati forward Danny Fortson, who sat out much of the first half in foul trouble, finished with 14 points, including the final basket of regulation that tied the score, 49-49. Cincinnati plays Louisville (20-10) today.

No. 22 Louisville 98, Tulane 79--The Cardinals (20-10) shot 60% against Conference USA’s top defensive team to give Coach Denny Crum his 20th 20-victory season.

Alvin Sims led the Cardinals with 23 points, making seven of nine shots and all eight of his free throws.

The lopsided loss damages the NCAA tournament chances for Tulane (18-9), which had previously allowed only two opponents to shoot better than 50%.

No. 21 Marquette 65, South Florida 56--The Golden Eagles (21-6) wore down the Bulls (12-16), who were trying to win their second tournament game with a six-man roster. The game was the last as South Florida coach for Bobby Paschal, who announced he was quitting in mid-February.

Marquette plays Memphis (22-6) today.

No. 14 Memphis 92, DePaul 69--Forward Cedric Henderson had 26 points and made 11 of 15 shots to lead the Tigers to their 34th consecutive home-court victory, the second-longest streak in the nation. DePaul (11-18) had 21 turnovers.

ATLANTIC 10

No. 2 Massachusetts 69, St. Bonaventure 56--The Minutemen (29-1) forced 21 turnovers in defeating the Bonnies (10-18) for the 17th consecutive time in the quarterfinals at Philadelphia.

The next opponent for Massachusetts is George Washington (21-6), the only team to beat the Minutemen this season.

Rhode Island 77, No. 15 Virginia Tech 71--Freshman forward Antonio Reynolds had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rams (18-12) to their quarterfinal upset of the Hokies (22-5). Virginia Tech outrebounded Rhode Island, 41-25, but shot only 41%.

Rhode Island plays Temple (18-11) today.

Center Alexander Koul scored 29 points to lead George Washington to an 81-71 victory over St. Joseph’s (15-12). . . . Temple shot a season-high 54.5% and held Xavier of Ohio (13-15) to a season-low point total in a 67-50 victory, its sixth in a row.

ATLANTIC COAST

North Carolina State (15-15) opened the game with a 19-0 run en route to an 80-65 victory over Florida State (13-14) in a first-round game at Greensboro, N.C. The Wolfpack, which plays regular-season champion Georgia Tech (20-10) today, made its first five three-point shots.

NORTH ATLANTIC

Center Malik Rose had 22 points and 19 rebounds as Drexel (26-3) earned its third consecutive NCAA tournament berth with a 76-67 victory over Boston (18-11) in the tournament championship game at Philadelphia. Boston forward Tungi Awojobi had 32 points and made 15 of 17 shots.

SOUTHEASTERN

No. 1 Kentucky (26-1 and a 25-game winning streak) opens conference tournament play today at New Orleans against Florida (12-15), a 75-62 first-round winner over Mississippi (12-15). Guard Greg Williams led Florida with 22 points while leading scorer Dametri Hill, who had missed practices Tuesday and Wednesday because of a bad back, had 18. . . . Derek Caldwell’s steal and pass to Wes Flanagan for a breakaway basket with 20 seconds left proved decisive as Auburn (19-11) was a 68-65 winner over Vanderbilt (17-13). Auburn plays No. 25 Mississippi State (19-7) today. . . . South Carolina (17-10) had four players score in double figures in an 85-76 first-round victory over Louisiana State (12-17). South Carolina plays Arkansas (17-11). today. . . . Center Steve Hamer had career highs of 31 points and 21 rebounds as Tennessee (14-13) was a 77-65 winner over Alabama (16-11). Tennessee plays Georgia (18-8) today.

SOUTHWEST

No. 7 Texas Tech 85, Texas A&M; 57--Center Tony Battie had 13 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Red Raiders (26-1) set a school record for victories and ran the nation’s second-longest winning streak to 19 games in a first-round tournament game at Dallas.

Texas Tech plays Rice (14-13) today. Texas A&M; finished at 11-16.

Jay Poerner made five consecutive free throws in the final 1:37 to give Southern Methodist (8-19 and the SWC’s last-place team during the regular season) a 62-57 victory over Houston (17-10). The Cougars had won 15 of their last 18 games but figure to settle for a National Invitation Tournament bid. SMU advances against Texas (19-8), which was an 86-65 winner over Baylor (9-18). Center Sonny Alvarado had 16 points, 12 rebounds and held Baylor’s leading scorer Brian Skinner (17.7 points a game) without a field goal for the last 18 minutes of the first half as the Texas took a 46-24 lead. . . . Forward Tommy McGhee had 31 points and 11 rebounds as Rice was a 78-67 winner over Texas Christian (15-15), which missed 14 of its first 15 shots.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

No. 10 Utah 76, Hawaii 63--Forward Keith Van Horn had 26 points for the regular-season champion Utes (24-5) in the quarterfinals at Albuquerque, N.M. Utah plays Colorado State (18-10) today.

Guard David Evans scored a tournament-record and career-high 36 points and had seven steals to lead Colorado State (18-10) to a 100-84 victory over Brigham Young (15-13). Forward Delmonte Madison, whose last-second shot beat BYU in the tournament last year, also had a career high with 28 points. . . . Dominick Young and Kendrick Brooks combined to score 42 points and made 10 of 20 three-point shots as Fresno State (20-9) improved its bid for an NCAA tournament berth with a 91-82 victory over Wyoming (15-15). Fresno State Coach Jerry Tarkanian won 20 games or more for the 24th time in 25 years. Wyoming’s LaDrell Whitehead scored 33 points--a tournament record until Evans broke it later in the day--but missed 16 of 26 shots. Fresno State advances against New Mexico (25-4), which was a 94-75 winner over San Diego State (15-14).

College Basketball Notes

Texas El Paso’s forfeit of its Western Athletic Conference tournament victory Wednesday night could have been avoided, Athletic Director John Thompson acknowledged. Texas El Paso’s 77-69 victory over Hawaii was declared a forfeit 45 minutes after the game when school officials disclosed that senior forward Kevin Beal was ineligible. Thompson and school president Diana Natalicio left the tournament in Albuquerque, N.M., early Wednesday to attend a meeting with NCAA officials in Kansas City about the eligibility of about a dozen athletes, including Beal. Thompson, however, said he never notified interim Coach G. Ray Johnson before leaving for the meeting that Beal’s eligibility might be in question and no attempt was made to contact him before the game. . . . The Los Angeles Athletic Club has named 17 candidates for the John Wooden Award. The candidates are Ray Allen of Connecticut, Marcus Camby of Massachusetts, Tony Delk of Kentucky, Tim Duncan of Wake Forest, Brian Evans of Indiana, Danny Fortson of Cincinnati, Allen Iverson of Georgetown, Kerry Kittles of Villanova, Brevin Knight of Stanford, Stephon Marbury of Georgia Tech, Steve Nash of Santa Clara, Charles O’Bannon of UCLA, Shareef Abdur-Rahim of California, Jason Sasser of Texas Tech, Keith Van Horn of Utah, Jacque Vaughn of Kansas and John Wallace of Syracuse.