No. 1 Cincinnati Dribbles It Away

First, No. 1 Cincinnati lost its poise. Then went the perfect record and bragging rights. The top ranking is probably not far behind.

Cincinnati point guard Charles Williams dribbled the ball out of bounds with 5.4 seconds left, and Lenny Brown made a floating jumper from the foul line as time ran out, giving crosstown rival Xavier a 71-69 victory Tuesday at Cincinnati.

Cincinnati (1-1) blew a five-point lead in the final 1:28 as Xavier (2-0) took advantage of the last of the Bearcats’ 21 turnovers. Xavier players piled up in front of the Cincinnati bench after Brown’s jumper, his 19th point of the game, went through the net as the buzzer sounded.

Danny Fortson scored 18 points and made a free throw that put the Bearcats ahead, 68-63, with 1:28 left.

The rivalry has been bitter since the early 1990s as the two schools vied for local prominence. It reached its peak three years ago, when Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins refused to shake coach Pete Gillen’s hand after Xavier’s victory.

No. 2 Kansas 85, California 67--The Jayhawks scored the final 17 points to beat the Bears at the Maui Invitational.

The Jayhawks (3-0) led, 68-67, with 4:05 left before Scot Pollard started the game-ending spurt with a dunk. Ed Gray scored 32 points for Cal (1-1).

No. 4 Utah 60, Utah St. 41--Keith Van Horn scored 17 points, and the Utes benefited from poor shooting by the Aggies at Logan.

Michael Doleac added 15 points for Utah (2-0), which shot 51%. Utah State made only 14 of 47 shots. Utah State (1-1) was led by Duane Rogers’ 12 points.

No. 7 Michigan 87, Ball St. 63--Louis Bullock scored a career-high 28 points and Robert Traylor shattered a backboard with a two-handed dunk.

The game, at Ann Arbor, Mich., was delayed 17 minutes in the first half when the 6-foot-8, 300-pound Traylor broke the backboard on a breakaway dunk. Traylor, with his arms raised, then led his Michigan teammates back to the locker room to a thunderous ovation.

No. 9 Iowa St. 87, Alcorn St. 58--Dedric Willoughby scored 27 points and Shawn Bankhead added 20, but it was the Cyclones’ 53-32 rebounding edge that really pleased Coach Tim Floyd at Ames, Iowa.

Tony Rampton led Iowa State with 12 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. He started in place of Kevin Cato, who was suspended for the game for lack of effort in the weight room during the offseason.

No. 11 Arizona 88, Northern Arizona 70--Michael Dickerson matched his career high with 31 points to lead the Wildcats at Tucson, Ariz.

Arizona (2-0) didn’t take control until midway through the second half, when it scored 11 consecutive points for a 63-53 lead. Northern Arizona (0-2) never got closer than six after that.

No. 15 Fresno State 85, Santa Clara 77--Dominick Young scored 15 of his 27 points in the final 4:54, including three three-point baskets at Fresno, Calif.

Young and Chris Herren had five three-point baskets apiece for Fresno State (2-0), which had 14 three-pointers.

Virginia 75, No. 17 Massachusetts 68--Norman Nolan and Courtney Alexander scored 12 points apiece in the first half as the Cavaliers took a 12-point halftime lead in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. Virginia (2-0) will play Kansas in the final tonight.

The Minutemen (1-1) will play California for third place. First-year Massachusetts Coach James Flint did not handle his first loss well, getting ejected with 2:06 to play after his second technical foul.

No. 24 Minnesota 76, West Virginia 61--Eric Harris, often an offensive liability last season, scored a career-high 17 points and Sam Jacobson had 16 to lead the Gophers at Minneapolis.

Harris, a point guard who had 16 points in Saturday’s season opener, made four free throws in the final 4:12 as the Golden Gophers (2-0) closed the game on a 20-6 run against the Mountaineers (0-1).

No. 25 George Washington 77, South Florida 65--Alexander Koul scored 21 points and the Bulls (1-1) scored only two points in the first 10 minutes as the Colonials (3-0) went on to build a 12-2 lead.