Happy Homecoming for Fresno’s Herren

Chris Herren came home Tuesday night.

Herren scored 25 points for No. 16 Fresno State, which became the first nonconference team to win in Mullins Center by beating Massachusetts, 102-81, in Amherst.

The building opened for the 1992-93 season.

The Bulldogs (6-1) are also the first team to score 100 points against UMass since Feb. 24, 1991--a span of 184 games--and the chief problem for the Minutemen was Herren, a native of Fall River, in eastern Massachusetts, who attended Boston College but injured his wrist and played in only one game there.

He made nine of 14 shots, a far cry from his three-for-10 effort against Oregon on Saturday in the Bulldogs’ first loss.

“I’m just really happy we won, and I was able to play well after not playing well against Oregon and really not playing at all for the last two years,” said Herren, who said he needed 20 tickets for the game.

The Minutemen (2-4) trailed, 52-42, at halftime and were able to get within nine points only three times over the final nine minutes.

“They let us back in three or four times, but we didn’t come up with a stop when we needed to,” UMass Coach Bruiser Flint said. “But you know what? Some of our guys didn’t come to play right from the opening tip. It was almost embarrassing.”

Flint promised there would be changes.

“I’m going to find out which dudes want to play, believe me,” he said. “If we’re going to lose, we’re going to do it with an honest effort and with guys who want to play.”

No. 4 Villanova 89, Pennsylvania 62--Freshman Tim Thomas missed a free throw for the first time in 28 collegiate attempts, but he also scored 11 points in a 20-6 Villanova run that closed out the first half and the Quakers in Philadelphia.

Thomas finished with 15 points for the Wildcats (6-0), who started the second half with a 17-7 run against outmanned Penn (2-1), which played three freshmen at times.

No. 12 Indiana 74, DePaul 57--Andrae Patterson scored 19 points, eight in an 18-0 run by the Hoosiers (7-1) in the first half that overcame an 8-2 deficit and established control of the game in Chicago.

DePaul (1-4) went 11 minutes 27 seconds without a basket during the Indiana run, missing 16 shots in a row.

No. 19 Xavier 94, Long Island 86--Darnell Williams and T.J. Johnson scored six points apiece in a 15-0 run by the Musketeers (6-0) that opened the game in Cincinnati, beating LIU (1-3) and giving Xavier its best start in four seasons.

Johnson led the Musketeers with 19 points.

No. 20 Arkansas 137, Troy St. 70--Pat Bradley made eight of 11 three-point shots in scoring 27 points, and the Razorbacks (4-1) tied a Southeastern Conference record with 21 three-point baskets in a rout of Troy State (3-4) in Fayetteville, Ark.

OTHER GAMES

Victor Page had 23 points and Georgetown (6-1) made 19 steals and used a 22-1 run in overpowering 0-6 Delaware State, 87-51, at Landover, Md. . . . Freshman Shaheen Holloway scored 19 of his 26 points in the first half in East Rutherford, N.J., where Seton Hall (3-2) won its third game in a row, 65-54, over St. Peter’s (2-5). . . . Greg Stolt scored 33 points for Florida (5-3) in an 85-53 victory over South Florida (3-2) in a game in Gainesville in which South Florida dressed only eight players and finished with five after two fouled out and one was thrown out for fighting. . . . Andre Woolridge scored 31 points and Iowa (6-2) won its fifth game in a row, 72-63, over Northern Iowa (2-2) in Iowa City. . . . Forward Todd Burgan, who said he would appeal a seven-game suspension for allegedly injuring a female student, scored 14 points to lead Syracuse (4-3) to a 79-45 victory over Buffalo (3-3) in Orchard Park, N.Y.

College Notes

The NCAA has put Montana State on probation for two years for improperly recruiting Greg Taylor from a junior college in Alabama in 1993. Punishment included the Bobcats losing a scholarship in 1997-98 and forfeiting 15 of the team’s 16 victories during the 1993-94 season.