No. 1 Kansas Hangs On at Oklahoma

Top-ranked Kansas had to hang on for dear life to beat Oklahoma on Monday night. Nothing less than what Jayhawk Coach Roy Williams had expected.

After seemingly taking control with a big first-half run, the Jayhawks survived to win, 70-68, only after Oklahoma missed three shots in the closing seconds.

“If you had told me before the game that we would win just like that . . . I’d have been the happiest soldier in the army because I thought it would be that kind of game,” Williams said.

The Jayhawks, 28-1 overall and 14-1 in the Big 12, had sewn up the conference’s North Division title Saturday with an emotional, senior-day victory over Kansas State, but they had lost two in a row in Norman, and were playing in front of the largest crowd in Oklahoma history.

Jacque Vaughn scored five points in a 7-0 run that gave Kansas a 61-52 lead with 3:43 left. But the Jayhawks gave Oklahoma (16-9, 8-7) life by missing five of 10 free throws over the final 1:26.

After Vaughn made just one of two free throws with 16 seconds remaining, Oklahoma had three close-in shots in heavy traffic to tie. But Nate Erdmann missed twice and Eduardo Najera once.

No. 4 Utah 75, Rice 66--The Owls (6-8, 12-12) pulled within two points of the Utes (13-1, 21-3) with 8:58 left in the Western Athletic Conference game at Houston but that was as close as they could get. Utah forward Keith Van Horn had 20 points.

No. 19 Colorado 65, Wofford 58--Chauncey Billups scored 15 points and the Buffaloes reached the 20-victory plateau for the first time since 1968-69 with the victory at Boulder, Colo.

Wofford (7-19) took a 13-6 lead with 13:17 left in the first half. The Buffaloes then scored 12 of the next 13 points, taking the lead for good at 16-14 on a three-point play by Ronnie DeGray.

The Buffaloes (20-7), who are 12-1 at home this season, had to battle back from a seven-point deficit early in the game.

No. 25 Stanford 97, San Diego State 50--Kris Weems and Ryan Mendez each scored 14 points and as the Cardinal overwhelmed the Aztecs at Stanford.

David Moseley had 13 points, Mark Madsen 12 and Tim Young 10 along with nine rebounds as Stanford (17-7) rebounded from last Saturday’s 75-61 loss at Washington with its second-biggest victory this season.

Chad Nelson’s 17 points led San Diego State (12-13), which is winless in three meetings against Stanford.

OTHER GAMES

Otis Hill scored 23 points and Jason Cipolla had 21 as Syracuse (18-10, 9-8 Big East) defeated Providence, 91-82, in overtime at Providence, R.I. Providence (19-9, 10-7) erased a nine-point deficit in the final 6 1/2 minutes and tie the game, 73-73, at the end of regulation. . . . Marc Jackson scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds as Temple (17-8, 10-5) ended its home season with a 69-53 victory over Fordham (6-18, 1-13) in an Atlantic 10 conference game at Philadelphia. It was Temple’s final game at McGonigle Hall. Next season, Temple will play in the Apollo, a new 10,200-seat facility. . . . Danny Moore scored 22 points to lead Southwest Missouri State (22-7, 12-6) to an 88-81 victory over Southern Illinois (13-16, 6-12) in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Carbondale, Ill. . . . Damon Frierson scored 24 points, leading Miami of Ohio (16-8, 11-5) to an 86-77 victory over Eastern Michigan (18-9, 9-7) at Oxford, Ill.

College Basketball Notes

The University of Arkansas froze the salaries of Athletic Director Frank Broyles and Coach Nolan Richardson after admitting four violations of NCAA rules. The school also said it would forfeit a basketball scholarship this year and next, and deny scholarships to junior-college transfers for two years. The admitted violations include improper typing assistance by Kim Wood, daughter of Arkansas Chancellor Dan Ferritor, and the separate allegation that she lied to NCAA investigators. The school also admitted “the inadvertent and technical administrative miscertification” of junior college transfers Jesse Pate and Sunday Adebayo. Arkansas also admitted that Brad Dunn, one of Richardson’s assistants whose salary was frozen, improperly transported a friend of a student-athlete about two miles. The response will be presented to the NCAA Infractions Committee and the school asked that its case be heard April 18.

USC forward Anthony White will likely miss Thursday’s game against Oregon because of a knee injury. . . . Louisiana State center Bob Hall was dismissed from the team for the rest of the season because he did not fulfill the academic requirements, Coach Dale Brown said.