Wolfpack’s Stay In Rankings May Be Short One

It looks as if North Carolina State’s first stay in the national rankings in nearly 10 years won’t be a long one.

After trailing throughout the first half, Tulane found a hot shooter in Dylan Osean, who made four three-point shots en route to a career-high 22 points as the Green Wave surged to a 73-62 victory over the 25th-ranked Wolfpack at New Orleans.

As the first half wound down, it looked as if the Green Wave (8-1), whose only loss this season was to No. 17 Maryland, would stumble for the second time.

But Osean made two three-point baskets in a 9-2 run that pulled Tulane within 36-32 at halftime. He made another three-point shot early in the second half to spark a 10-0 run that gave Tulane a 44-40 lead it would not relinquish.

“The team did a good job getting me the ball where I can score,” Osean said. “I had some good shots. I just pump-faked and took them.”

North Carolina State (7-1), which was last ranked in January 1990, controlled much of the first half in building a 34-23 lead at one point. But Ron Kelley and Kenny Inge, who combined for 20 points at halftime, failed to record a field goal in the second half and combined for only four, all by Inge.

No. 4 Cincinnati 72, No. 21 Oklahoma 57--Kenyon Martin, slowed by foul trouble in the first half, finished with 23 points as the Bearcats rebounded from their first loss of the season to win at Norman, Okla.

After a sluggish first half cost them in a 66-64 loss to Xavier on Saturday night, the Bearcats (9-1) led by 10 at halftime and had no trouble handing Oklahoma (9-1) its first loss.

Martin played only six minutes in the first half and scored six points, then dominated at both ends throughout the final 20 minutes. He wound up 11 for 13 from the field, with nine rebounds and three blocks.

Kenny Satterfield had 16 points. Pete Mickeal, arguably Cincinnati’s second-best player, didn’t score until there was 5:30 left in the game and finished with only four points, but it didn’t matter.

No. 9 Syracuse 68, La Salle 52--Ryan Blackwell had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Jason Hart added 19 points as the Orangemen defeated the Explorers at Syracuse, N.Y. The Orangemen (8-0), who have yet to play a road game this season, never trailed against La Salle (9-2).

La Salle was without guard Donnie Carr, who leads the team in scoring with 20.3 points per game, and center Garrett Bragg. Carr had pneumonia and Bragg was out with a broken foot

No. 11 Tennessee 87, S. Illinois 74--Vincent Yarbrough and Tony Harris each had 21 points as the Volunteers defeated the Salukis (4-5) in the semifinals of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic at Bayamon. The Volunteers (11-0), who are off to the third best start in school history, will play Tulsa in tonight’s championship game.

The Salukis gave Tennessee a much tougher game than was expected and were still within seven points with less than a minute to play.

No. 12 Kansas 82, Princeton 67--Nick Bradford scored a season-high 17 points and Ashante Johnson added a career-high 16 as the Jayhawks (9-2) defeated the Tigers (6-5) at Lawrence, Kan. Kansas outrebounded the Tigers, 24-5, in the first half and finished the game with a 41-18 advantage to end Princeton’s five-game winning streak.

Eric Chenowith had 10 rebounds, and Johnson and Nick Collison each had eight for the Jayhawks., who shot a season low 35.2% in an 84-70 loss to Illinois on Saturday. Kansas shot 48% against Princeton.

No. 16 Ohio State 64, Toledo 61--Scoonie Penn made four free throws in the final two minutes and sealed the victory with a late steal as the Buckeyes came back to defeat the Rockets at Columbus, Ohio. With the Buckeyes (6-2) leading 62-61 with 18.8 seconds left, Penn made two free throws, then intercepted a pass with 3.2 seconds left to finish the Rockets (6-5).

No. 19 Temple 66, Penn State 51--Kevin Lyde scored 14 points and had 13 rebounds, and Lynn Greer added 12 points as the Owls defeated the poor-shooting Nittany Lions at Philadelphia. The Owls (5-2) shot only 39%, but the Nittany Lions (7-2) were worse, shooting only 35%.

Lyde paced the Owls with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Lynn Greer added 12 points. Jarrett Stephens led Penn State with 14 points.

Oregon 91, Northern Arizona 54--Alex Scales scored 15 points and A.D. Smith added 13 as the Ducks (6-1) routed the Lumberjacks (4-5) at Eugene, Ore.

San Diego State 60, UC Santa Barbara 57--Myron Epps scored 20 points and led a second-half comeback as the Aztecs (3-5) turned a 39-25 deficit with 13 minutes to play into a victory over the Gauchos (2-6) at San Diego.

Fresno State 105, Cornell 86--Courtney Alexander scored 32 points to lead the Bulldogs (9-5) past Cornell (4-5) in the Trend Homes Classic title game at Fresno.

WOMEN

No. 7 Texas Tech 63, Texas Christian 57--Aleah Johnson scored 17 points to help the Lady Raiders overcome a poor-shooting second half in winning at Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Tech (10-0) improved on its best start in school history despite shooting only 29% in the second half, thanks to 28% shooting in the half by the Lady Frogs (7-5).

No. 8 Auburn 79, Charleston Southern 31--The Tigers scored the first nine points of the game at Auburn, Ala., en route to their fifth consecutive victory. Tiffany Krantz led Auburn (10-1) with 16 points as 13 Tigers scored.

No. 13 LSU 63, Wake Forest 52--Marie Ferdinand scored 23 points and DeTrina White had 13 rebounds to lead the Tigers (9-1) past the Demon Deacons (3-6) at Baton Rouge, La.

No. 19 Oregon 86, DePaul 82--Shaquala Williams tied her career high with 31 points as the Ducks (8-2) survived a late scare from the Blue Demons (5-4) at Chicago. The Ducks led 65-41 with 12 minutes left, but DePaul (5-4) cut the lead to 83-78 with 28 seconds remaining. Oregon made enough free throws to hold on.