Free Throws Lead Wright State Upset

Michigan State came to Wright State to showcase the four Ohio natives on its roster before family and friends.

It wasn’t much of a homecoming.

Wright State made eight consecutive free throws over the final 3:15 as the Raiders stunned the eighth-ranked Spartans, 53-49, Thursday night at Dayton, Ohio.

“We were totally outplayed from start to finish,” Spartan Coach Tom Izzo said. “There is no question the better team won tonight.”

The better team in this case was a 3-8 squad that has had losing records the last three seasons and didn’t move up to Division I until 1987.

“They could have given in to disappointment, they could have listened to the people when we were 3-8 or 2-8 or whatever,” Wright State Coach Ed Schilling said. “But they kept the faith.”

A.J. Granger of Michigan State (9-4) had 17 points in a return to his home state, but leading scorer Morris Peterson struggled all night and ended up with five points, making only two of 15 attempts.

Mike Chappell added 10 points for the Spartans, who were again without All-America guard Mateen Cleaves who has been sidelined all season because of a stress fracture in his foot.

No. 1 Stanford 87, Davidson 61--Ryan Mendez scored 18 points and Casey Jacobsen had 15 as the top-ranked Cardinal remained unbeaten by defeating the Wildcats in the championship of the Stanford Invitational.

Mark Madsen, playing in his second game since returning from a strained right hamstring that sidelined him for seven weeks, added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Cardinal (11-0). David Moseley also scored 13 points for Stanford.

Brian Turner and Jason Dickens had 10 points each for Davidson (4-5).

No. 2 Connecticut 82, Houston 76--Khalid El-Amin scored 27 points and the Huskies escaped with a victory over the Cougars after nearly blowing what looked to be a safe lead at Houston.

Connecticut (9-1) was ahead 78-50 with 6:11 left and cruising toward a ninth straight victory when Houston (6-6), ignited by a previously cold Gee Gervin, went on a 26-4 run that was stopped only by the final buzzer.

Kenny Younger had 24 points for Houston and Gervin finished with 19, 17 in the second half.

No. 3 Cincinnati 78, Boise State 46--Pete Mickeal scored 23 points and DerMarr Johnson had 14 as the Bearcats (11-1) destroyed the Broncos (5-4) at Boise, Idaho, the Broncos’ first loss in five home games this season.

The loudest cheers of the night actually came at halftime when Boise State football Coach Dirk Koetter showed off the trophy his team won at Humanitarian Bowl earlier in the day against Louisville.

No. 4 Auburn 56, Southern Mississippi 50--Chris Porter scored 13 points to lead the Tigers (11-1) past the pesky Eagles (9-2) at Auburn, Ala., for their ninth consecutive victory.

The Tigers’ last loss was to Stanford on Nov. 27. Auburn shot only 39% for the game but outrebounded Southern Mississippi, 40-29.

No. 5 Arizona 89, Delaware 77--Loren Woods scored a career-high 23 points as the Wildcats (11-2) defeated the feisty Blue Hens (9-2), who had a five-game winning streak, to win the Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic at Tucson.

Woods, a transfer from Wake Forest who sat out last season, also had 11 rebounds and blocked four shots.

No. 6 Florida 82, South Alabama 61--Mike Miller scored 13 points and triggered a 23-0 run early in the second half as the Gators (11-1) pulled away from the Jaguars (4-6) at Gainesville, Fla.

Florida won its ninth consecutive game and is one victory from tying the program’s longest winning streak. The Gators will get their chance when they open Southeastern Conference play on Wednesday at Vanderbilt.

No. 10 Kansas 71, Saint Louis 60--Freshmen Nick Collison and Drew Gooden each had 15 points to lead the Jayhawks (10-2) to a victory over the Billikens (7-4) at St. Louis, the Jayhawks’ 12th consecutive victory in Kemper Arena.

Louisiana State 63, No. 11 Oklahoma State 53--Lamont Roland scored 22 points for the Tigers (12-0), including nine of his team’s final 12 in the game, and the Tigers defeated the Cowboys (10-1) in a matchup of undefeated teams in the Sugar Bowl Classic at New Orleans.

No. 14 Maryland 82, Maryland Baltimore County 52--Terence Morris scored 17 points and the Terrapins (10-2) extended their nonconference home winning streak to 71 games with a victory over the Retrievers (4-5) at College Park, Md.

Villanova 70, No. 19 Wake Forest 57--Malik Allen had 18 points and seven rebounds and the Wildcats (6-3) used a 14-2 run in the first half and 16-5 run in the second to upset the Demon Deacons (9-3) in the fifth-place game of the Rainbow Classic at Honolulu.

No. 20 Illinois 107, Loyola of Chicago 71--Marcus Griffin scored 24 points and Cleotis Brown added 19 as the Illini (8-3) defeated the Ramblers (8-3) at Champaign, Ill.

No. 21 Utah 71, Wisconsin Milwaukee 57--Hanno Mottola scored 23 points and Alex Jensen had 18 as the Utes (10-2) won their eighth in a row and 44th consecutive home game with a victory over the Panthers (6-5) at Salt Lake City.

No. 22 Oklahoma 64, Arkansas State 51--Eduardo Najera scored a game-high 29 points to lead the Sooners (11-1) past the Indians (3-7) in the championship of the All-College tournament at Oklahoma City.

No. 24 DePaul 80, Elon 56--Paul McPherson scored 13 points to lead five players in double figures as the Blue Demons (10-3) defeated the Fightin’ Christians (4-7) at Chicago.

No. 25 Tulsa 113, North Texas 77--Six players scored in double figures for the Golden Hurricane (13-1), led by David Shelton’s 19, to stretch their winning streak to six games with a victory over the Eagles (2-7) at Denton, Texas.