College Basketball Roundup : Manning Is Man of the Hour in Kansas Victory

Danny Manning has gone from sophomore to sensation in a matter of months.

The 6-foot-11 forward, criticized for being timid early in the season, hit a turnaround jumper with 90 seconds left Sunday to carry second-ranked Kansas to a 73-71 victory over Iowa State in the Big Eight Conference championship game at Kansas City.

“After he took that shot, I just screamed ‘I love this guy,’ ” Kansas’ senior center Greg Dreiling said. “He’s fun as hell to play with.

“He’s so awesome he’s going to have some games people won’t even believe. He’s got incredible knowledge and feel for this game.”

Manning, voted the tournament’s most valuable player, had 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists against the Cyclones (20-10).

In Saturday’s semifinals, Manning sank a pair of free throws give the Jayhawks (31-3) a victory over Oklahoma in the final seconds.

“He has the attitude of all the great players,” teammate Cedric Hunter said. “He just hates to lose. He’s going to rise to the occasion in all these games. When the pressure’s on, he’s the one I want to feed the ball to.”

The game ended in controversy when Iowa State’s Jeff Hornacek stole the ball from Hunter and drove toward the basket. Hornacek passed to center Sam Hill, and whistles blew as Hill put up a shot at the buzzer.

Referee Ron Spitler called a foul against Kansas, but crew chief Woody Mayfield called traveling on Hill before the shot to save the game for Kansas.

“He (Mayfield) made a terrible call two years ago that cost us the Nebraska game,” Iowa State Coach Johnny Orr said. “My players hate him. I don’t like him. We barred him from our games at Iowa State. If the game got close, I knew it would come down to his call. I knew it.”

The controversy marred a brilliant comeback by Iowa State, which trailed by 13 points with 17 minutes left. Jeff Grayer scored 13 points from that point and when Ron Virgil made a jumper with 2:46 left, the Cyclones found themselves trailing, 69-67.

The Cyclones then had a chance to tie, but Hornacek missed a 20-footer with 2:08 left and it was rebounded by Manning, who was fouled by Virgil and made both free throws. After Grayer scored a basket 16 seconds later, Manning hit his jumper for the eventual winning points.

Kansas won its 12th straight game and avenged its last loss, a 77-74 defeat to Iowa State on Jan. 28.

Grayer had 25 points for Iowa State.

Louisville 88, Memphis State 79--Milt Wagner scored 31 points and freshman center Pervis Ellison added 21 points and 13 rebounds as the No. 11 Cardinals beat the 10th-ranked Tigers in the championship game of the Metro Conference tournament at Louisville, Ky.

The Cardinals (26-7), Metro regular-season champions, took control with a 15-2 burst for a 55-37 lead with 15:55 left.

Memphis State (27-5), playing its third game in three days as Louisville drew a bye in the first round, could get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.

William Bedford, Memphis State’s 7-foot center, had 19 points, while Andre Turner had 16 and Baskerville Holmes added 15.

Ellison was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Texas Tech 67, Texas A&M; 63--Tony Benford scored 21 points and Dewayne Chism added 15 to carry the underdog Red Raiders past the Aggies in the Southwest Conference championship game at Dallas.

The defending champion Red Raiders (17-13), who finished fifth during the regular season, cut short a rally by A&M; (20-11) on two dunks and two free throws by Chism in the final minutes.

Tech freshman Sean Gay hit three free throws in the final minute and Ray Irvin put it out of reach on two free throws with 10 seconds remaining.

Aggie Don Marbury had 16 points.

North Carolina A&T; 53, Howard 52--The Aggies ran off 13 straight points in the final minutes to overtake the Bison at Philadelphia and win their fifth straight Middle Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

Rob McIlvaine’s three-point play gave Howard (19-10) a 48-39 lead with 2:34 left, but the Bison didn’t score again until two baskets in the final seconds.

North Carolina A&T; (22-7), which has won 15 straight games, surged into a 53-48 lead, getting its winning points on two free throws by Tom Griffis in the final 23 seconds.

Arizona State 70, Arizona 63--Arthur Thomas scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half while Steve Beck added 13 of his 15 points after halftime as the Sun Devils knocked off the Pacific 10 champion Wildcats at Tempe, Ariz.

The victory saved the Sun Devils (14-14, 8-10) from a third straight losing season.

Arizona (23-8, 14-4) clinched its first-ever conference crown Saturday when second-place Washington lost to California, and heads into the NCAA Tournament with its best record in 10 years.

However, the loss snapped the Wildcats’ seven-game winning streak and was their first loss to Arizona State in the last six meetings.

Craig McMillan finished with 16 points while John Edgar had 13 for Arizona. Tarre Isiah added 18 for the Sun Devils.

Wisconsin 70, Northwestern 68--Rick Olson scored 26 points and the Badgers, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the Badgers got past the Wildcats at Madison, Wis, to escape the Big Ten cellar.

Northwestern (8-20, 2-16) tied the score, 66-66, with 1:10 remaining. Olson, who finished nine points behind Claude Gregory on the Badgers’ all-time scoring list, hit a jumper with 53 seconds left to put the Badgers (12-16, 4-14) in front for good and J.J. Weber added two free throws.

Mississippi Valley 75, Prairie View 58--George Ivory scored 26 points and the Delta Devils ended the Panthers’ impossible dream of making the NCAA tournament in the championship game of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament at Jackson, Miss.

Prairie View (5-25), which finished in last place in the SWAC but pulled off two upsets in the tournament, was never in the game with Valley (20-10).