COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Kansas Gets Big Victory Over Sooners

Second-ranked Kansas was simply too big for Oklahoma on Saturday, winning, 93-76, in a Big Eight game at Lawrence, Kan.

“We tried to make (size) the most important part of the game,” Coach Roy Williams said. “We felt that we could get good shots. We have more size. They have good players, but our size is an advantage for us.”

The Jayhawks (18-3, 7-2) had five players in double figures, led by 7-footer Greg Ostertag with 17 points and guard Jerod Haase with 16.

“The biggest problem for a team like ours is I’ve got a 6-4 post guy that’s battling a guy a foot taller than him,” Kelvin Sampson, coach of the Sooners (17-6, 4-4), said.

Kansas’ Jacque Vaughn, the Big Eight assist leader from Pasadena Muir High, suffered a cut on his head with about seven minutes to play in the first half. Vaughn returned for the second half after receiving seven stitches.

No. 4 Massachusetts 94, Southwest Louisiana 63--Donta Bright scored 15 points and Lou Roe had 14 points and 11 rebounds at Lafayette, La. UMass (18-2) pummeled the overmatched Cajuns (5-17) from the start, leading by 20 points or more much of the game.

No. 7 Michigan State 68, Penn State 53--Shawn Respert scored 21 points to lead the Spartans in a Big Ten game at State College, Pa.

Penn State (13-7, 5-6) controlled the pace early, sending Michigan State (17-3, 9-2) into a slow, half-court contest.

But Michigan State got the running game going in the second half, opening with a 15-4 run to take a 43-36 lead.

Penn State center John Amaechi, who didn’t score a field goal until nearly 19 minutes had elapsed, led the Nittany Lions with 19 points.

No. 8 Maryland 80, Florida State 65--The Terrapins, in danger of losing the momentum gained by their victory four days earlier over top-ranked North Carolina, shook off the Seminoles with an 11-0 run in the closing minutes of an Atlantic Coast Conference game at College Park, Md.

Joe Smith and Johnny Rhodes each scored 18 points for Maryland (19-4, 9-2), which led by only two points with 5:20 remaining. Scott Shepherd scored a career-high 17 points for Florida State (11-9, 4-7), all in the first half.

No. 11 Wake Forest 62, Duke 61--Randolph Childress beat the Blue Devils in the late going for the second consecutive season, making a 10-footer with six seconds left in an ACC game at Durham.

Childress, who scored 22 points Saturday, made a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining last season to beat Duke (11-12, 1-10) at home. Wake Forest (15-5, 6-4) won its fifth in a row over Duke.

No. 12 Arkansas 97, Vanderbilt 94--Corliss Williamson, shut down with five points in the second half, scored the first seven in overtime as the Razorbacks won a Southeastern Conference game at Nashville, Tenn.

Arkansas (19-5, 7-4) trailed by as many as 10 points to Vanderbilt (10-10, 4-6) in the second half but tied the score, 88-88, on Clint McDaniel’s three-pointer with 4.4 seconds left.

No. 13 Missouri 81, No. 24 Oklahoma State 79--Julian Winfield led a balanced attack with 13 points and 10 rebounds and the Cowboys’ Bryant Reeves was shut down as the Tigers won the Big Eight game at Columbia, Mo.

The 6-foot-5 Winfield enabled Missouri (18-3, 7-2) to overtake Oklahoma State (16-7, 6-2) and tie Kansas for the conference lead.

Reeves, who had 33 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in an upset of Kansas on Monday, had only seven rebounds and 16 points--many coming with Oklahoma State far behind in the second half--against Missouri. He went 22:50 between baskets and was four for 11 overall.

No. 16. Villanova 81, Seton Hall 67--Eric Eberz scored 19 points and made three three-point shots as the Wildcats won their ninth in a row with a Big East victory at East Rutherford, N.J. Kerry Kittles added 23 points and made two late three-point shots to finish off the Pirates (15-7, 6-6) as Villanova (17-5, 10-2) swept the season series.

No. 17 Virginia 62, Clemson 44--Junior Burrough scored nine of his 13 points during a second-half run in an ACC game at Clemson, S.C. The Cavaliers (15-6, 8-3) took advantage when the Tigers (13-7, 3-7) missed 12 of their final 14 shots.

No. 19 Iowa State 72, Nebraska 69--Fred Hoiberg scored 20 points, including seven of the Cyclones’ 12 points in overtime, as Iowa State ended a four-game losing steak with its Big Eight victory at Ames.

Hoiberg got Iowa State (18-6, 4-5) a 67-67 tie with his second basket of the overtime, on a three-point shot, then fed Julius Michalik under the basket to take the lead for good, 69-67, with 31.6 seconds remaining. Nebraska (16-7, 3-5) led throughout the game.

Auburn 70, No. 21 Mississippi St. 69--Moochie Norris scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and Auburn held off a furious last-minute rally in a Southestern Conference game at Starkville, Miss.

The Tigers (12-8, 5-6) appeared to have the game wrapped up when Ray Donald’s free throw provided a 62-50 lead with 1:30 left. But they had to hit eight of 12 free throws in the final 68 seconds to break the Bulldogs’ (15-5, 7-3) nine-game home winning streak.

No. 23 Alabama 74, Louisiana State 66--Jamal Faulkner and Antonio McDyess combined for 30 points at Baton Rouge, La., enough to overcome 40 by Ronnie Henderson of LSU (11-9, 5-5) in a Southeastern Conference game.

Alabama (17-5, 7-3) turned up the offense in the second half, shooting 57%.

OTHER GAMES

James Scott had five three-point baskets among his 21 points, and St. John’s (10-10, 3-9) ended a nine-game losing streak in the Big East with an 81-71 victory over Boston College (8-12, 2-10) in New York. . . . Patrick Savory scored 22 points and Clayton Johnson had 19 to lead Nevada Las Vegas (9-9) over William & Mary (6-14) at Williamsburg, Va. . . . Keith Van Horn scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead hot-shooting Utah (19-4, 10-3) to a 92-57 WAC victory over Colorado State (14-9, 6-7) at Salt Lake City. The 35-point margin was Utah’s largest ever in a WAC game. . . . Josh Unruh and Jumoke Horton scored 22 points each to lead St. Mary’s (14-8, 8-3) to a 82-52 victory over San Francisco (8-16, 2-8) in a West Coast game at Moraga, Calif. . . . Darnell McCulloch scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Fresno State (10-11, 5-8) to a 66-58 WAC victory against San Diego State (7-13, 2-10) at Fresno. . . . Marzell Clayton and Adam Jacobsen each scored 20 points to lead Pacific (12-8, 7-5) to a 73-70 over UC Santa Barbara (11-9, 6-6) in a Big West game at Stockton. . . . Kiwane Garris scored 27 points, including a key basket in overtime, and Shelly Clark had 25 in leading Illinois (16-7, 7-4) to a 104-97 Big Ten victory over Iowa (14-9, 4-7) at Champaign, Ill. . . . Michael Finley scored 29 points and Rashard Griffith added 22 to lead Wisconsin (11-8, 5-5) to a 70-65 Big Ten victory over Michigan (13-1, 7-4) at Madison, Wis. . . . Terrence Rencher scored 35 points and Roderick Anderson 26, helping Texas (15-5, 6-2) hand Texas A&M; (11-13, 4-5) its first home defeat of the season with a 98-88 Southwest Conference victory at College Station, Tex. . . . Dan Cross scored a game-high 17 points as Florida (12-7, 6-4) defeated South Carolina (7-13, 3-8), 71-56, in a Southeastern Conference game at Gainesville, Fla. . . . Charles Claxton scored 17 points, had 10 rebounds and sat out the final 9:30 as Georgia (14-6, 5-5) overpowered Tennessee (8-12, 2-9), 74-48, in a Southeastern Conference game at Athens, Ga. . . . Erwin Claggett scored a season-high 29 points, 20 in the second half, as St. Louis (16-5, 6-3) defeated Memphis (17-7, 5-2) in a Great Midwest game at St. Louis. . . . Brandon Cole scored 25 points in leading DePaul (13-7, 4-4) to an 88-78 victory over Alabama-Birmingham (11-12, 3-5) in a Great Midwest game at Rosemont, Ill. . . . Fred Edmonds scored a career-high 21 points, helping Colorado (11-9, 2-7) end a six-game losing streak with an 84-68 Big Eight victory over Kansas State (11-11, 2-8) at Boulder, Colo. . . . Damond Edwards had a career-high 29 points and Michael Boyd added 22 as Sacramento State (6-15, 2-1) defeated Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (1-12, 0-4), 75-56, in an American West Conference game at Sacramento.