College Basketball Roundup : Villanova Slows UNLV but Still Loses, 61-49

Defending NCAA champion Villanova managed to slow the potent running game of 16th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas at Anchorage, Alaska, Friday night but still lost, 61-49, in the opening round of the eighth annual Great Alaska Shootout.

UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said his team wasn’t surprised by Villanova’s tactics. “We like to run, but nobody wants to run with us,” he said.

Nevada Las Vegas (3-0) sank eight free throws in the final 1:29 to seal the victory, while Villanova (2-2 after two straight losses) was led by Harold Pressley with 16 points.

In other games, top-ranked North Carolina defeated Missouri, 84-63; Purdue overpowered Alaska Anchorage, 92-70, and Arizona beat Texas San Antonio, 62-49.

Brad Daugherty’s 22 points and 10 rebounds enabled the Tar Heels (3-0) to shake off a sluggish start against Missouri (2-1).

Troy Lewis scored 24 points as Purdue overpowered Alaska Anchorage.

Kansas 83, Louisville 78--At New York, Calvin Thompson scored 25 points, and Ron Kellogg added 20 as No. 5-ranked Kansas beat Louisville, ranked No. 9, to advance to the championship game of the inaugural Big Apple NIT against Duke.

Thompson hit on a short jumper with 3:54 remaining to give Kansas (3-0) a 73-72 lead it never relinquished. Pervis Ellison and Billy Thompson led Louisville (2-1) with 18 points each.

Duke 71, St. John’s 70--Johnny Dawkins hit a jump shot with 21 seconds left as No. 5-ranked Duke withstood a 35-point assault by Walter Berry of St. John’s.

Duke played without injured center Jay Bilas, and Berry was able to capitalize despite frequent triple coverage. Berry, who hit 15 of 21 shots from the field, also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Oregon 78, Rutgers 59--Guards Anthony Taylor and Rick Osborn scored 21 and 17 points, respectively, to lead Oregon to a come-from-behind nonconference victory at Eugene, Ore.

The Ducks, playing their season opener, broke the game open with five minutes left by scoring 14 consecutive points to go ahead, 76-56, after the Scarlet Knights (1-1) had led for most of the game.

Rutgers was led by center Lloyd Moore with 21 points.

Florida 85, Florida State 66--Andrew Moten, a 6-foot junior, scored 28 points, including 19 in the first half, to lead all scorers at Gainesville, Fla., as the Gators improved to 2-0.

Tat Hunter finished with 21 points to lead the Seminoles, who fell to 1-1.

San Francisco 62, St. Thomas (Minn.) 40--At San Francisco, Rodney Pention scored 11 of his 13 points early in the second half as the Dons, still celebrating their return to college basketball, raised their record to 4-0.

Weber State 92, Utah State 85--Walt Tyler scored 21 of his team-high 31 points in the first half at Logan, Utah, as Weber State offset a career-high 34-point performance by Utah State’s Greg Grant.

Arizona St. 86, Illinois Wesleyan 67--Sophomore forward Chris Sandle scored a career-high 24 points at Tempe, Ariz., as five Sun Devils finished in double figures.

Eric Holloway and Arthur Thomas had 14 points each, and Bobby Thompson and Tarre Isiah had 11 apiece in Arizona State’s debut under Coach Steve Patterson.

Miami, Fla. 82, Georgia State 72--Freshman forward Eric Brown scored 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds at Miami to spark the Hurricanes in the first game of the AMI tournament.

Miami, 2-0 so far in its first season since dropping basketball in 1971, held a 30-27 lead at halftime and led by only 32-31 early in the second half. But the young Hurricanes then pulled away behind the play of Brown and fellow freshmen Dennis Burns and Bryan Hughes. Burns scored 17 points, and Hughes had 15 points.

South Florida 66, Vanderbilt 65--At Clemson, S.C., forward Darrell Coleman rebounded a desperation shot by Tommy Tonelli and tapped it home to put South Florida in the final round of the IPTAY tournament against Clemson.

Martin Teal led South Florida (2-1) with 15 points, while Brett Burrow led all scorers with 17 for Vanderbilt (0-1).

Clemson 92, East Tennessee State 67--Horace Grant scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Tigers in the first game of the IPTAY tournament.

Clemson is 2-0 for the season. East Tennessee evened its record at 1-1.

Houston 100, Texas Wesleyan 73--At Houston, center Greg Anderson, hitting 11 of 16 shots, scored 23 points and pulled down 20 rebounds for the Cougars.

Houston’s guard combination of Alvin Franklin and Renaldo Franklin had 17 points each, and Rickie Winslow added 14. Gerry McGee had 12 points coming off the bench for Houston and also contributed a game-high 14 assists.

Louisiana Tech 74, San Diego State 72--At Fresno, guard Charlie Brown hit a 20-foot jump shot with three seconds left to give Louisiana Tech a victory in the opening game of the Sun Met tournament. Louisiana Tech’s Willie Bland led all scorers with 26 points.

Arkansas 76, Southern 75--Sophomore center Andrew Lang sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left, then blocked a shot with three seconds remaining at Pine Bluff, Ark., as the Razorbacks (2-0) held off Southern, which was playing its season opener.

Lang finished with a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. John Staves led Southern with 19 points.

Michigan State 103, Central Michigan 60--At East Lansing, Mich., Vernon Carr scored 22 points, and Scott Skiles added 19 to lead Michigan State in the second game of the Spartan Cutlass tournament.

Minnesota 95, San Francisco State 63--At Minneapolis, Marc Wilson scored 16 points and sparked a second-half surge to lead Minnesota (3-1) to a nonconference victory.

Larry Wickett led all scorers with 21 points for San Francisco State, which fell to 0-3.

New Mexico State 68, South Alabama 67--At Mobile, Ala., Gilbert Wilburn hit a game-high 22 points, including two free throws with six seconds remaining, to lift New Mexico State past South Alabama.