COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Arkansas Wakes Up in Time to Avert Upset

Texas Tech’s Bernard Saulsberry was starting to think there was a chance to beat Arkansas, which was a little lethargic coming off a loss to Nevada Las Vegas.

But about midway into the second half of the game at Fayetteville, Ark., the Razorbacks “started playing tough and they wanted to blow us out of the gym,” Saulsberry said. “I think we played a good 33 minutes with the No. 3 team in nation.”

Texas Tech led, 38-37, at halftime behind Saulsberry’s 18 points. But he didn’t score in the second half, and Arkansas went on to an 87-69 Southwest Conference victory.

Arkansas is 24-2 overall and 11-0 in the conference; Texas Tech is 8-17, 4-8.

No. 5 Duke 74, Davidson 39--Thomas Hill scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half as the Blue Devils overcame a slow start for their seventh victory in a row.

Duke (22-4) managed a nine-point lead in a dismal first half for both teams. The Blue Devils shot 28%, Davidson 23% before halftime.

In the second half, Duke improved to 56% and held Davidson (7-17) to 29% as the Blue Devils steadily pulled away.

No. 8 North Carolina 85, Wake Forest 70--Rick Fox scored 21 points and the Tar Heels continued their home-court dominance of Wake Forest, which hasn’t won at Chapel Hill since 1982.

The Atlantic Coast Conference loss ended a four-game winning streak for Wake Forest (14-8, 5-5).

North Carolina (18-4, 7-3) took a 45-35 halftime lead on a three-point play by Hubert Davis and a running jump shot by King Rice at the buzzer.

No. 13 St. John’s 66, Boston College 60--Malik Sealy’s 14 second-half points and Shawnelle Scott’s go-ahead layup with 5:20 left carried the Redmen (17-5, 8-5) past Boston College in a Big East game at Newton, Mass.

Sealy scored his team’s first eight points of the second half and finished with 22. Boston College is 11-13, 1-10.

No. 16 Kentucky 85, Tennessee 74--Senior center Reggie Hanson scored a career-high 28 points as the Wildcats ended a two-game losing streak in a Southeastern Conference game at Lexington, Ky.

Richie Farmer completed a three-point play and Jeff Brassow hit a three-point shot in the opening 1:06 as Kentucky (18-5, 10-3) jumped to a 6-0 lead and didn’t look back. Tennessee is 9-15, 3-10.

No. 17 Nebraska 65, Iowa State 57--Clifford Scales converted a three-point play and Beau Reid made four free throws as the Cornhuskers held off a second-half charge in a Big Eight game at Ames, Iowa.

Nebraska (20-4, 6-3), which beat Iowa State at home last month, broke a six-game losing streak in Hilton Coliseum and swept the Cyclones (9-16, 3-6) for the first time since the 1982-83 season.

No. 19 Virginia 84, Fairfield 52--Fourteen Virginia players scored, led by John Crotty’s 12 points, as the Cavaliers ended a three-game losing streak.

Kenny Turner had 11 points and 11 rebounds and Bryant Stith added 10 points for Virginia (18-7) at Charlottesville, Va.

Fairfield (6-17) lost its school-record 11th consecutive game.

No. 20 LSU 98, Auburn 61--Shaquille O’Neal scored 20 points in limited duty to lead the Tigers to a Southeastern Conference victory over Auburn at Baton Rouge, La.

LSU (16-6, 9-4) is tied with Mississippi State for second in the conference, a game behind Kentucky and Alabama. Auburn is 11-11, 4-9.

No. 21 Oklahoma State 77, Oklahoma 74--Byron Houston had 20 points and 18 rebounds at Stillwater, Okla., as the Cowboys won a Big Eight game.

Oklahoma State (17-5, 6-3) took a 76-71 lead with 44 seconds remaining on two free throws by Corey Williams. Williams had a chance to stretch the lead to seven, but he missed two free throws with 26 seconds left.

Brent Price led Oklahoma (15-9, 4-5) with 17 points.

No. 23 Mississippi State 84, Mississippi 77--Doug Hartsfield scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half of a Southeastern Conference game as the Bulldogs (16-6, 9-4) overcame a 15-point halftime deficit against Ole Miss (7-15, 1-12). REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS EAST

Dan Putney scored a career-high 21 points and Garland Mance scored 20 as St. Bonaventure (5-19) beat Canisius (8-15) at Olean, N.Y. . . . Jean Prioleau scored 24 points and Fordham (20-5, 10-0) remained unbeaten in the first season of the Patriot League with a 79-71 victory over Lafayette (6-18, 0-9) at New York. . . . Donald Hodge sank consecutive jump shots to start a 15-2 run in the first half and Temple (17-6, 11-3) held off a late rally to beat Penn State (15-8, 8-6), 69-59, in the Atlantic 10. MIDWEST

Stephen Howard scored 18 points and David Booth and Curtis Price each had 17 as DePaul (15-7) coasted to a 102-67 victory over Loyola of Chicago (7-15) at Rosemont, Ill. . . . Joe Moore led a balanced offense with 13 points to help Bowling Green (14-8) to a 79-64 victory over Youngstown State (14-8) at Bowling Green, Ohio. SOUTH

Rod Wheeler scored 19 second-half points and Thomas Elliott added 16 as Virginia Tech (9-13, 3-7) avoided the Metro Conference cellar and completed a season sweep of Louisville (8-13, 2-9) with a 72-56 victory. . . . Matt Roe scored a career-high 33 points as Maryland (13-10, 3-7) held off Georgia Tech (13-9, 5-6) at College Park, Md., for a 96-93 Atlantic Coast Conference victory, extending the Yellow Jackets’ losing streak to a season-high three games. . . . Reserve freshman Migjen Bakalli hit two free throws with 1.9 seconds to play and North Carolina State (14-6) rallied to a 90-88 victory over Robert Morris (16-10) at Raleigh, N.C.