COLLEGE BASKETBALL REGIONAL ROUNDUP : Colorado State Gets Help, Surprises Utah

Colorado State nearly faltered in its upset bid against Utah, but the Rams’ fans wouldn’t let up.

Keith Bonds scored 19 points and the Rams upset the No. 17 Utes, 78-69, Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference game at Fort Collins, Colo.

“We stressed playing for 40 minutes tonight and the crowd was fabulous,” Colorado State Coach Stew Merrill said. “Nowhere else in the Western Athletic Conference could any other crowd have helped us as they did tonight.”

The Utes (15-3 overall, 8-1 in the WAC) trailed by 16 points in the first half, but rallied to tie the score, 54-54, with 8:40 left on a basket by Josh Grant.

Joe Vogel answered with a basket for the Rams (13-6, 5-4), who didn’t relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Ryan Yoder sank six free throws in the final minute to finish Utah’s 10-game winning streak.

Colorado State took control early when Bonds hit two three-pointers in a 14-1 run that gave the Rams a 32-16 lead with 8:40 remaining in the half. The Rams had a 40-31 lead at halftime.

Larry Cain scored 19 points for Utah.

WEST

Davon Satterwhite scored 20 points and Fresno State (8-10, 3-6) defeated San Diego State, 72-67, in a WAC game at San Diego. Marcus Banks had 22 points for the Aztecs (5-13, 1-8). . . . Jared Miller scored 21 points and Brigham Young (15-5, 8-1) coasted to a 77-64 WAC victory over Wyoming (10-8, 4-5) at Laramie, Wyo. . . . Steve Logan, who scored 23 points, sank six free throws in the final four minutes and New Mexico (13-4, 6-4) held on for a 65-62 WAC victory over Texas El Paso (12-7, 5-4) at El Paso, Tex. . . . Brooks Barnhard hit a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining to give San Diego (8-9, 3-3) a 63-62 West Coast Conference victory over Santa Clara (9-9, 3-3) at San Diego. . . . Jerry Allen scored at the regulation buzzer to tie the score Matt Houle scored three points in overtime as Portland (8-10, 2-4) defeated Gonzaga, 65-63, in WCC game at Portland. Matt Stanford had 20 points for the Bulldogs (12-6, 4-2).

MIDWEST

Andy Kaufmann scored 22 points as Illinois (12-6, 5-2) defeated Ohio State, 86-76, in a Big 10 Conference game at Columbus, Ohio. Lawrence Funderburke had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes (9-7, 2-5). . . . Michael Finley scored 27 points and Wisconsin (11-5, 4-3) rallied for a 75-68 Big 10 victory over Penn State (6-9, 1-5) at State College, Pa. . . . Erick Strickland scored 28 points including a free throw with 11 seconds left in overtime to give Nebraska (14-6, 2-3) an 88-87 Big Eight Conference victory over Missouri (13-5, 3-1) at Lincoln, Neb. Melvin Booker had 27 points for the Tigers. . . . Bryant Reeves had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead Oklahoma State (11-4, 2-3) to a 94-77 Big Eight victory over Iowa State (12-6, 2-3) at Stillwater, Okla. . . . Vincent Jackson scored 29 points as Kansas State (13-3) scored an 86-63 victory over Temple (9-6) at Manhattan, Kan. Rick Brunson scored 33 points for the Owls. . . . Brian Grant scored 29 points and Xavier (13-3, 4-1) moved into a tie for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference lead with an 81-64 victory over Loyola Chicago (5-11, 1-4) at Chicago. . . . Mark Mitchell scored 28 points and Wisconsin Milwaukee (18-1) won its 14th consecutive game, 78-60, over Chicago State (3-16) at Chicago.

SOUTHWEST

Tony McGinnis had 18 points as Texas A&M; (7-10, 3-2) scored an 80-71 Southwest Conference victory over Baylor (11-5, 3-2) at College Station, Tex. . . . Brent Scott scored 27 points and Rice (11-5, 5-1) defeated Texas, 70-60, in a SWC game at Houston. Michael Richardson had 26 points for the Longhorns (7-8, 1-5). . . . Lance Hughes scored 30 points and Texas Tech (10-6, 2-3) held off Texas Christian (3-13, 0-5) for a SWC victory at Lubbock, Tex.

SOUTH

Anfernee Hardaway scored 29 points and Memphis State (12-7, 2-2) defeated Alabama Birmingham, 69-53, in a Great Midwest Conference game at Birmingham, Ala. Robert Shannon scored 25 points for the Blazers (12-9, 1-4). . . . Melvin Simon had 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, leading New Orleans (15-2, 9-0) to a 79-70 Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama (9-9, 4-5) at New Orleans. . . . Jamie Brandon had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and LSU (14-5, 4-3) held South Carolina (8-9, 4-4) to 18 points in the second half of an 85-62 Southeastern Conference victory at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Allan Houston scored 24 points and Corey Allen had 23 as Tennessee (10-8, 2-5) beat Mississippi in an SEC game, 75-62, at Oxford, Miss. . . . Greg Minor scored six of of 19 points in overtime to lead Louisville (11-5, 6-0) to a 90-88 Metro Conference victory over Virginia Commonwealth (10-6, 1-3) at Richmond, Va. . . . Rodney Odom scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead North Carolina Charlotte (9-7, 3-1) to an 83-65 Metro victory over South Florida (4-11, 0-5) at Charlotte, N.C.

EAST

Jonathan Haynes and James Bryson each scored 18 points Saturday as Villanova (6-9, 2-7) broke a seven-game losing streak by beating Miami, 82-69, in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa. Constantin Popa had 20 points for the Hurricanes (5-11, 3-6). . . . Michael Smith had 14 points and 13 rebounds as Providence (9-7) beat Dartmouth, 78-58, at Providence, R.I. Crawford Palmer had 22 points for the Big Green (7-8). . . . Matt Maloney scored 18 points and Penn (10-4, 3-1) defeated Princeton, 64-46, in an Ivy League game at Philadelphia. . . . Tucker Neale scored 33 points, leading Colgate (10-6, 4-3) to an 84-73 Patriot League victory over Lehigh (2-15, 0-6) at Bethlehem, Pa.