ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603120023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
Ray Allen and Doron Sheffer led a torrid second half shooting show that carried No. 3 Connecticut to an 85-67 victory over No.13 Syracuse in the semifinals of the Big East Conference basketball tournament Friday night in New York.
Allen, the conference player of the year, rebounded from a 4-for-17 game the previous day to score 29 points and tied a tournament record with seven steals. Sheffer had 22 points, 14 in the second half as the Huskies pulled away from the Orangemen (24-8).
Allen missed his first two shots, then got hot and finished the first half with 19 points. Still, UConn trailed 39-37 at intermission.
The score was tied at 55 with 13:09 to go when the Huskies (29-2) began disrupting Syracuse with a fierce trapping defense that pressured every shot and forced turnover after turnover. Allen was in the middle of many of the stops.
After Rudy Johnson scored a 3-pointer and another basket for a five-point Connecticut lead, Jason Cipolla responded with a three-point play for Syracuse, making it 60-58. It was the last basket for the Orangemen until the final seconds, when the game was long gone.
In other games:
No.1 Kentucky 100, Florida 76: In New Orleans, Antoine Walker scored 21 points as the top-ranked Wildcats won their 26th straight game over the Gators in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Kentucky (27-1) matched the longest winning streak of the season in college basketball. Massachusetts, the only team to beat the Wildcats, won 26 in a row earlier this year.
Kentucky, which had a first-round bye, pulled away late in the game after Florida pulled to 79-66 on a 3-pointer by Dan Williams with 7:39 left.
No.5 Kansas 88, Colorado 55: The matchup between Big Eight player of the year Jacque Vaughn and conference freshman of the year Chauncey Billups was no contest.
Vaughn shut down Billups and Raef LaFrentz scored 22 points, leading the Jayhawks (25-3) over the Buffaloes (9-18) in the first round of the Big Eight tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
Billups scored only six points and committed six turnovers while being guarded mostly by Vaughn, who had 12 points and seven assists.
Billups was 1-for-12 from the field after coming into the tournament with an 18.4 scoring average.
No.6 Georgetown 84, No.9 Villanova 76: In New York, Victor Page, Georgetown's ``other'' guard, scored a career-high 34 points as the Hoyas beat the Wildcats in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.
Page, a freshman who starts alongside sophomore star Allen Iverson, had 20 points in the first half and produced 10 points in a 12-1 run as Iverson sat on the bench with four fouls.
The Hoyas (26-6) will meet third-ranked and top-seeded Connecticut in tonight's championship game.
Iverson finished with 28 points, but it was strange seeing another guard dominate a Georgetown victory.
Kerry Kittles had 27 points for Villanova (25-6), 20 in the first half when he made five of six 3-point attempts.
No.7 Texas Tech 68, Rice 53: In Dallas, the 3-point shooting of Koy Smith and Cory Carr carried the Red Raiders to victory over the Owls in the semifinals of the Southwest Conference tournament.
The win was the 20th in a row for Texas Tech. Only Kentucky (26) has a longer winning streak.
With Rice sagging on Jason Sasser and Tony Battie, Smith and Carr each hit four times from 3-point range. Smith had 12 points and Carr 16.
No.8 Cincinnati 92, No.22 Louisville 81: In Memphis, Tenn., the Bearcats hit four of their first six 3-pointers and downed the Cardinals in the Conference USA tournament semifinals.
Cincinnati (24-4) went to overtime before beating Saint Louis on Thursday in the quarterfinals. The Bearcats avoided that against Louisville (20-11) by turning in their best shooting performance of the season, hitting 60 percent.
Darnell Burton and Danny Fortson each had 21 points in leading Cincinnati, which had five players in double figures.
No.23 Iowa St. 62, Nebraska 60: In Kansas City, Mo., Kelvin Cato scored 16 points, blocked two shots and hauled in a key rebound in the final minute as the Cyclones hung on in a first-round game of the Big Eight tournament.
Dedric Willoughby also had 16 as the Cyclones advanced to the semifinals.
The Cyclones (21-8) held a one-point lead with just under two minutes when Cato got the first of his blocks, and Willoughby got free for a fast-break layup.
No.25 Mississippi St. 69, Auburn 58: In New Orleans, Marcus Bullard scored 19 points as the Bulldogs won only their second Southeastern Conference tournament game in 10 years, beating the Tigers in a second-round game.
Bullard's 3-pointer started a 12-0 run that gave Mississippi State (20-7) a 56-41 lead with 7:33 left.
Darryl Wilson scored 16 of his 17 points after halftime for State, which has won nine of its past 11 games.
Northeast
Monmouth 60, Rider 59: In West Long Branch, N.J., Quincy Lee hit two free throws with four seconds to play and Monmouth (20-9) earned its first NCAA Tournament berth.
Rider, which has lost the past two tournament championship games after winning in 1993 and 1994, had a last-ditch chance to win but Deon Hames' heave from just inside halfcourt bounced off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
Big South women
Radford 93, Charleston Southern 75: Senior all-conference guard Lisa Howard scored 27 points to lead the Highlanders over the Eagles in a Big South Conference tournament semifinal at the Dedmon Center in Radford. The Highlanders, six-time defending league champions, advanced to their 10th consecutive Big South final.
Radford (16-11) will face Winthrop in the title game tonight at 7 at Radford.
Dana Schnell scored a career-high 18 points as the Highlanders shot 54.7 percent for the game.
In another women's game:
nFormer Cave Spring star Aimee Beightol scored 28 points for Randolph-Macon in a 96-77 loss to Bethel (Minn.) in an NCAA Division III South sectional game at Ashland. Randolph-Macon finished the season 28-1.
Thursday's games
Stanford 85, No.11 Arizona 79: Dion Cross burned the Wildcats with a 9-for-9 shooting night, including seven 3-pointers, as the Cardinal (18-8 overall, 11-6 conference) completed its first sweep of the season series with a Pacific-10 Conference victory in Tucson, Ariz. Cross, a senior, had 15 points at halftime and finished with 27, the second-best game of his career.
Ben Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Arizona (23-6, 12-5).
No.17 UCLA 91, Washington 88, OT: Cameron Dollar's desperation 3-pointer from just inside the half-court line as time expired in overtime - his only field goal of the game - gave the Bruins a Pacific-10 Conference victory over the Huskies in Los Angeles.
Kris Johnson scored 30 points and Toby Bailey added 22 for the Bruins (22-7 overall, 15-2 Pac-10), who clinched their second consecutive conference title when Arizona lost to Stanford.
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Kansas' Jacque Vaughn gets grabbed from behind byby CNBColorado's Martice Moore on Friday at the Big Eight Conference
tournament in Kansas City, Mo.