West Roundup : Arizona Loses to Alabama, 50-41, and Pacific 10 Is Out

Bobby Lee Hurt scored 14 points and teamed with power forward Buck Johnson to neutralize Arizona’s inside game as the Crimson Tide pulled away to a 50-41 victory in Friday’s opening round of the NCAA West Regional at Albuquerque, N.M..

Alabama (22-9) will play Virginia Commonwealth (26-5) Sunday.

Hurt and Johnson took control of a lackluster contest that saw Arizona score only two field goals in the opening 10 minutes.

Hurt, a 240-pound, 6-9 bullish performer, scored five points in the first five minutes of the second half to give Alabama a cushion it would not surrender.

Free throws by Hurt and point guard Terry Coner in the final two minutes insured the Alabama win.

The Crimson Tide’s tough man-to-man defense repeatedly altered or intimidated Arizona’s inside shots, and the Wildcats’ outside shooting went sour early.

Johnson added 12 points, and Coner finished with 10 points, all in the second half.

Arizona, which shot only 33% in the first half and still trailed by only 19-17, got 10 points from senior center Pete Williams.

The loss by Arizona completed the opening demise of the four Pac-10 teams invited to the NCAA.

Virginia Commonwealth 81, Marshall 65--Rolando Lamb scored 30 points and had 6 steals and 4 assists as the Rams overcame a sluggish start to down outclassed Marshall.

Calvin Duncan added 19 points, while Mike Schlegel had 14 points and 6 rebounds for Virginia Comonwealth (26-5).

“We got extremely good play out of Lamb,” said Coach J.D. Barnett. “He controlled the game. He made good, smart decisions, and when we needed a bucket, he came through.”

Skip Henderson had 19 points to lead Marshal, which finished 21-13.

The Rams will meet Alabama in the second round Sunday, while Texas El Pasos faces North Carolina State.

North Carolina State 65, Nevada Reno 56--Lorenzo Charles returned to the scene of his greatest triumph by scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in the Wolfpack’s win over the Wolf Pack.

Charles’ last-second basket two years ago gave N.C. State the NCAA title with a victory over Houston at the University of New Mexico Arena.

The 6-7 Charles put the game away with three straight baskets, including two stuffs, to turn a six-point lead to 12 with seven minutes to play.

Dwayne Randall and Curtis High had 14 points each for Nevada-Reno (21-10).

N.C. State improves to 21-9.

Texas El Paso 79, Tulsa 75--Luster Goodwin scored 23 points, and Dave Feitl hit two free throws with three seconds left to secure the Miners’ upset win.

UTEP (22-9) led, 77-75, when Tulsa’s David Moss missed a 10-footer that could have tied the score with four seconds left. Feitl got the rebound and was fouled, making both ends of the one-and-one.

Feitl finished with 17 points. Steve Harris had 31 points for Tulsa (23-7)