COLLEGE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : No. 2 Missouri Shows No. 11 Oklahoma Who Will Rise to No. 1, 92-90

Missouri Coach Norm Stewart is feeling generous--and maybe a little nervous--these days.

After his No. 2 Tigers defeated No. 11 Oklahoma, 92-90, Sunday in a Big Eight Conference game at Columbia, Mo., Stewart offered to give away the top ranking Missouri figures to get when the votes are counted today.

“This time of season, the top ranking doesn’t mean anything,” said Stewart, whose team defeated No. 1 Kansas last Tuesday. “If somebody else wants it, they can have it. If we can, we’ll mail it to them.”

Doug Smith had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Missouri. Smith, who sat out much of the first half in foul trouble, made a three-point play with 40 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner as Missouri withstood a frantic Oklahoma flurry in the final 10 seconds.

“Coach told me I had to play like I had no fouls and that’s what I did,” said Smith, who finished the game with four. “I got to the right place at the right time.

“I didn’t want to lose. Somebody had to do it, so I just did what I had to do.”

Missouri (24-2, 10-1 in the Big Eight) beat Oklahoma for the fifth consecutive time on its home court to set a school record with 30 consecutive home victories, breaking the record of 29 set in 1980-82.

Oklahoma (19-4, 7-3) had won four straight games. The Sooners missed three chances to tie the score in the last 10 seconds.

It began when Skeeter Henry took an inbounds pass and drove into the lane. His shot bounced off the rim and two Sooners missed chances to put in rebounds before time ran out.

“We got the shot we wanted, and two tips also,” Oklahoma Coach Billy Tubbs said. “The shot by Henry was a little hurried, but then we didn’t have much time left.”

Trailing by seven at the half, Oklahoma rallied to take its first lead of the game, 52-51, on a basket by William Davis. The teams traded baskets, and Missouri began looking inside for Smith, who went over the 1,300 point mark for his career.

The Sooners led again, 83-81, with 3:34 left on a three-point shot by Smokey McCovery, but Travis Ford answered with a three-point basket to put the Tigers back on top, 84-83, with 3:23 remaining.

Anthony Peeler finished with 18 points for Missouri and Nathan Buntin had 16. Henry scored 20 for the Sooners, who have a rematch with Missouri Sunday in Norman.

Ohio State 64, No. 5 Michigan 61--Freshman Jim Jackson scored 16 points, including a key tip-in on a missed free throw with 12 seconds left, as the Buckeyes upset the Wolverines in a Big Ten Conference game at Columbus, Ohio.

It was the second time in two weeks that Jackson helped Ohio State (13-10, 7-6) beat a ranked opponent with a tip-in in the closing seconds. His tip-in with 16 seconds left propelled the Buckeyes to a 91-88 upset of No. 10 Louisville on Feb. 4.

Against Michigan (19-5, 9-4), Mark Baker made a free throw to put the Buckeyes ahead, 62-61. His miss of the bonus set the stage for Jackson, who tipped it in from the right side of the lane.

Michigan had two opportunities to tie the game at the finish. Rumeal Robinson, who led the Wolverines with 24 points, missed a three-point shot with three seconds left.

Loy Vaught, who had 10 points and nine rebounds, got the rebound and dribbled behind the three-point line, but his shot at the buzzer was short.

No. 6 Duke 71, Wake Forest 56--Robert Brickey scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half as the Blue Devils built an insurmountable lead in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils (22-4, 9-2) jumped to an 18-point lead in the game’s first 10 minutes in handing the Demon Deacons (9-14, 0-10) their 13th consecutive ACC loss.

Alaa Abdelnaby and Phil Henderson scored 15 points each for Duke. Chris King had 17 points for the Demon Deacons.

No. 9 LSU 121, Vanderbilt 108--Chris Jackson scored 46 points at Nashville, Tenn., and the Tigers held off a Vanderbilt rally and pulled into a tie with Georgia for first place in the Southeastern Conference.

Jackson scored 24 in the first half as the Tigers (20-5, 10-4) built a 65-45 lead with 63.4% shooting from the field, including six of nine from three-point range.

Scott Draud scored 31 points for Vanderbilt (12-11, 5-9) and set a school record with nine three-point baskets.

No. 14 La Salle 72, Fairfield 49--Lionel Simmons scored 24 points and moved into sixth place in the all-time NCAA scoring list as the Explorers (22-1, 12-0) won a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Philadelphia.

Simmons, who has 2,963 points, moved passed Danny Manning. He needs only 11 points to move Oscar Robertson out of fifth place.

Terry Fitzsimons had 11 points for Fairfield (9-15, 6-8).

Texas 79, Texas A&M; 73--Lance Blanks scored nine of his 16 points during the final four minutes as the Longhorns (18-6, 11-3) won a Southwest Conference game at College Station, Tex.

Tony Milton scored 26 points for the Aggies (12-14, 5-7).

Rhode Island 66, Duquesne 65--Eric Leslie scored 21 points to pace the Rams (13-10, 9-5) in an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Pittsburgh.

Mark Stevenson scored 27 points for Duquesne (5-20, 4-12) but missed a shot with four seconds left that would have given Duquesne the lead.

Temple 75, Rutgers 69--Mark Macon scored 28 points and all of Temple’s points during an 8-2 run in the final minutes as the Owls won an Atlantic 10 Conference game at Piscataway, N.J..

The victory was the ninth in 10 games for Temple (15-8, 13-2).