Wyoming’s Late Rally Trips Utah

Gregg Sawyer made two free throws and Justin French completed a three-point play in the final 1:26 as Wyoming scored the last six points to upset No. 5 Utah, 62-56, in a Western Athletic Conference game Thursday night at Laramie, Wyo.

Wyoming (16-6, 6-4 in the WAC) trailed, 56-53, after Andre Miller’s jumper with 3:19 left, but outscored Utah, 9-0, down the stretch. French, who had only five points in the game, sealed the victory when he faked to the right, made a layup and converted the three-point play with 39 seconds left.

The Utes (20-2, 7-2), who have not won at Wyoming since 1993, were led by Michael Doleac with 16 points.

Illinois 84, No. 13 Michigan State 63--Kevin Turner scored 20 points and Jerry Hester added 16 to help the Illini move into a first place tie in the Big Ten Conference with the Spartans with the upset at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois (18-7, 10-2 Big Ten), which never trailed, won its seventh game in a row and ended an eight-game winning streak by Michigan State (17-5, 10-2).

No. 19 Cincinnati 70, Saint Louis 43--Ruben Patterson had 17 points and eight rebounds, and the Bearcats (18-5, 9-2 Conference USA) took control early to defeat Saint Louis (17-7, 8-3) for the eighth consecutive time.

Cincinnati, which shot 55% from the field, outrebounded the Billikens, 40-24, and had five dunks in the first half. Saint Louis’ Larry Hughes, the nation’s top freshman, finished with only 12 points.

No. 22 Texas Christian 126, Hawaii 84--Lee Nailon had 46 points and 16 rebounds at Fort Worth as the Horned Frogs (21-4, 9-0 in WAC) won their 10th consecutive game while scoring the most points ever given up by the Rainbows (14-7, 3-6.)

Mike Jones had 22 points and Malcolm Johnson and Scott Gradney each had 14 points for the Horned Frogs.

OTHER GAMES

Chris Herren scored 22 points and Rafer Alston made a layup with 14 seconds remaining that gave Fresno State an 82-80 victory over Rice in a Western Athletic Conference game at Houston. Fresno State (14-8, 7-2 WAC) won for the eighth time in nine games. Rice (5-18, 2-7) had a chance to send the game into overtime but Bobby Crawford missed a shot with four seconds left.. . . Sedric Webber scored 16 points to lead College of Charleston (19-3, 13-0) to a 72-49 victory over Florida Atlantic (4-19, 4-8) in a Trans America Athletic Conference game at Boca Raton, Fla.. . . Kevin Clark scored 21 points and Sam Jacobson added 20, including a three-point play with 94 seconds remaining, to pace Minnesota to a 73-71 Big Ten win over Iowa at Iowa City. Eric Harris finished with 19 points for the Gophers (11-12, 4-8). Ricky Davis scored 20 points for Iowa (16-8, 5-6), which lost for the sixth time in the last seven games.. . . In a Conference USA game at Milwaukee, North Carolina Charlotte (14-8, 10-2), led by Sean Colson with 19 points, overcame an eight-point halftime deficit in a 58-56 victory over Marquette (15-6, 6-5) at Milwaukee.