COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Rider Scores 44 in UNLV’s Comeback Victory

J.R. Rider scored a career-high 44 points, but 13th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas struggled to a 100-93 victory over Nevada in a Big West Conference game Thursday night at Las Vegas.

Rider, whose previous career-high was 40 points against Georgetown last month, made 16 of his 22 field-goal attempts--including two of four from three-point range--while the rest of his teammates were only 16 of 43 from the floor. Rider also made 10 of 11 free throws.

Lawrence Thomas, making his first start of the season in place of injured Reggie Manuel, had 15 points and Dexter Boney and Evric Gray added 14 each for the Rebels, 18-4 overall and 11-3 in the Big West.

Gray also had 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Jody Daggs and Rod Brown led Nevada (8-16, 3-13) with 21 points each. Eric Morris had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Rebels took a 19-7 lead in the opening six minutes and led, 33-23, with 7:15 left before halftime. But Nevada outscored UNLV, 26-13, to take a 49-46 halftime lead.

It was the first time the Wolf Pack led at halftime in its last 19 games.

The game was tied, 70-70, with less than 8:00 remaining when the Rebels went on a 12-2 spurt to go ahead for good. UNLV led, 90-86, with two minutes left but used an 8-2 run to seal the win.

No. 10 Cincinnati 66, No. 20 Marquette 57--Nick Van Exel rebounded from a one-for-10 first half to score 17 of his 20 points in the second as the Bearcats defeated the Warriors at Milwaukee.

“We kept attacking them and they stopped attacking us,” said Van Exel, who missed nine consecutive shots in the first half after making his first.

“I guess they figured they had the game won when they went up, so we just wanted to take our time. I forced some shots in the first half and then in the second half I tried to penetrate and look for my shot, but also get the defender in the air and dish it to the big guys.”

Erik Martin added 19 points and Tarrance Gibson 12 for the Bearcats, 21-3 overall and 7-1 in the Great Midwest Conference.

The largest crowd in Marquette history, announced at 18,563, watched at the Bradley Center. Van Exel is from Kenosha, Wis., about 30 miles south of Milwaukee.

Roney Eford led Marquette (19-5, 5-3) with 21 points before fouling out. Damon Key had 19.

Illinois 78, No. 17 Purdue 70--Junior guard Rennie Clemons scored 21 points, including two key free throws in the final seconds, as the Illini got a Big Ten Conference victory in double overtime at Champaign, Ill.

Purdue appeared to have the game won in the first overtime when Ian Stanback made a layup with four seconds to play to put the Boilermakers ahead, 63-61.

But Illinois inbounded the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout with two seconds remaining. When play resumed, Illinois’ Andy Kaufmann drove to the basket, drew a foul and made both free throws to send the game into double overtime.

Clemons’ two free throws in the second overtime gave Illinois a 73-68 lead with 28 seconds to play. After a Purdue miss, Deon Thomas was fouled on the rebound and made a free throw to make it 74-68, and Purdue was unable to come back.

Kaufmann scored 20 points, including 18 in the second half, and Thomas added 15 for Illinois (17-8, 10-3).

Purdue (15-7, 6-7) was led by Cuonzo Martin and Ian Stanback with 18 points each, and Glen Robinson with 17.

No. 19 New Orleans 86, Arkansas Little Rock 60--Ervin Johnson got the honors, then Tony Madison stole the show in the Privateers’ Sun Belt Conference victory at New Orleans.

Madison scored a season-high 18 points, and Johnson, a 7-foot senior center playing in his final home game, was honored in a pregame ceremony. Johnson had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Privateers (22-2, 16-0) are the Sun Belt’s regular-season champions. They will conclude the regular season with two games on the road.

Derrick Hall led Arkansas Little Rock (14-10, 9-7) with 17 points.

No. 23 Brigham Young 128, Cal State Sacramento 78--The Cougars set school records for most points and biggest margin of victory in a nonconference game at Provo, Utah.

The Cougars (22-5) of the Western Athletic Conference outscored independent Sacramento, 47-18, over the final 13:46, including a 23-5 run.

Sean Colter scored 22 points for Sacramento (3-23).

Nick Sanderson, who had 20 points, scored seven of BYU’s final nine points in the first half as the Cougars took a 62-48 halftime lead.

No. 24 Xavier 68, Loyola (Chicago) 65--Aaron Williams, held to only two points in the first half, scored 17 after intermission and rallied the Muskateeers to a Midwestern Collegiate Conference victory at Cincinnati.

Xavier (19-3, 10-1) overcame an 11-point halftime deficit behind Williams, who had 11 points and five rebounds during a 17-4 second-half run that put Xavier ahead for the first time.

The Ramblers (5-18, 1-10), losing for the 12th time in a row, made a charge at Xavier in the closing minutes.

Jamie Gladden led Xavier with 20 points.

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OTHER GAMES

Cliff Reed scored 19 points and Darrin Jackson added 14 as New Mexico State defeated Utah State, 82-60, in a Big West Conference game at Las Cruces, N.M. New Mexico State (19-6, 11-3) had lost two of their last three on the road. Utah State dropped to 10-14, 7-9. . . . Jason Hamilton made a three-point shot at the buzzer to give San Diego State a 64-62 victory over Wyoming at San Diego for the Aztecs’ first victory over a Western Athletic Conference team other than the Air Force Academy since 1991. Joe McNaull scored a season-high 25 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for San Diego State (7-18, 3-13), which ended a five-game losing streak. The Cowboys are 11-13, 5-10. . . . In another WAC game, Texas El Paso held Air Force to one field goal in the first 11 1/2 minutes as the Miners (17-9, 9-6) raced to a 68-46 victory over the Falcons (9-15, 3-12).

James McDonald, the last man off the bench for Duquesne, scored all six of his points in the second and third overtimes to lead the Dukes to an 80-76 victory over Notre Dame at South Bend, Ind. The game was tied, 70-70, 37 seconds into the third overtime when Brooks Boyer made a three-pointer to give Notre Dame (9-16) its final lead, 73-70. McDonald followed with a rebound basket on the Dukes’ next possession, and one free throw by Miles Powers and two by Keith English gave Duquesne (10-13) the lead for good, 75-73, with 2:34 to play. Five Notre Dame players fouled out of the contest, including starters Monty Williams, Jon Ross and Ryan Hoover. A fourth Irish starter, Malik Russell, was suspended from the team for academic reasons. Three Duquesne players, all starters, also fouled out: leading scorer Derrick Alston, who had 20 points, as well as Kenya Hunter and Anthony Smith. Boyer led all scorers with 24 points for the Irish. Duquesne’s Alan Watkins had 15.

Greg Minor scored nine of Louisville’s final 18 points, lifting the Cardinals to a 69-64 Metro Conference victory over North Carolina Charlotte at Louisville, Ky. Louisville (15-8, 9-1) overcame N.C. Charlotte’s 70.8% shooting (17 of 24) in the first half to end a two-game losing streak and hand the 49ers (13-11, 5-5) their third consecutive setback. Only 7,149 fans attended the game in Freedom Hall, 12,377 below the season average, after Jefferson County received seven to eight inches of snow. It was the lowest since 6,872 attended a game on Dec. 2, 1972. N.C. Charlotte’s Malru Dottin also missed the game because of flight cancellations to Louisville.

Mike Wilson scored 24 points and Tim Mason chipped in 14 of his 18 points in the second half as Southern Methodist (18-5, 10-1) defeated Texas A&M;, 84-73, in a Southwest Conference game at College Station, Tex. A&M; dropped to 9-15, 4-8. . . . Will Flemons hit a desperation shot under the basket just before the buzzer to give Texas Tech (13-10, 4-7) a 105-103 victory over Texas in an SWC game at Lubbock, Tex. Flemons’ game-winner spoiled the comeback of Texas guard B.J. Tyler, who led the Longhorns with 32 points in his first appearance since missing 15 games because of a broken right foot. Texas (9-14, 3-8) lost to the Red Raiders for the first time in 12 games.