College Basketball Roundup : Illinois Turns Back Kansas; Stanford Defeats Baylor

Illinois Coach Lou Henson likes what he sees in newcomer Ken Battle.

The 6-foot-6 forward, who sat out last season after transferring from Northern Illinois, scored two key second-half baskets to thwart a Kansas comeback and finished with 21 points as Illinois upset the seventh-ranked Jayhawks, 81-75, Sunday to take third place in the Maui Classic tournament at Lahaina, Hawaii.

Earlier, Todd Lichti scored 27 points as Stanford beat Baylor, 69-56, for fifth place, and freshman reserve Beau Reid hit four three-point shots in the second half and Henry T. Buchanan added two to help Nebraska hold off Chaminade, 76-75, for seventh place.

No. 11 Iowa faced Villanova in the championship game late Sunday.

Battle’s effort against Kansas came after he scored 28 points in a 78-76 loss to Villanova in Saturday’s semifinals.

Battle’s clutch shooting and Illinois’ balance offset a 28-point performance by Kansas forward Danny Manning and sent the Jayhawks to their second loss in three games. Kansas lost to 11th-ranked Iowa, 100-81, on Saturday.

Memphis State 86, Washington 57--Sylvester Gray scored 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Dwight Boyd added 15 points and 7 assists to lead the Tigers at Memphis, Tenn.

Memphis State (2-0) led, 43-28, at halftime and increased it to 49-31 early in the second half when Boyd scored two quick baskets and threw a lob to Gray for a dunk.

Eldridge Recasner scored 17 points and Mark West added 14 and 6 rebounds to lead Washington (0-2).

The Huskies committed 25 turnovers and were out-rebounded by the Tigers, 35-25.

Michigan 78, Alabama Birmingham 76--Gary Grant made three free throws in the final 35 seconds to lead the ninth-ranked Wolverines to a third-place finish in the Great Alaska Shootout tournament at Anchorage.

Michigan (2-1) blew a 13-point first half lead and trailed UAB (1-2) by 5 points with 4:20 to go.

But two three-point baskets by Glen Rice, who led all scorers with 27 points, cut the Blazers’ lead to one, setting up Grant’s free throws.

Tulsa 68, Arkansas 47--In the season opener for both teams, the Golden Hurricane spoiled the return of Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson, who coached at Tulsa from 1980 through 1984.

Tracy Moore scored 15 points and Rod Parker had 14 to lead the Golden Hurricane. Ron Huery led all Razorback scorers with 11 points.

Alabama 83, Central Michigan 80--Alvin Lee’s off-balance three-point shot at the buzzer gave the Crimson Tide the championship of the round-robin Hawaii Pacific tournament at Honolulu.

Alabama trailed at halftime, 53-41, but rallied to tie the game at 74 with 3:57 to go.

The Chippewa’s Dan Majerle led all scorers with 31 points.