College Roundup: Kansas falls at Mizzou

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

No. 1 and No. 3 both went to Columbia, played a few extra minutes of basketball and lost.

Columbia, Mo., and Columbia, S.C., are separated by half the country, but were united Tuesday night as college towns for highly ranked teams to avoid.

Top-ranked Kansas lost 96-94 in double overtime at Missouri, the Jayhawks' first loss of the season, but their fourth straight nail-biter.

Third-ranked Kentucky lost 84-79 in overtime at No. 19 South Carolina, leaving the Wildcats two games behind the Gamecocks in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division.

"I've said a million times it was unrealistic," Kansas coach Roy Williams said of going unbeaten. "But that doesn't mean the loss is good."

The win was great for the Tigers (12-10, 4-6 Big 12), who have made a habit of beating the Jayhawks (22-1, 8-1) when they sit atop the national rankings. This was the fourth time since 1990 Missouri played a No. 1 Kansas team, and the Tigers are 3-1 in those games.

The winning shot in the second overtime came from senior Corey Tate, a career role player at Missouri. He picked up a loose ball near the foul line and hit a jumper with 5.6 seconds left on the game clock and two seconds left on the shot clock.

"I just heaved it up and it went in," said Tate, who finished with 14 points. "It's a special memory and I'm going to treasure it for as long as I can."

Kansas, which had to rally for wins over Colorado and Texas Tech and needed overtime to beat Nebraska in its last four games, forced the first overtime when Raef LaFrentz put back a missed free throw to tie it with seven seconds to play.

Missouri missed a final chance to score and Kansas' Jacque Vaughn missed a potential game-winner at the end of the first overtime. The final shot Kansas managed at the end of the second overtime was after the buzzer.

"An undefeated season wasn't on our minds. It was probably more on your minds," LaFrentz, who finished with 26 points, told reporters.

Kansas played without starting center Scot Pollard, who has missed four games and is expected to miss at least six more with a broken foot.

"It was really a great ballgame," Missouri coach Norm Stewart said. "I think that's one of the best games I've seen all year."

Kelly Thames had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Missouri.

* NO. 19 S. CAROLINA 84, No. 3 KENTUCKY 79: BJ McKie scored eight of 22 points in overtime for the Gamecocks (16-5, 10-0 SEC), who trailed by five points with a minute left in regulation. Larry Davis hit a 3-pointer and Melvin Watson converted a driving layup to tie the game, and South Carolina went on to its 11th straight win. Kentucky (20-3, 8-2) trailed 62-51 with six minutes left, but made 10 of 11 shots to take the 72-67 lead with a minute left. Ron Mercer, who scored 18 points, missed a final shot in regulation for Kentucky, which was playing without injured starters Derek Anderson and Jared Prickett.

* NO. 10 CLEMSON 69, W. KENTUCKY 55: Greg Buckner scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half as the Tigers (18-4), who had lost three of four, pulled away for the home victory with a 12-0 run that gave them a 52-44 lead. Tony Lovan had 15 points for the Hilltoppers (10-10), who are 1-15 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

* NO. 16 VILLANOVA 81, W. VIRGINIA 70: Seniors Alvin Williams and Jason Lawson came up big in their final game at duPont Pavilion for the Wildcats (17-5, 8-4 Big East). Williams had 23 points and Lawson had 15 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks as Villanova started the second half with a 15-2 run that gave it a 47-40 lead. Damian Owens had 23 points for the Mountaineers (13-6, 7-5), who had won four straight.

* NO. 25 IOWA 75, NO. 24 INDIANA 67: Andre Woolridge scored 18 points to lead the Hawkeyes (16-5, 7-2 Big Ten), who have won 10 of 12 and sent the visiting Hoosiers (17-7, 4-6) to their third straight loss. The last time Indiana lost three in a row was the 1989-90 season.