College Basketball: Huskies, Sooners eke out victories

Hasheem Thabeet contributed 21 points and 18 rebounds, Jeff Adrien added 18 points, and No. 2 Connecticut survived a big scare, holding off Buffalo, 66-64, last night in Amherst, N.Y.

The Bulls (3-3) nearly upset then-No. 2 Pittsburgh at Alumni Arena two years ago, losing by 70-67 after leading by 10 points with 14 minutes left. A repeat performance seemed unlikely against the Huskies (8-0), who won their first seven games by an average of 24 points.

But Rodney Pierce had other ideas, scoring a career-high 28 points to keep Buffalo close for the entire game.

Pierce had a chance to force overtime in the final seconds with the Bulls trailing by 66-64, but Max Boudreau bobbled his pass in the lane with four seconds left, and Kemba Walker made two free throws for the Huskies.

Pierce was 10 for 19 from the field, including 2 for 2 on three-pointers, and made all six of his free throws.

Craig Austrie finished with 10 points for UConn, and A.J. Price and Dyson each had six. Austrie and Dyson entered the game averaging a team-leading 16.7 points.

Oklahoma 73, Southern California 72 -

Blake Griffin scored 11 of his 25 points after getting hit with a cheap-shot elbow in the second half, and the No. 6 Sooners staved off a rally by the Trojans for a victory in Norman, Okla.

Griffin, a preseason all-American forward, had to come out of the game briefly after getting elbowed below the waist by USC's Leonard Washington with 13 minutes, 54 seconds left. He returned to help the Sooners (7-0) keep the Trojans (5-3) at bay.

Texas 68, UCLA 64 -

A.J. Abrams scored 31 points, including the last six of the game for No. 8 Texas, sending the Longhorns (6-1) past the 12th-ranked Bruins (4-2) in Austin, Texas.

Abrams' 31 points matched his career high. Texas' Damion James added 13 points and 13 rebounds, including a big grab after UCLA's Josh Shipp missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds left.

Arizona State 81, Jackson State 60 -

James Harden had 22 points and eight rebounds as the 19th-ranked Sun Devils (6-1) defeated the Tigers (1-7) in Tempe, Ariz.

Harden led Arizona State in scoring for the 31st time in 41 career games, despite fouling out with 4:10 to play.

Elsewhere:

Frisco Sandidge scored a game-high 20 points and Marcus Neal added 18 to lead

Delaware State

past winless

Maryland-Eastern Shore

, 59-48, in Dover, Del. . . . Andrew Brown scored 19 points in a losing effort as

Lafayette

fell to

Hartford

, 97-82, in Hartford, Conn. . . . Dave Smith scored 18 points to power

Gwynedd-Mercy

past visiting

Marywood

, 94-56.