Huskies chomp on Friars; Sooners can't catch Kansas

Kansas seniors finish perfect careers at Allen Fieldhouse

Jake Voskuhl added 15 points and had 13 rebounds for the Huskies (14-3 Big East, 25-4 overall), who are guaranteed at least a share of the regular-season title and one of three first-round byes in next month's conference tournament.

Jamel Thomas scored 22 points and Justin Farley added 19 for the Friars (6-11, 11-15), who dominated the first half, leading by five points three times, before Connecticut got on track.

Kansas 83, Oklahoma 70

AP PHOTO Connecticut's Jake Voskuhl keeps his eye on the ball in the Huskies' 77-68 victory over Providence. Voskuhl pulled down 13 rebounds last night.

Paul Pierce scored 31 points, including 15 straight during a remarkable second-half surge, and Kansas finished unbeaten at home for a fourth-straight season.

Pierce, a 6-foot-7 junior, had the sellout crowd chanting "One more year! One more year!" in the final minutes, after he took charge of the game. He is a preseason All-America along with senior Raef LaFrentz, and may opt to enter the NBA draft.

The Jayhawks (14-1 Big 12, 30-3 overall), who clinched the Big 12 championship on Saturday, ran their unbeaten home streak to a school-record 60 games.

Seniors LaFrentz, Billy Thomas and C.B. McGrath never lost at Allen Fieldhouse, and posted back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in Kansas history.

Oklahoma (10-5, 19-9) got 15 points apiece from Evan Wiley and Cory Brewer.

Western Mich. 80, N. Illinois 71

Saddi Washington scored 22 points as Western Michigan beat Northern Illinois 80-71 last night to clinch at least a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division title.

Western Michigan (14-3, 20-1), which won 20 games for just the third time in school history, can win the title outright with a victory tomorrow at Ball State. A loss would leave the Cardinals and Broncos tied for first.

The Broncos used runs of 17-6 and 10-2 to open a 42-27 halftime lead over Northern Illinois (5-12, 9-16). Western led by as many as 17 points in the second half when Washington, who had his 15th 20-point game of the season, hit a jumper to make it 59-42 with 12:14 left.

Western Michigan also got 18 points from Rashod Johnson and 13 points from Shaun Jackson.

Northern Illinois was led by T.J. Lux's 27 points.

02-24-98