UCLA, USC still in contention at NCAA men's tourney

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Kyle Stanley shot a 4-under 68 Thursday, helping Clemson to a one-stroke lead over UCLA at the halfway point of the NCAA men's Division I golf championship.

Stanley, the runner-up a year ago, birdied four of the first seven holes on Purdue's par-72 Kampen Course and had two more birdies on the back nine to offset a double-bogey 6 on No. 12, the only hole on which he failed to make par.

His two-round total of 140 was one stroke behind leader Billy Horschel of Florida, who finished Thursday's round on the 7,450-yard course at 5-under 67.

The top score of the day was by Nick Taylor of Washington, whose seven birdies helped him to a 6-under 66 and a two-round total of 141 for third place.

First-round leader Kevin Chappell of UCLA shot a 73 and fell to a fourth-place tie with
Georgia's Hudson Swafford at 142. USC freshman Tim Sluiter, who won his first college
tournament in March, was at 143 for sixth place.

Joel Sjoholm of Georgia State was next at 144, and Jorge Campillo of Indiana and Chris DeForest of Illinois were tied at 145. Defending champion Jamie Lovemark of USC was well back at 154.

USC, the tournament's top seed, was tied with UCLA after the first round on Wednesday but dropped to third with a combined score of 591, one stroke behind the Bruins and two behind Clemson. USC won the women's team title last week and is trying to join Arizona in 1990 as the only schools to win both titles in the same year.

Florida was fourth after Thursday's round at 593, one stroke ahead of Oklahoma State. Washington was sixth at 595, followed by Georgia at 596, defending champion Stanford at 597, Kent State at 598 and Charlotte at 601.

The field of 30 teams will be cut after Friday's round to the top 15 going into Saturday's
finals.