KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Larry Bird finished his speech, walked back to his seat and received a fist bump from the man sitting next to him on the dais.

Had to be Magic Johnson.

If college basketball's hall of fame is going to open its doors to one, the other has to be there.

Thirty years after their NCAA battle reshaped college basketball, Bird and Johnson were inducted into the National Collegiate Hall of Fame last night.

Bird and Magic, Magic and Bird — forever linked.

"We always had a mutual respect for each other," Bird said. "You always thought you had to have an edge, at least I did, but we always had that respect for each other. It's kind of fitting that we go into college basketball's hall of fame together."

Bird and Johnson were given automatic entry into the collegiate hall for being members of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Johnson was joined in the college hall by his coach, Jud Heathcote.

Former Oklahoma star Wayman Tisdale got in, too, as did Travis Grant, college basketball's career scoring leader. Longtime coach Gene Bartow, Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA, and USA Basketball executive director Bill Wall also got the nod.

The marquee names were Bird and Johnson.

From their time together at the 1978 World Invitational Tournament to the Dream Team to their rivalry in the NBA, the two stars have had a connection.

One magical game in Salt Lake City provided the defining moment.

The self-proclaimed "Hick from French Lick" vs. the flashy city kid. Undefeated Indiana State against unstoppable Michigan State. A nation's eyes turned toward one game, the two best players on the best teams facing each other in the NCAA title game.

That one hype-filled game gave the NCAA tournament a larger-than-life aura, made it must-see TV, a multimillion-dollar conglomerate. It even helped save the fledgling NBA.

All because of Bird and Magic.

"We put the madness in March," Johnson said.

NO. 2 MICHIGAN ST. ROUTS VALPARAISO

Chris Allen scored 22 points, Kalin Lucas added 15 and No. 2 Michigan State routed visiting Valparaiso, 90-60, yesterday to move coach Tom Izzo into a tie with Jud Heathcote for most career wins with the Spartans.

Both coaches have won 340 games at Michigan State. The timing was especially fitting with Heathcote inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday.

The game was a regional matchup in the Legends Classic. The Spartans (4-0) head to Atlantic City, N.J., for a game Friday against Florida in the tournament semifinals.

Brandon Wood had 24 points to lead Valparaiso (1-3).

No. 5 Villanova 79, Mississippi 67: Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points, Corey Stokes added 18 and the Wildcats beat the Rebels to win the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Antonio Pena added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-0), who did nothing to diminish their status as favorites in the Big East during their trip to the Caribbean.

Villanova used an 8-0 run in the opening minutes and led 27-23 at halftime, holding the Rebels (4-1) to only 29.6 percent shooting from the field.

Chris Warren led Mississippi with a game-high 24 points.

No. 7 Purdue 85, St. Joseph's 60: JaJuan Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers to a win over the Hawks in the Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Ryne Smith added 16 points while E'Twaun Moore and Mark Wohlford each scored 11 for the Boilermakers (3-0), who play No. 10 Tennessee in the championship game tonight.

Trailing by nine in the first half, Purdue used a 23-3 run to start the second half and put the game away.

Garrett Williamson led St. Joseph's (3-1) with 12 points. The Hawks will play DePaul in the consolation game.

No. 10 Tennessee 57, DePaul 53: Tyler Smith made two free throws with 13.7 seconds left, and the Vols held on to reach the title game of the Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

DePaul closed to 55-53 on Mac Koshwal's layup with 44.5 seconds left, but the Vols (4-0) ran off nearly 30 seconds before Jeremiah Kelly finally fouled Smith. He made both ends of the 1-and-1 and finished with 14 points.

Koshwal and Will Walker each had 14 points for DePaul (2-1). Eric Wallace added 10.

WOMEN

No. 2 Stanford 76, UC Davis 51: Kayla Pedersen had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals to a win over the host Aggies.

Jayne Appel added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinal (4-0), who won their fourth straight in the series. Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored 10 of her 11 points in the second half and JJ Hones had 11.

Haylee Donaghe scored 11 points to lead the Aggies (2-2), who were coming off an 18-point win over San Francisco.

No. 3 Ohio State 93, Oklahoma State 72: Jantel Lavender scored 26 points, Brittany Johnson had a career-high 23 and Samantha Prahalis added 22 to lead the host Buckeyes over the Cowgirls to win the Preseason WNIT.

Tayler Hill chipped in with 11 points for the Buckeyes (5-0), who have scored at least 88 points in every game so far.

Andrea Riley had 27 points, Tegan Cunningham 19 and Lindsey Keller 11 for the Cowgirls (3-1), who were playing their fourth straight opponent who won at least 20 games and made it into the NCAA field a year ago.

No. 4 North Carolina 78, UNLV 68: Italee Lucas scored 24 points and Cetera DeGraffenreid added 22 to help the Tar Heels beat the host Rebels.

Lucas, who hails from Las Vegas, scored seven of the Tar Heels' first 11 points during the second half. Then, after missing two free throws with 1:19 left, the junior scored off her own offensive rebound to give North Carolina a 74-66 lead.

Chay Shegog and Tierra Ruffin-Pratt each had 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (3-0).

Jamie Smith led the Lady Rebels (2-2) with 17 points and 18 rebounds. Kelli Thompson added 15 points.