OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -Marcus Morris had a simple plan for what Kansas should do after its run of three straight Big 12 titles came to an end with a surprising first-round upset at the hands of Baylor.
“Basically go home and watch film and see what we did wrong,” Morris said, “and just try to not do the same thing our first game in the NCAA.
“Make sure we don’t lose in the first round.”
Little did Morris know at that point that the top-seeded Jayhawks (25-7) – who lost 71-64 – wouldn’t be the only giants slain at the conference tournament on Thursday. No. 6 Oklahoma, the tournament’s second seed, also fell victim in a 71-70 loss to rival Oklahoma State and Texas clipped fourth-seeded Kansas State 61-58.
hould be feeling pretty good with the No. 3 seed.
“When you get to tournament play, I don’t know if people understand, it is a little different feeling than, let’s say, just the regular conference season and so sometimes the nerves are going and a lot of teams sometimes they have nothing to lose and everything to gain and they leave it on the floor,” Tigers coach Mike Anderson said. “I think you have seen that case in point today.”
At least two of the top four seeds – which receive first-round byes – had made it to the semifinals in each of the tournament’s first 12 years. And at least three of the top four teams had made it eight of the last nine years.
That was before the bracket got decimated in year No. 13, an unlucky one for higher-seeded teams.
LaceDarius Dunn scored 24 points and hit six 3-pointers, helping Baylor to a 17-point first-half lead and then rallying them back by leading a decisive 12-0 charge after the Jayhawks went up by five late in the second half.
The Bears now advance to face Texas, which got a second straight monster game from 300-pound center Dexter Pittman. He had 19 points and 20 rebounds against K-State after going for a career-high 26 points and 10 boards in the opening round against Colorado.
hat big an upset if they beat anybody,” Longhorns coach Rick Barnes said. “When a team is picked third in the preseason poll, you know they have proven in the past they can win. That’s no different here.”
Oklahoma State moved on to face Missouri after edging Oklahoma in the first neutral-site Bedlam rivalry game played within state lines in 67 years. Oklahoma State’s James Anderson made two free throws with 2.3 seconds left, and preseason All-American Blake Griffin – who had 17 points and 19 rebounds – couldn’t connect on a guarded 3-pointer after catching a long inbound pass.
The clock malfunctioned on the final play, but officials determined it wouldn’t have affected the outcome.
Oklahoma State had lost five in a row to the Sooners and now will try to avenge a 97-95 loss to the Tigers on Jan. 21.
Big East
At New York, Syracuse outlasted Connecticut in the second-longest Division I game ever, capping a quarterfinal doubleheader in which the second- and third-ranked teams in the country both lost.
Andy Rautins hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the sixth overtime, giving the 18th-ranked Orange their first lead since regulation, and they went on to a 127-117 victory over the third-ranked Huskies.
cipated third meeting between teams that held the No. 1 ranking this season in the semifinals, it will be sixth-seeded Syracuse and the seventh-seeded Mountaineers.
The game finished one overtime short of the record set in Cincinnati’s 75-73 victory over Bradley on Dec. 21, 1981.
Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists for the Orange (25-8), playing 67 of the 70 minutes, the most of any player. Paul Harris had 29 points and 22 rebounds, while Eric Devendorf had 22 points and Rautins had 20.
A.J. Price had 33 points and 10 assists for the Huskies (27-4), while Stanley Robinson had 28 points and was one of three Connecticut players with 14 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points, 14 rebounds and six of the Huskies’ 16 blocked shots.
Freshman Devin Ebanks scored a career-high 20 points to lead scrappy West Virginia, knocking out the defending tournament champions. Alex Ruoff added 18 points for West Virginia (23-10), which has won four of the last five, the lone loss coming to No. 5 Louisville last weekend.
DeJuan Blair, the league’s co-player of the year spent most of the game on the bench for Pittsburgh (27-4) and managed only 14 points and five rebounds.
ed and regular-season conference champions, who’ve won eight straight.
The Friars (19-13) turned over the ball 26 times, one shy of the tournament record.
No. 10 Villanova edged No. 21 Marquette 76-75 on Dwayne Anderson’s last-second layup – his only basket. The fourth-seeded Wildcats (26-6) led by 17 points in the first half before needing the final dramatics.
Conference USA
At Memphis, Tenn., Shawn Taggart scored 19 points, and No. 4 Memphis extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 23 straight with a 51-41 win over Tulane. The Tigers (29-3), trying to add a fourth straight tournament championship to their fourth regular-season title, pushed their C-USA winning streak to 59 straight games.
Pac-10
At Los Angeles, Jon Brockman scored 20 points and Isaiah Thomas sparked a decisive second-half spurt with nine points as No. 13 Washington beat Stanford 85-73. The Huskies (25-7) will play 23rd-ranked Arizona State (23-8) in Friday’s semifinals.
Pac-10 player of the year James Harden had 27 points and eight rebounds to help the Sun Devils put Arizona’s long NCAA tournament streak in jeopardy. Arizona (19-13) has appeared in 24 straight NCAA tournaments, the longest active streak and second-longest behind the 27-year streak by North Carolina from 1975-2001.
4-53 and will play crosstown rival USC, a 79-75 winner over California. Darren Collison scored 15 points for the Bruins (25-7).
ACC
At Atlanta, Lewis Clinch set a career high with 32 points and last-place Georgia Tech pulled off the first upset of the tournament, defeating No. 17 Clemson 86-81. Clemson (23-8) has never won the ACC tournament.
Atlantic 10
At Atlantic City, N.J., B.J. Raymond had 18 points, and C.J. Anderson added 15 for top-seeded No. 19 Xavier in a 66-47 victory over Saint Louis. Xavier used a 14-0 run spanning halftime to take control.
Mountain West
At Las Vegas, Jimmer Fredette scored 21 points and Jonathan Tavernari had 19 points and 11 rebounds in No. 25 BYU’s 80-69 win over Air Force.
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