No. 5 Ohio State a 69-68 win over Michigan
Evan Turner's accuracy was off, and the player widely regarded as one of the nation's best was becoming visibly frustrated in the final minutes.
When the game clock showed 2.2 seconds, those issues no longer mattered.
Turner took an inbounds pass, dribbled upcourt and drained a 37-footer at the buzzer to give No. 5 Ohio State a 69-68 win over Michigan on Friday in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals Indianapolis.
"You can't really practice for those moments, you just have to come out and come ready," he said.
Turner finished with 18 points and eight assists for the Buckeyes (25-7), who advanced to play Illinois.
In other Big Ten games, Devoe Joseph made two of his three 3-pointers during a decisive 10-0 overtime run, leading the Gophers to a 72-67 overtime upset of No. 11 Michigan State and perhaps into next week's bigger tournament.
Mike Tisdale scored 21 points and Demetri McCamey had 13 as Illinois hung on for an 58-54 upset of No. 13 Wisconsin. The Fighting Illini (19-13) is hoping the win solidifies its NCAA hopes.
Wisconsin (23-8) was led by Trevon Hughes and Jon Leuer, each with 14 points.
Jason Bohannon's 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds left clanked off the front of the rim, Mike Davis grabbed the rebound for Illinois, made 1 of 2 free throws and the Illini hung on. The loss ended Wisconsin's four-game winning streak and prevented coach Bo Ryan from earning his 600th career win.
Big 12: Xavier Henry scored 11 points in a stunning 21-2 run that broke a tight game wide open and carried No. 1 Kansas past No. 23 Texas A&M 79-66 in a rough-and-tumble Big 12 semifinal in Kansas City, Mo.
Texas A&M (23-9) led by as many as nine points early in the second half while the regular-season Big 12 champion Jayhawks (31-2) fouled and fumbled and committed turnover after turnover.
In other Big 12 action, Dominique Sutton had a double-double and a key offensive rebound that led to Jacob Pullen's 3-pointer with 2:02 left, helping No. 9 Kansas State survive for a 82-75 win over No. 21 Baylor.
Sutton provided the early spark for listless Kansas State (26-6) early and finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds to send the second-seeded Wildcats into their first Big 12 championship game against rival Kansas.
Big East: Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia's last-second hero in the quarterfinals, scored 24 points to lead the No. 7 Mountaineers over Notre Dame 53-51 in the Big East tournament semifinals.
Third-seeded West Virginia (26-6) will face eighth-seeded Georgetown in the championship game Saturday night. The Mountaineers are looking for their first title; the Hoyas a record eighth.
ACC: Kyle Singler had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 4 Duke pulled away late to beat pesky Virginia 57-46 in an Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinal in Greensboro, N.C.
Nolan Smith added 15 points for the top-seeded Blue Devils (27-5) and Jon Scheyer shook off a rough start to score 15 - including seven during the late 11-0 run that sent them into Saturday's semifinal against 12th-seeded Miami.
SEC: John Wall had 23 points, including seven straight in the second half to give the Wildcats the lead for good, and Kentucky overcame an 11-point deficit to beat 73-67 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Kentucky (30-2) will play No. 15 Tennessee in the semifinals Saturday looking to add a 26th tournament title to the 44th regular-season championship.
Mikhail Torrance led Alabama (17-15) with 20 points.
Copyright (c) 2010 - San Jose Mercury News
A parity pickle
A muddled mess.
That's what "bracketologists" - those who most closely follow the NCAA Tournament selection process - might call the growing logjam of good-but-unremarkable teams still hoping to catch the eyes of the men's selection committee with strong performances in conference tournaments.
UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, chairman of the committee, would agree.
"This year many of us (on the committee) think the overarching theme will be parity," Guerrero said during a recent teleconference. "There are some exceptional teams out there, some pretty good teams and a lot of good teams."
The 65-team field will be unveiled a week from today. College basketball's "Selection Sunday" may rank second only to "Super Bowl Sunday" in interest among today's sports fans.
A major reason: so many "bubble" teams, not enough lines on the bracket.
There are nearly two dozen teams with conference records ranging from two games over .500 to two games below, and that's just among the "Big Six" (BCS) conferences. Other conferences with several strong teams throw another monkey wrench into the equation.
"This could be one of the most difficult years for the committee," Guerrero said. "A great number of teams look alike. Parity will make seeding and selecting those last few teams in the field a bear.
"We are looking for the very best teams that we can possibly get into this field irrespective of what colors they wear, what kind of history they have, what trophies they've won in the past, what their mascots look like. We're looking for the best basketball teams."
Here are some items of interest with the official March Madness a week away.
Didn't you used to be...
A regular in the NCAA Tournament?
It's not happening this year for Saint Joseph's (11-19, 5-11 Atlantic 10), North Carolina (16-15, 5-11 ACC), Southern Illinois (15-15, 6-12 MVC), Oklahoma (13-17, 4-12 Big 12), Stanford (13-17, 7-11 Pac-10), Indiana (10-20, 4-14 Big Ten) and LSU (11-19, 2-14 SEC).
Stat-sheet stuffer
Ohio State junior Evan Turner, right, a 6-foot-7 combo guard from Chicago who has NBA scouts drooling, leads the Big Ten Conference in scoring (19.5) and rebounding (9.4) and is second in assists (5.9) and steals (1.8).
"You got a kid that has mobility and size and height, and yet he can play point guard and control the game," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "That's the toughest thing for everybody to deal with."
Turner, who has 13 double-doubles and two triple-doubles, missed six games after fracturing two vertebrae in a nasty fall in early December against Eastern Michigan. Without him, No. 6-ranked Ohio State went 3-3, which could help his cause in voting for national player-of-the- year honors.
The envelope, please
Last year, the Big East and Big Ten led all conferences with seven NCAA Tournament bids apiece.
Our guess for next Sunday? The Big East ties its NCAA record (2006, 2008) with eight invitations, and the Big 12 lands seven bids for the first time in its history.
No "aircraft carriers"?
That's what the late coach and commentator Al McGuire called hulking centers who could carry a team by themselves. Those players have all but disappeared in the college game.
There are a few to keep your eye on during the NCAA Tournament, however, including 6-11 junior Cole Aldrich of Kansas, 6-11 junior A.J. Ogilivy of Vanderbilt, 6-11 sophomore Greg Monroe of Georgetown and 6-9 senior Jarvis Varnado of Mississippi State.
That's not exactly Wilt, Russell, Walton or Shaq, however.
Wall of awards
If Kentucky point guard John Wall gets nosed out by Ohio State's Evan Turner for national player-of-the-year honors, he will still receive enough plaques, including national freshman of the year and SEC player of the year, to adorn several walls.
New Jersey Nets fans are already holding their breath in anticipation of the NBA's May 18 draft lottery. Kentucky coach John Calipari, who lost one-and-done Derrick Rose to the pros two years ago while at Memphis, told the New York Daily News: "If John Wall was the first pick in the draft and decided he wanted to come back (to Kentucky), I wouldn't let him. We'd be wrestling on the floor."
Said Wall of the Nets: "They're not very good... I watch 'SportsCenter' all night."
One-bid conferences
That's the harsh reality for most of the 25 conferences that aren't among the power conferences of the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-10.
Last year, the 25 non-BCS leagues combined to snare a total of just four of the 34 available at-large bids in the NCAA Tournament field. That number could rise a bit this year, with the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 demonstrating better depth.
But a coach such as Northern Colorado's Tad Boyle knows that his team must win its conference tournament or hope for a call from the NIT as a consolation prize.
"You can't be thinking that you are two or three games or whatever from the NCAA Tournament," Boyle said in looking toward this week's Big Sky Conference Tournament. "If you do that, you'll forget what you need to do to win. The most important game is your next game."
The other Kansas team
Don't look now, but Kansas State has jumped to No. 5 in the coaches' poll. Predictions that the Wildcats would slide back to mediocrity after Bob Huggins left in 2007 for West Virginia were greatly exaggerated. His successor, Frank Martin, is a top candidate for Big 12 coach of the year.
Led by veteran guards Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen and a slew of springy forwards, Kansas State is vying for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the preseason, Big 12 coaches picked the Wildcats to finish fourth in the conference. They are all believers now.
"I think Kansas State is a heck of a basketball team and a well-coached team, and I expect them to go deep in the NCAA Tournament," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "They're kind of living in the shadow of another great team (Kansas) in their state. From a national standpoint, they're under the radar. But once that ball is thrown up, they won't be under the radar."
Pac-10 woes
Unless league leader California (No. 21 RPI) loses in the conference tournament, the Pac-10 could get only one bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Five Pac-10 teams received bids last year, and six each in 2008 and 2007. But coaching changes and player attrition caught up with the conference this year. The Pac-10 had a total of 21 players drafted by the NBA the past two years, including 13 first-rounders. The ACC, Big 12 and Big East tied for next best, each with a total of 13 draftees over the two-year span.
Cal appears to be a shoo-in for an NCAA bid, even if it gets bounced in the Pac-10 Tournament. Washington (No. 53 RPI) and Arizona State (No. 54 RPI) would be the next-best candidates. But Washington lost at home to Southern Cal and Oregon, and Arizona State's most impressive nonconference victory would be, um, against San Diego State.
Betting on Boeheim
At age 65, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has a national championship (thank you, Carmelo Anthony), 26 NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA-record 32 seasons of at least 20 victories and the program's first No. 1 regular- season ranking in two decades.
Boeheim is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, but one honor has eluded him. He has never been voted national coach of the year.
Considering that his Orange was nowhere to be found in the preseason top-25 poll and had to replace three starters - Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris - off last year's Sweet 16 team, Boeheim looks to be the odds-on favorite to finally claim that elusive award.
Seeding risers and fallers
Five recent risers: Duke, Kansas State, Ohio State, Temple, Baylor
Five recent fallers: Texas, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Wake Forest
Cole and Sherron
No team in the NCAA Tournament will have a more lethal inside-outside combination than Kansas, with 6-foot-11 junior center Cole Aldrich, right, and 5-11 senior guard Sherron Collins.
Aldrich ranks among the nation's leaders in rebounding and blocked shots. Collins, built like a fireplug, has come up with clutch shots in a number of situations to keep the Jayhawks rolling. Defensively, he's often called upon to check the opponent's best outside shooter.
The pair have developed a beautiful chemistry on the court, with Collins knowing when to toss the ball into Aldrich, and Aldrich able to fling an outlet pass to Collins and start a fast break.
"It's funny, because we grew up in completely different environments," Aldrich said. "Sherron is from Chicago, and I'm just a kid from suburban Minneapolis. But it works."
Copyright 2010 The Denver Post
Michigan State knocks Purdue out of Big Ten lead
Raymar Morgan had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help 14th-ranked Michigan State beat No.3 Purdue 53-44 yesterday in West Lafayette, Ind., and snap the Boilermakers' 10-game winning streak.
Draymond Green added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans (22-7, 12-4), who avenged a 76-64 loss to the Boilermakers on Feb.9 in East Lansing.
E'Twaun Moore scored 12 points and JaJuan Johnson and Chris Kramer 11 each for the Boilermakers in their first game since losing forward Robbie Hummel. The team's No. 2 scorer and rebounder suffered a torn knee ligament Wednesday against Minnesota and will miss the rest of the season.
"As soon as Rob went down, our backs went up against the wall," Kramer said. "We still control our own destiny. Everything we did wrong is fixable."
Men's highlights
Xavier 78, No. 23 Richmond 76, 2OT - Terrell Holloway scored seven of his 24 points during the second overtime, leading host Xavier (21-7, 12-2) past Richmond (22-7, 11-3) in a showdown for first place in the Atlantic 10.
Xavier remains tied with Temple. The Owls beat the Musketeers in the teams' only head-to-head game this season, giving them the first tiebreaker should the two finish with identical conference records.
Xavier hasn't lost a conference home game since the end of the 2005-06 season, running off 31 in a row - the second-longest streak in league history.
Iowa 73, Indiana 57 - Matt Gatens scored a career-high 25 points and Iowa (10-19, 4-12 Big Ten) beat Indiana (9-19, 3-13) in Iowa City.
Iowa grabbed a 17-4 lead and was in control the rest of the way.
Penn State 79, Northwestern 60 - Talor Battle had 16 points and six assists and Penn State (11-17, 3-13 Big Ten) beat Northwestern (18-11, 7-10) in State College, Pa.
Jeff Brooks added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Nittany Lions, who shot 57 percent from the field.
Women's highlights
No. 5 Xavier 74, Fordham 59 - Ta'Shia Phillips scored a season-high 25 points, making 11 of 12 shots from the field, and host Xavier (24-3, 14-0) beat Fordham (8-21, 2-12) to clinch the school's first undefeated season in Atlantic 10 play.
The Musketeers became just the sixth team to run through the conference unbeaten.
North Carolina 64, No. 6 Duke 54 - Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half to help host North Carolina (18-10, 6-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) upset Duke (24-5, 12-2) and earn a needed victory for its shaky NCAA Tournament hopes.
Waltiea Rolle added 12 points, seven rebounds and six blocks for the Tar Heels, who pushed ahead for good behind DeGraffenreid in the final 10 minutes.
(c)2010, Dispatch Interactive
Gonzaga's Courtney Vandersloot sets WCC assists recordSAN DIEGO -- Tiffanie Shives scored 20 points and Courtney Vandersloot had 18 points and nine assists to help No. 22 Gonzaga beat San Diego 75-61 Saturday.
Vandersloot, a Kentwood High School graduate, became the West Coast Conference all-time assists leader, surpassing former San Diego player Amanda Rego.
Vandersloot, a junior, has 663 career assists.
The victory was the 12th in a row for the Zags (21-4 overall, 10-0 WCC).
San Diego (14-11, 6-5) was behind 63-56 with 6:02 remaining, but Vandersloot made a three-point basket to ease the Zags back in front by 10.
Vivian Frieson, a former standout at Garfield High in Seattle, had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Gonzaga.
Top 5 women
At No. 1 Connecticut 66, No. 25 St. John's 52
Tina Charles scored 25 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds as the Huskies (25-0, 12-0 Big East) beat the Red Storm (20-5, 8-4) and extended their winning streak to 64 games.
No. 3 Nebraska 82, at Missouri 78
Kelsey Griffin had 28 points as the Huskers (23-0, 10-0 Big 12) edged the Tigers (11-13, 1-10).
Eastern Washington 60
Sarah Ena, a graduate of Inglemoor High in Kenmore, had 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Grizzlies (13-11, 8-4 Big Sky) past the Eagles (15-9, 8-3).
Copyright (c) 2010 The Seattle Times Company
Rose yet to win in Vegas
Las Vegas -- All those gamblers who walk away empty-handed from the gaudy Las Vegas Strip have some company. Brigham Young University's men's basketball team never does well here, either.
Officially, the spacious arena a few blocks up Tropicana Avenue from the Strip is known as the Thomas & Mack Center, but for the Cougars, it is the House of Horrors -- especially when they are playing against UNLV.
"When we play the Rebels at their place, it is always a tough time to get things done," said BYU senior forward Jonathan Tavernari, who played high school basketball here and calls himself a "Vegas guy."
Having not defeated UNLV (18-4) here since 2005, and before that since 2000, the No. 12-ranked Cougars (22-2) will try to scratch their five-year itch today (2 p.m. MST, Versus) in a hugely important game that could either give them a commanding lead in the Mountain West Conference race, or throw them back into the pack with the Rebels and New Mexico.
UNLV has beaten BYU six straight times on the T&M floor, four in MWC regular-season games and twice in the finals of the MWC Tournament. The average score in those six games is 77-65, although most have been close until the last few minutes.
"It is a tough place to play, but it is a good place. It is a great venue," said BYU coach Dave Rose, who has never downed UNLV in Sin City. "They are good, and they've been good. That's the issue here."
Oddly, BYU beat UNLV 82-72 in overtime five years ago Friday in the middle of its worse season (9-21) since 1997, so records are not a strong indicator as to why the Cougars have struggled here. Rose is a league-best 22-9 at other MWC road venues during the same stretch.
Struggling Utah beat the Rebels here 73-69 on Jan. 16, but Rose and Tavernari said that means nothing because BYU matches up with UNLV much differently, and because, well, when BYU comes to town it is like UNLV's Super Bowl.
"It is going to be a sell-out crowd [18,500] for them, so we have to make sure we keep the crowd on their heels, and we are the aggressors," Tavernari said. "We have the bull's-eye on our back whenever we play there, but even with that we have to make sure we are the ones that are making it happen, ... because if we are chasing them, it is not even a dogfight."
Both teams will be without a key role player. BYU's Brandon Davies is out after having an appendectomy Wednesday; UNLV's Derrick Jasper is out after spraining the MCL in his left knee last week. Both players scored four points and had four rebounds in BYU's 77-73 win over UNLV last month in Provo.
"I think that it is all about matchups," said Rose, when asked if Utah's win over UNLV here last month gives the Cougars hope. "And our matchup with them is: They really try to extend their defense and get us in operational areas further away from the basket. We will just need to be aggressive and take advantage, and when we have advantages capitalize on those advantages."
sltrib.com
St. Joe's coach wins 200th; UConn keeps rolling
Brittany Ford scored 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half as St. Joseph's beat George Washington, 63-47, yesterday at Hagan Arena to give coach Cindy Griffin her 200th career victory.
Griffin is 200-152 in 12 years as a head coach at St. Joe's and Loyola (Md.).
With the Hawks (11-10, 4-2 Atlantic Ten) trailing, 30-29, early in the second half, Ford scored seven points in a 9-0 run that gave the Hawks the lead for good.
The Colonials (5-15, 2-5 A-10) cut the deficit to 42-38, but St. Joseph's went on a 13-0 run to put the game away.
Connecticut 98, Pittsburgh 56 - Tina Charles scored 24 points, and the No. 1 Huskies coasted to their 60th straight victory, over the overwhelmed Panthers in Pittsburgh.
Maya Moore, part of the inside-outside combination that has made these Huskies (21-0, 8-0 in Big East) one of the best teams in UConn's wildly successful history, added 22 points. UConn is now 10 victories from matching its own NCAA women's record for consecutive wins.
St. Bonaventure 64, Temple 54 - Dana Mitchell led four players in double figures with 18 points as the visiting Bonnies (16-6, 4-3 Atlantic Ten) beat the Owls (15-6, 4-2), snapping their five-game winning streak.
Temple's LaKeisha Eaddy scored five points to reach 1,000 for her career.
Kristen McCarthy led Temple with 16 points, and Jasmine Stone had 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Fordham 57, La Salle 47 - The Explorers (5-17, 0-7 Atlantic Ten) were outscored by 16 points from the foul line in their loss to the Rams (8-14, 2-5) in New York.
Fordham shot 19 of 23 from the free-throw line, including 10 of 11 in the final five minutes. The Explorers went to the line three times and were 3 of 5.
Tara Lapetina led La Salle with nine points.
Seton Hall 53, Villanova 49 - Kandice Green scored 20 points and hauled down 12 rebounds as the Pirates (9-13, 1-8 Big East) edged the Wildcats (11-9, 0-7) at the Pavilion.
Sarah Jones had 15 points and Maria Getty 11 for 'Nova.
Elsewhere: Brittany Whetts scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Neumann beat Cedar Crest, 70-63, in Aston. . . . Delaware Valley opened with a 36-6 run en route to an 84-66 victory over Misericordia in Doylestown. Brittney Zimmerman scored 26 points for the Aggies. . . . Janelle Garber and Megan Stewart led four starters in double figures with 15 points each as visiting West Chester trounced East Stroudsburg, 82-55.
Lindsay Alexander scored 14 points, but Chestnut Hill fell to visiting Nyack, 54-43. . . . Widener got 12 points from Kate Dellinger in its 62-45 setback to visiting Messiah. . . . BriAnna Lucas scored 27 points as William Paterson handed a 70-67 loss to host Rowan, which got 33 points and 22 rebounds from Amanda Jennings.
Despite making just two field goals in the second half, University of the Sciences held on to beat visiting Dominican College (N.Y.), 45-42, behind Caitlin Shaw's 14 points and 15 rebounds. . . . Nina Voith scored 14 points for Haverford in its 53-46 loss to host Dickinson.
philly.com
Utah's Henderson doing more than shooting
Utah freshman Marshall Henderson is quickly gaining a reputation for his shooting, but it's his other play that is gaining praise from his coaches and teammates.
Henderson, who had 22 points in the Utes' 71-54 win Saturday over Air Force, has scored in double figures for four straight games but is doing more than just looking for his shot, Utah coach Jim Boylen said.
"I expect him to play winning basketball, that is what I tell him," he said. "I expect him to shoot when he's open, drive and pitch when you're not and make other people better. I think he has improved a ton defensively. He has improved a ton."
As Boylen said: Henderson's scoring is his strength, and it's something that continues to improve even as other areas of his game strengthen too.
He was 6-for-11 on Saturday, including 4-for-8 from three-point distance. He tied the school record for three-pointers by a freshman (43) with his performance and needs just 10 three-pointers to tie the MWC record for three-pointers, held by Robert Todd of Air Force set in 2000-01.
Henderson already owns the school record for most three-point attempts by a freshman (129) and is close to the MWC record of 142, set by CSU's Stephen Gilling in 2005-06.
Henderson said the record doesn't matter to him. "I'll care about that after the season," he said.
But clearly his shooting does matter, giving him the most satisfaction even when he admittedly makes poor decisions.
"Sometimes I'll do something so crazy no one in the whole gym can explain and I'll get called over," he said. "I'll remember it until at least the next dead ball."
He is having fewer of those moments as evidenced by Saturday's performance. He had two turnovers, but had a steal, an assist and two rebounds in his 17 minutes of work.
"Coming in I was the worst defender in the world, now I'm the second worst," he said. "The shot selection is a huge thing. I still take bad shots, but not as much."
Henderson said his teammates have helped him make the switch from high school to the collegiate game and continue to guide him with advice.
"[Luka] Drca is always in my ear telling me something I did wrong or how I can do this better or that," he said. "It really helps. It's like they're another coach out there. Carlon [Brown] and Kim [Tillie] are the same way. It helps, they understand I might do something really stupid."
Luckily, he also does plenty right, too.
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