College Basketball Capsules - Men: No. 9 Baylor beats Iowa State

Here's the thing, though: He backs up the bravado when the game is on the line.

Taylor scored 10 of his 20 points during a key stretch of the second half Monday night, allowing the Jayhawks to survive a stiff test from the Wildcats in a 59-53 victory.

And it was Taylor who had the last word.

"They had a chance to talk to me while I was warming up," he said of the fans in Bramlage Coliseum. "I felt like I had my chance to talk to them a little bit after the game."

Taylor popped the front of his jersey in the closing minutes, no doubt irking the purple-clad fans who had worked themselves into a frenzy during the Wildcats' second-half charge.

The one that Taylor seemed to answer all by himself.

"Tyshawn has been unbelievable in conference play," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "Arguably as good a player as there is in the league in conference play."

Jeff Withey added 18 points 11 rebounds and nine blocks in another impressive performance, helping make up for an off game by Thomas Robinson and allow the Jayhawks (21-5, 11-2 Big 12) to win for the 36th time in their last 39 games against the Interstate 70 rival.

Kansas moved one-half game ahead of No. 3 Missouri (23-2, 10-2), which plays Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, in the race for the regular-season conference championship.

Jamar Samuels had a season-high 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats (17-8, 6-7), who missed out on a golden opportunity to tack a signature win on its NCAA tournament resume.

The Wildcats were not without their chances.

They briefly pulled ahead midway through the second half, and were within 55-51 when Rodney McGruder knocked down a jumper with 1:14 left in the game. But they came up empty on their next three trips down the court, unable to take advantage of the Jayhawks' balky foul shooting.

"This loss hurt," Samuels said.

McGruder finished with 12 points for Kansas State, while Will Spradling had 10.

"When you've got grown men playing for you, it makes our guys look like little kids," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "We have to prepare our guys to handle those situations."

The Jayhawks, who used a big first-half run en route to a 67-49 win in Lawrence last month, got off to another good start. Robinson's basket made it 23-12 with 4:09 left before halftime, part of a stretch in which Kansas State went 7 minutes without scoring.

Thomas Gipson finally got on the board with 2:15 remaining, the first points by anyone besides Samuels and McGruder for Kansas State. Samuels added two free throws in the final minute to get the Wildcats within 28-18 at halftime.

It was the start of their only sustained run. Spradling hit a jumper out of halftime, and Samuels knocked down two 3-pointers — a big confidence boost for someone who came into the game shooting 22.9 percent beyond the arc.

"He always makes 3s against us," Self said.

Samuels' second 3-pointer got Kansas State within 32-30, and a basket by Jordan Henriquez a couple minutes later tied the game. Gipson's free throw with 11:47 left gave the Wildcats a 37-36 lead, their first since it was 2-1 in the opening minutes of the game.

It didn't last long.

Taylor rattled in a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock hit zero to put Kansas back into the lead. He added another 3 moments later, and Withey grabbed an offensive board and managed to coax home a layup as the Jayhawks stretched it open.

Kansas State struggled to find an answer after the Jayhawks switched to a zone defense.

"Those junk defenses — and I say that in a nice way, not a negative way — they're made to get you to stand around," Martin said. "They got the mission accomplished."

Taylor added a circus-like layup to make it 47-37 with 6:29 left, forcing Martin to call a timeout. The Jayhawks kept pouring on the pressure, with Taylor answering a basket by Gipson with his own soaring dunk along the baseline.

Gipson lost his cool on the next trip down court. The big freshman stood his ground and drew a charge on Robinson, his fourth foul, but said something as the two stood up. He was hit with a technical foul, and Withey knocked down both free throws to restore a 10-point lead.

Kansas survived some tense moments down the stretch to win another game in Manhattan.

"We're going to have to keep fighting these battles to win the league," Taylor said. "We just have to keep battling and keep getting better, because we still have a couple of tough games."

-- Dave Skretta

Polls

Syracuse (26-1, 13-1 Big East) held the Cardinals (20-6, 8-5) without a point over the final 3½ minutes and Fair hit the go-ahead layup with 2:11 left.

Fab Melo scored 11 points and the best shooting team in the Big East overcame a 34.4 percent effort, including 1 of 15 from 3-point range, to win for the sixth straight time since losing at Notre Dame.

Freshman Chane Behanan had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who had won six straight conference games.

The Orange came in shooting 48.1 this season, while the Cardinals' defensive field goal percentage was fourth-best in the nation at 37.2.

Harris a game-time decision with broken left hand

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett says sophomore guard Joe Harris will be a game-time decision against Clemson because of a broken left hand.

Bennett said Monday during a weekly teleconference that Harris hurt the hand during Saturday's 70-52 loss at then-No. 5 North Carolina. Harris scored eight points and played 35 minutes against the Tar Heels. He is the second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg) for No. 22 Virginia heading into Tuesday night's game at Clemson. The injury is not on his shooting hand and Bennett said Harris could play with protective padding.

The Cavaliers are already thin off the bench as starting center Assane Sene is expected to miss several more weeks after having ankle surgery. Forward James Johnson and guard KT Harrell transferred out of the program in December.

News & Notes

Grant: Releford, Steele could play vs Gators

Crimson Tide coach Anthony Grant said Monday that guards Trevor Releford and Andrew Steele will "most likely" return for a game that could supply a huge boost for the NCAA tournament hopes of a team once flirting with the top 10 — or a second-straight setback minus key players.

"The main thing right now for our guys to understand is the importance of making good decisions and understanding the consequences when you make poor decisions and then moving on from that and learning from that," Grant said. "So we're dealing with that. It's disappointing and unfortunate that we have to deal with this in the middle of the season.

"It is what it is, so right now as a team we have to focus on the things we can control, and we have a very challenging game here against a very talented opponent in Florida. We have to get ready to play the game."

Grant suspended Green, Releford and Steele indefinitely a few hours before Saturday's loss at LSU for violating team rules, sending them packing for Tuscaloosa before tipoff.

That was also the second game of Mitchell's suspension.

The disciplinary actions left the Tide (16-8, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) without players responsible for 69 percent of its scoring, 57 percent of rebounding and 54 percent of assists even after that game at a time when the stakes are ratcheted up. Green and Mitchell are the team's top scorers and rebounders, while Releford leads Alabama in assists and Steele is a key role player.

Grant said his decision to hold the players out had much to do with the long-term quality of the program and trying to build "the values and standards that you want your team to represent." He hasn't elaborated on the reasons for the suspensions.

Grant declined to say if the violations of Mitchell and Green were more serious, but reiterated that their suspension remained indefinite.

"I don't want to get into that, that's just the way it is right now," he said.

This is the third time Grant has suspended Green, a first-team All-SEC player, during his three seasons, including a three-game string early last season and one game at the end of 2009-10.

Grant didn't rule it out when asked if he had a "three-strike" policy that might keep Green from returning.

"I'll make some decisions on that later," he said. "Right now my focus is on getting prepared for Florida."

Alabama had risen to No. 12 in the rankings in December and won three straight before the LSU game.

The bold decision on the suspensions was no surprise to Gators coach Billy Donovan, who was Grant's boss for a dozen years at Marshall and Florida.

"I know Anthony Grant about as well as anybody, and I think that he has got incredible integrity and character and knows exactly the way he wants his program run and what he's going to do," Donovan said.

The Tide's eight remaining players — half of them freshmen — managed to come fairly close before losing 67-58 to LSU, with freshman Rodney Cooper scoring 28 points. Alabama had beaten Auburn by 18 points without Mitchell.

Now comes a much bigger challenge, even with Releford and Steele.

The Gators (19-6, 7-3) opened last March with a 78-51 rout of a Tide team that still had aspirations of winning an SEC title and making the NCAA field.

Florida is also short-handed, but because of injuries. The Gators won't have their top subs, forward Will Yeguete (concussion) and guard Mike Rosario (bruised hip), for the game, Donovan said.

Apparently, Grant subscribes to his old coach's philosophy that "in order to win big, you've got to be prepared to lose big."

"I think Anthony's attitude is he's not going to be the kind of guy that's just going to plug holes in a leaking ship," Donovan said. "He's just not going to plug it because eventually that stuff, at some point it's going to rear its head and it's going to bite you.

"There's a certain way I think Anthony wants to go about his team playing, what they want to do every single day in practice, how they want to conduct themselves. I'd say right now Anthony probably has the full attention of his team, because they know right now there's a certain way they have to do things or they're not going to play."

-- John Zenor

Mississippi State trying to correct poor defense

So as the Bulldogs (19-6, 6-4 SEC) prepare for a two-game road trip that begins tomorrow against LSU (14-10, 4-6), coach Rick Stansbury is trying to make some adjustments following a stunning 70-68 home loss to Georgia on Saturday.

"Sometimes (the defense) has been good, but the consistency is not where we want it to be," Stansbury said. "You've got to rebound and defend on the road."

Ten games into the league schedule, the numbers are ugly. The Bulldogs are giving up 71.8 points per game, which ranks 11th out of 12 teams. Opponents are shooting 46.3 percent from the floor (10th place), including a whopping 41.6 percent (12th) from 3-point range. Mississippi State has also forced just 79 turnovers, which is easily the worst mark in the league.

The problems are surprising considering there's no obvious reason the Bulldogs should be struggling. They have three athletic perimeter defenders in Dee Bost, Brian Bryant and Rodney Hood and also one of the league's biggest frontcourts with Arnett Moultrie (6-foot-11), Renardo Sidney (6-10) and Wendell Lewis (6-9) patrolling the paint.

But a lack of depth has taken a toll.

Stansbury has routinely played with a seven or eight-man rotation, leading to a heavy load for Bost, Moultrie and Hood, who rank first, second and third, respectively, in the SEC in minutes played per game. Not only is fatigue a factor, but there's also some hesitation to contest shots because there aren't many options on the bench if someone gets into foul trouble.

Stansbury agrees his team has to pick its spots, but that doesn't explain the consistent issues.

"There's been times that our lack of depth has caused problems late in games fatigue-wise," Stansbury said. "But you've got to find a way to push through it down the stretch."

Mississippi State's latest loss to Georgia caused the program to drop from the AP's top 25 for the first time since November. Though the Bulldogs still appear to have a good shot at making the NCAA Tournament, they can't afford many more missteps.

"We have to bounce back and I feel like we de?nitely still have what it takes," Bost said. "We just have to keep pushing forward for the rest of the season."

Beating LSU won't be easy. Though the Tigers are below .500 in the SEC, they've won four of their five home games in league play. LSU fought Mississippi State until the final seconds on Jan. 25 in Starkville before eventually losing 76-71.

LSU coach Trent Johnson said his team's good health is crucial going into the regular season's final three weeks. Justin Hamilton, a 7-foot-0 transfer from Iowa State, is averaging a team-high 13.8 points per game, but the Tigers also have a deep bench, which could be very useful when trying to wear down the Bulldogs.

"I'm just looking forward here to having everyone because, obviously, we're playing a team that's one of the most talented in this league," Johnson said.

Stansbury said he was relying on Bost, his senior point guard, to be the "head of the snake" and help the Bulldogs bounce back.

"We're going to play a really good LSU team — they're much improved and they're good," Stansbury said. "Coming off a win or a loss it's a huge challenge either way. When you get on the road everybody's good. There's just no margin for error."

-- David Brandt

Pressure builds on Illini coach Weber

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Mike Thomas has been athletic director at Illinois for five very busy months. He fired football coach Ron Zook three months after being hired and then hired Zook's replacement, Tim Beckman, over the protests of two university trustees who complained that the new coach wasn't black.

Broncos coach Kerry Keating said in a statement Monday that he "will continue to work with Kevin moving forward." Foster has missed the last seven games and hasn't played since being arrested Jan. 21 on suspicion of drunken driving.

The junior guard is averaging 17.8 points. The Broncos (8-17, 0-12) have struggled in his absence and are still winless in the conference this season. Santa Clara hosts No. 24 Gonzaga on Thursday night.