Texas and Big 12 Basketball Capsules: No. 1 KU beats No. 9 K-State
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Snip by snip, the Kansas Jayhawks took down another championship net.
So what if there are bigger goals still ahead.
Winning a title feels good anytime, especially against a rival in an atmosphere like this.
Balanced and sharp when it needed to be, No. 1 Kansas won its seventh Big 12 tournament title Saturday night, holding off No. 9 Kansas State 72-64 inside an ear-ringing Sprint Center.
"Having a chance to beat, in our estimation, one of the best teams in the country in a great atmosphere against your state rival in Kansas City makes it a little more special than if we’d been playing anybody else," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Taking the stage in one of the biggest sporting events in Kansas City’s history, the Jayhawks (32-2) wore down the Wildcats defensively and came to life briefly on offense in the second half to beat their rivals for the third time this season.
The Jayhawks won a sixth straight regular-season Big 12 title and capped that with a gritty three-game run through one of the toughest conference tournaments in the country, a combination that’ll likely earn them a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament when the brackets are announced Sunday.
Marcus Morris had 18 points, Tyrel Reed added 15 and Kansas held the Wildcats to 34 percent shooting to keep the Sunflower Showdown a lopsided affair with its 41st win — six in the Big 12 tournament — in 43 games since 1994. Sherron Collins added 12 points and seven assists for the Jayhawks.
"I think we have some momentum going into the NCAA tournament," said Reed, who hit both 3-point attempts and was 7 of 9 on free throws. "We’ll celebrate tonight and starting tomorrow start focusing on our first-round opponent."
Kansas State (26-7) had visions of ending its conference tournament title drought at 30 years against the one team it wants to beat the most. The Wildcats gave themselves a shot behind a scrappy defensive effort, but didn’t have an answer when Kansas made its second-half push.
Now, Kansas State goes into Selection Sunday hoping its school-record 26 wins and top-10 strength of schedule will be enough to sway the committee into giving it a high seed.
Denis Clemente had 17 points, Jamar Samuels 14 and Jacob Pullen added 13 for K-State.
"We went to the championship and went nose-to-nose with the bear," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "We were right there and just couldn’t finish it off."
The two regular-season meetings were among the biggest in the rivalry’s 103-year history.
The opening act was in the Little Apple, where Kansas squeezed out a taut overtime victory that was among the best games of the college basketball season.
Part II was pre-billed as one of the greatest Sunflower Showdowns ever, the teams ranked in the top 5 against each other for the first time in 52 years. It was a bit of a flop, Kansas winning easily in Collins’ Allen Fieldhouse finale.
The final act — well, barring a fourth in the NCAA tournament — was a rivalry intertwined with bigger prizes: another Big 12 tournament title for Kansas, K-State’s first ever, a probable No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament on the line, big-time bragging rights.
Even with less than 24 hours of buildup, it was a monumental event, one of the biggest in Kansas City sports history. Maybe not on the level of Danny and the Miracles winning a national title for Kansas at Kemper Arena in 1988 or the I-70 World Series won by the Royals three years earlier, but a top-fiver for sure.
"There won’t be a better atmosphere in America for a final (of a) conference tournament," Self said.
It’s hard to argue.
The entire city was juiced for it, seemingly everyone wearing crimson or purple, talking smack in the mall, the grocery store.
Two hours before the game, the Power & Light District outside the Sprint Center was shoulder-to-shoulder. Inside was a purple-and-blue checkerboard of fans filling the 18,897-seat arena to the brim, the roars and boos colliding in a floor-shaking fury with each momentum swing.
What swings there were.
Mostly, it was a lot of missed shots, offensive fouls and not much separation.
Kansas State missed its first 12 attempts against KU’s pressure before finally scoring on Wally Judge’s tip 5:14 into the game. The Jayhawks had similar problems with Kansas State’s overplaying defense, managing five points during the Wildcats’ scoreless start.
The clangs continued throughout the first half and the teams combined to shoot 13 of 67, with Kansas clinging to a 31-27 lead.
The trend continued into the second half until Kansas started to find seams and the bottom of the net midway through.
Kansas pushed the lead to 62-52 on Collins’ half-hook runner in the lane with just over five minutes left and answered every Kansas State challenge after that to head into the NCAA tournament with a head of steam.
"KU is the best team in the country," Martin said. "Every time we made a push today, they answered. That’s what makes them so difficult to beat. They never give in."
Big 12 Women
Texas A&M hands Nebraska first loss of season
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nebraska’s unbeaten season finally came to an end. Now the Cornhuskers will try and regroup for the NCAA tournament.
Danielle Adams scored 20 of her 22 points in the second half and 11th-ranked Texas A&M handed No. 3 Nebraska its first loss of the season with an 80-70 upset in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament on Saturday.
"They definitely beat us in all facets of the game today," said Nebraska coach Connie Yori, who will still hope for a No. 1 seed for the Huskers (30-1) when the NCAA field is announced on Monday.
Nebraska had been the first team to run through the Big 12 regular season unbeaten and was bidding to become just the 12th team to make it to the NCAA tournament undefeated. But instead the Aggies advanced to the Big 12 title game for the third year in a row.
"If you would have told me we would have been 30-1 at this point of the year, I would have said you’re crazy," said leading scorer Kelsey Griffin, who was saddled by foul trouble and scored only 15 points in the loss . "I’m still extremely excited with what we’ve been able to accomplish, and I know the most exciting part of our year is just going to be starting on Monday. A&M is a great basketball team."
Nebraska’s loss made top-ranked UConn (33-0) the only unbeaten team heading to the NCAA tournament.
Griffin, the Big 12 player of the year, had three fouls at halftime and picked up her fourth early in the second half. A&M also held a 46-32 rebounding edge while shooting 53 percent and holding the Huskers to 37 percent.
"I don’t know if we really stopped Griffin," said Texas A&M coach Gary Blair. "She was 7 of 13. Four fouls stopped Griffin."
With the 6-foot-2 Griffin sitting long-faced on the bench, the Huskers could not stop a team they beat by 11 last month from bringing their school-record winning streak to an inglorious halt.
"When you get in foul trouble, it’s hard to get into a flow," said Griffin. Her 15 points in 26 minutes were five below her average and nine fewer than she totaled in Friday’s win over Kansas State.
Nebraska’s 71-60 victory over the Aggies (24-7) actually inspired the bulky 6-1 Adams, who has a deft touch underneath.
"We knew we could beat them from the first time we played them," said Adams. "The first time that we played them I was pretty dominate down in Nebraska. I knew I had to be even more dominate down in the low post today."
With Griffin hamstrung, the Aggies quickly put the game out of reach in the second half, going up 65-47 when Adaora Elonu stole a Husker pass and Adams converted it into a layup.
Elonu had 18 points and Tyra White had 13 for the Aggies, who finished second behind Nebraska in the Big 12 regular season in scoring and scoring margin. Dominique Kelley led Nebraska with 18 points while Yvonne Turner had 14 for the team that had steamrolled most of its opponents during the greatest season in school history.
With neither team hardly missing a shot, the lead changed hands on nine consecutive possessions in the early going before Elonu banked in a short jumper and ignited a 10-2 run for the Aggies.
Sydney Colson and Sydney Carter each hit 3-pointers in the spree and a moment later Carter connected from atop the key for a 28-18 A&M lead.
The Aggies led by as many as 13 — the biggest deficit the Huskers had faced all season — before taking a 39-28 lead into intermission. It was just the third time the Huskers had trailed at halftime and was by far their largest halftime deficit.
-- Doug Tucker
Robinson, Thompson lead Oklahoma to title game
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alone on the free-throw line, the game in the balance, it was a good time for Amanda Thompson to steady her nerves.
Taking a deep breath, Oklahoma’s team captain made two free throws with a few seconds left, and the No. 12 Sooners held on to beat No. 20 Oklahoma State and record-breaking Andrea Riley 74-69 Saturday in a Big 12 semifinal.
Thompson’s two foul shots put the Sooners back on top 72-67, making sure it was still a two-possession game with Riley ready to fire away.
"They were huge," Thompson said. "If I would have missed those, they probably would have got another 3-point attempt. I’ve been in that position before. So I just had to stay calm and knock them down like I always do in the free throw line."
Thompson had 17 points, 18 rebounds and five assists for the Sooners (23-9), who made it a three-game season sweep of the Cowgirls (23-10) and will meet No. 11 Texas A&M in the title game on Sunday.
Riley, Oklahoma State’s streaky 5-foot-5 senior, made six of her first seven shots but missed her last nine and wound up with 32 points — giving her a tournament-record 112 in just three games.
It may also have been her last college game. The Cowgirls are certain to get an NCAA bid. But, because of a fracas she got into during an NCAA game two years ago, Riley will be suspended for Oklahoma State’s first tournament outing.
"I have confidence in my teammates," said Riley. "I’m going to have so much faith and belief that they’re going to win the game."
Danielle Robinson had 19 points and also made big free throws down the stretch and Nyeshia Stevenson had 15 points for the Sooners.
In the regular season, Oklahoma split with Texas A&M, which got 22 points from 6-1 Danielle Adams while handing No. 3 Nebraska its first loss in the other semifinal.
"We have to guard them together," said Thompson. "(Adams) is real big down there, and she’s got some good hands."
Robinson’s two free throws gave Oklahoma a 70-64 lead with 40 seconds to go in the back-and-forth affair between state rivals, then Tegan Cunningham made a 3-pointer and Oklahoma State trailed by three.
Thompson, fouled immediately, sank both her foul shots. After Cunningham grabbed Riley’s missed 3-point attempt and put it in, Robinson calmly sank two more foul shots with 7 seconds left.
The Cowgirls started the game on a 16-4 run but the Sooners caught up right after the start of the second half when Stevenson hit eight quick points, including two 3-pointers for a 46-43 Oklahoma lead.
"One of the differences between us and OU right now is that OU has veterans that have been to the Final Four and they do the little things right to win games like this," said Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke.
In the first half, Riley canned two long jumpers and Cunningham sank a pull-up jumper as Oklahoma State seized a 36-25 lead. Robinson, after throwing up an air ball, hit a bucket and made two foul shots to help cut the halftime lead to four points.
Riley, whose 43 points against Iowa State on Friday set the single-game tourney record, was 12 for 30 from the floor and only two of nine beyond the arc. Cunningham had 21 points for the Cowgirls.
"You have to guard Andrea Riley as a team," said Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale. "On the offensive end, sharing the basketball and a lot of guys getting involved was the difference."
Abi Olajuwon’s three-point play put the Sooners on top 64-62 with 6:09 to play and the Cowgirls never caught up. A bucket by Carolyn Blair-Mobley cut it to 66-64 but Robinson sank an uncontested bucket a moment later.
The Sooners were 22 of 26 from the line.
-- Doug Tucker
State Men
Houston ends No. 25 UTEP’s run to reach NCAAs
TULSA, Okla. — As Tom Penders climbed to the top of a ladder to clip down the nets, his players gathered around to make sure he wasn’t going to fall.
At age 64, "Tournament Tom" is headed back to the NCAAs — with a little different hop in his step.
Kelvin Lewis scored 28 points and made six 3-pointers to break a Conference USA championship game record, and Houston surged past No. 25 UTEP for an 81-73 victory Saturday to claim its first NCAA tournament berth in 18 years.
"We’re dancin’, we’re dancin’," said Penders, in his sixth season as coach of the Cougars. "I may be dancin’ a little slower than I was the last time I went, but we’re dancin’."
Penders is in for the first time since 1999, when he was at George Washington, and joins an elite fraternity of eight coaches who have taken four different schools to the NCAA tournament — including Rick Pitino, Eddie Sutton and Lon Kruger.
Penders also put Rhode Island on the bracket in 1988 and then did it eight times in his 10 years at Texas.
"This is the most gratifying because, you know, in many ways when I came to Houston it was almost considered ‘Mission: Impossible.’ We came so close a couple of times, maybe with some more talented kids," he said. "But not as gutty."
Penders brought his seventh-seeded Cougars (19-15) to Tulsa with the mantra that the most dangerous man in a fight was the one with nothing to lose.
They upset four-time defending champion Memphis and likely burst its NCAA bubble in the quarterfinals. Houston probably snatched away another team’s tournament berth by snapping the top-seeded Miners’ 16-game winning streak to win the title. UTEP is still on track for its first NCAA appearance since 2005.
Randy Culpepper scored 20 points and Derrick Caracter added 18 for UTEP (26-6), which hadn’t been on such a roll since its "Glory Road" team won 23 in a row on its way to the 1966 national title. The Miners, who led by nine with 8 minutes to play, were outscored 15-3 down the stretch to lose for the first time since being beaten by the Cougars on Jan. 13.
"What I’ve always said is I don’t like to learn from close losses. I want to learn from close wins," coach Tony Barbee said. "I thought we had matured and grown beyond this point where we wouldn’t be ready to play in a game as big as this."
Penders’ latest tournament-bound team was drilled on taking care of the ball — with the nation’s second-fewest turnovers and best turnover margin — and usually can rely on a big outing from national scoring leader Aubrey Coleman.
But with Coleman making only four of his 20 shots and being held to 13 points — half his average — the Cougars had to find a new way to win.
Lewis, a senior who transferred from Auburn, filled the void and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer from the right wing with 3:14 remaining. Adam Brown followed with his own 3, after Caracter had thrown the ball away into the backcourt, to make it 74-70.
Caracter bounced back with a basket inside to cut the deficit to two, but Coleman denied UTEP’s chance to tie with a steal and fast-break layup with 54.4 seconds left. Zamar Nixon took the ball away from Culpepper on the Miners’ next possession, setting up a fast-break layup for Brown, and the Cougars were able to hold on from there.
"Obviously, it was a gritty, gutty win for our kids," Penders said. "They just refused to die."
Houston ended up with 12 3-pointers, one more than it did in beating UTEP the last time, and was 7 for 12 from behind the arc in the second half. Nixon added 13 points off the bench while playing through the later stages of mononucleosis.
"Wow! These kids, what heart," Penders said. "What heart. Heart and execution."
Coleman, who had played the full 40 minutes the previous two days and 116 total minutes over the first three rounds, was 2-for-12 in the first half and also missed his first five shots in the second. Then he stopped taking jumpers and focused on driving to the basket.
"I was kind of burned out, so I said I’m not about to shoot us out of game," said Coleman, who had nine rebounds, six assists and four steals. "I’m about to find my teammates. It would have been selfish of me to try and do that. I wanted to do the little things."
The Cougars scattered all over the floor when the final buzzer sounded, jumping up and down in celebration. Coleman eventually splayed out on the court, wagging his right index finger at a television camera that hovered over his head.
"The whole year, it was he said, she said about coach Penders being fired," Coleman said. "What are they going to say now?"
-- Jeff Latzke
Sam Houston State wins Southland tournament title
KATY — Sam Houston State was knocked out of the Southland Conference tournament in the first round last year.
The Bearkats used that tough loss as motivation to make sure they’d stay at this season’s tournament a lot longer.
They reached their goal Saturday with Gilberto Clavell scoring 21 points to lead Sam Houston State to an easy 64-48 win over Stephen F. Austin for the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament berth.
"We had beaten San Antonio nine times in a row before that," coach Bob Marlin said of last year’s first-round loss to Texas-San Antonio. "We used that as motivation. We felt like we had the best team and we were able to prove it."
Top-seeded Sam Houston State (25-7) earned its second NCAA tournament berth and first since 2003.
The Bearkats never trailed in this one after taking advantage of poor first-half shooting by Stephen F. Austin to build a big lead. The Lumberjacks never got back within single digits.
Clavell was happy to have had one of his best games in front of his family, which surprised him on Saturday morning with a visit from Puerto Rico.
"They came to this game and I don’t get to see them very much," he said. "My dad, my mom, they were crying. It is the perfect team and great coaches. This win was the best win of my life so far."
Jereal Scott had 13 points for Stephen F. Austin (23-9), which won the tournament last year.
It was Sam Houston’s most lopsided win in the tournament by far after winning by five in the first round and just three in the second. Marlin received a text message from former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy on Saturday morning that addressed the first two games.
"The text said: ‘Coach, congratulations on a great season. Finish it out strong and the two struggles in the first two games will help you. Tell the guys to attack,"’ Marlin said. "That’s what we talked about and I felt like we did that. It was a little bit easier than we thought it would be in the first half."
The Bearkats also beat Stephen F. Austin the last time they won the tournament, but they needed overtime to get the 69-66 victory seven years ago.
Corey Allmond added 19 points and Ashton Mitchell had 13 points and six assists for Sam Houston.
The Lumberjacks shot just 31 percent to the almost 47 percent shooting by the Bearkats.
Stephen F. Austin coach Danny Kaspar thought that his young team may have let nerves get to it in the first half.
"They did a very good job in the first half," Kaspar said of Sam Houston. "Part of the problem was that we were not as focused as we should be. I’m going to attribute some of that to inexperience and some of that to Sam Houston’s play. I don’t think we played with as much poise as they did."
Stephen F. Austin used a 9-2 run, aided by its full-court press, to cut the lead to 44-32 with about 13 minutes left. But Sam Houston outscored the Lumberjacks 10-4 to regain a comfortable advantage.
A 10-4 run by Sam Houston, capped by a dunk by Clavell, pushed its lead to 23-11 midway through the first half. The Lumberjacks made a free throw after that before the Bearkats scored eight straight points to extend the lead to 31-12 about five minutes before halftime.
Stephen F. Austin’s Eddie Williams said it was difficult to deal with Sam Houston’s hot shooting in the first half.
"It looked like they couldn’t miss," he said. "It looked like the goal was the ocean for them."
-- Kristie Rieken
S. Dakota tops Houston Baptist 91-86 in Great West
OREM, Utah — Jake Thomas scored 24 points to lead South Dakota over Houston Baptist 91-86 on Saturday night as the Coyotes won the Great West Conference championship and an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Thomas hit 5 of 7 3-pointers for the top-seeded Coyotes (22-9), who went 10-for-19 from long range.
"Every time I get the ball and I’m somewhat open, (coach Dave Boots) tells me to shoot," said Thomas. "I just shoot whenever I’m open."
Tournament MVP Kendall Cutler had a season-high 21 points and a game-high eight assists for South Dakota, which won its 13th in a row.
Steve Smith added 14 points, Louie Krogman 13 and Roman Gentry 10. Tyler Cain snared 11 rebounds.
Mario Flaherty had a double-double of 23 points and 17 rebounds for the second-seeded Huskies (12-21). Wendell Preadom and Andrew Gonzalez scored 20 apiece, and Miles Dixon had 13.
Krogman’s 3-pointer broke an 82-82 tie with 1:54 left. He added a layup 41 seconds later for an 87-82 lead. Flaherty responded with two free throws with 46 seconds left, but Smith and Thomas hit two foul shots apiece to close it out.
South Dakota led by as many as 17 points late in the first half and was up 46-31 at intermission. But Houston Baptist exploded on a 12-0 run that turned an 80-66 deficit into just an 80-78 gap with 3:30 left.
Smith hit two foul shots to push the lead back to 82-78, but Gonzalez scored on consecutive possessions to tie it 82-82 before Krogman stepped up.
"It’s very hard to win a postseason tournament when you are the (regular-season) champion," said Boots. "You have that target on your back.
"We played really well for a lot of the game, and then they just came at us and were making shots. We gave up a good lead, but then again our guys came back and made clutch shots.
"They are a very good team with quality players that are hard to guard. They get after you defensively, but tonight I thought our offense was pretty good."
Houston Baptist slightly outshot South Dakota 48.6 percent (34 of 70) to 47.5 percent (28 of 59) and held a 39-32 advantage on the boards.
The Coyotes beat Houston Baptist twice in the regular season and made it three in a row Saturday night.
"It’s really hard to beat a team three times in a row," said Cutler. "We just stuck together and pulled it off.
"I refused to let our team lose and tried everything. If we lost, I would at least say I gave it my all. That’s what I tried to do this whole tournament."
Arkansas-Pine Bluff beats Texas Southern in SWAC
BOSSIER CITY, La. — Arkansas-Pine Bluff is heading to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
The Golden Lions earned their first NCAA berth beating Texas Southern 50-38 on Saturday in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game.
"This means a lot for our school and our fans," UAPB coach George Ivory said. "We worked all year to get to the Big Dance and now we can always brag that at least for one year, we got to The Dance."
Tavaris Washington scored 14 points and Allen Smith had 11 as the Golden Lions won in front of a large contingent of their fans. Second-seeded UAPB (17-15) lost in the SWAC title game in 2006.
The fifth-seeded Tigers (17-16) were looking for their fifth NCAA trip, but first since 2003.
"Words can’t express how I feel," Texas Southern coach Tony Harvey said. "This wasn’t the performance I wanted out of our guys. It’s kind of awkward, but I told the guys to cherish the moment. We were happy to be here. We will be back and we will win it."
UAPB took the lead with about five minutes remaining in the first half on back-to-back buckets from George Davis and never relinquished it. The Golden Lions went on an 11-2 run midway through the second half, keyed by six points from Washington, to go up 41-31.
"We put a lot of pride in our defense and rebounding," Ivory said. "We played a tough preseason schedule and it prepared us for playing physical in our league."
Junior Treasure and Deandre Hall each scored 14 for the Tigers, and Hall added 10 rebounds.
The Tigers opened the game with a 5-1 lead and appeared ready to take charge before most of the fans were in their seats. But a 3-pointer by Washington got the Lions going.
The lead changed seven times in the first half before UAPB took over. The Golden Lions won almost every offensive category, including outscoring the Tigers 17-0 in points off the bench.
