Associated Press
The college basketball roundup …
NEW YORK — Connecticut kept a great story going. West Virginia closed a chapter of its basketball history.
Shabazz Napier scored 26 points and Jeremy Lamb added 22 to lead the Huskies to their 13th straight postseason win, 71-67 in overtime over the Mountaineers on Wednesday in the second round of the Big East tournament.
The victory kept alive the hopes of a second straight Big East title for the Huskies (20-12), who won a record five games in as many days last year and then went on to win six more in earning the school’s third national championship.
“I don’t think it can happen again, but then again, I said it could never happen in the first place,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. “Would we like to give it a shot? Yeah. We’re just going to try to play tomorrow’s basketball game to take it where it may.”
Ninth-seeded Connecticut will play top-seeded and second-ranked Syracuse in the quarterfinals Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
No. 13 Georgetown 64, Pittsburgh 52
Pittsburgh isn’t used to having a season end anywhere but in the NCAA tournament.
The Panthers’ run of 10 straight appearances in the field that determines the national champion — the longest current streak in the Big East — appears over.
A 64-52 loss to No. 13 Georgetown in the second round of the Big East tournament left the Panthers with a 17-16 record and thoughts of possibly playing in another postseason event.
Louisville 61, Seton Hall 55
Seeking a quality win to improve its postseason resume, Seton Hall got picked off by Peyton Siva and stuffed by Gorgui Dieng. Siva had 14 points and six steals, Dieng blocked six shots inside and Louisville held off the Pirates 61-55 to reach the Big East tournament quarterfinals, leaving Seton Hall to sweat out Selection Sunday as it hopes for an NCAA bid.
BIG 12
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Texas A&M’s Big 12 basketball activity has been extended at least one day.
Dash Harris and Khris Middleton drilled key 3-pointers in the last 4 minutes and A&M hit 14 straight foul shots, giving the SEC-bound Aggies a 62-53 victory over Oklahoma in a ragged opening-round match of the Big 12 tournament.
In today’s quarterfinals, the ninth-seeded Aggies will meet No. 3 Kansas, which beat them twice while rolling to its eighth straight regular-season Big 12 championship.
Oklahoma State 76, Texas Tech 60
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Keiton Page scored 20 points, Brian Williams added 19 and seventh-seeded Oklahoma State knocked off No. 10 seed Texas Tech 76-60. Oklahoma State (15-17)advances to play second-seeded No. 5 Missouri today.
PAC 12
LOS ANGELES — Big man Joshua Smith didn’t move fast enough before the game, and it cost UCLA in the first half against rival Southern California.
The Bruins overcame an awful opening 20 minutes, when Smith was glued to the bench as punishment, and won 55-40 Wednesday in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament at Staples Center.
Lazeric Jones scored 15 points, Travis Wear added 12 and twin brother David had 10 rebounds as the Bruins completed a season sweep of the hapless Trojans, who lost their season-high 10th in a row.
Stanford 85, Arizona State 65
Chasson Randle scored 27 of his 30 points in a dynamic first half, surpassing his previous career high before halftime in Stanford’s 85-65 victory over Arizona State in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.
THEY’RE DANCING
MISSOULA, Mont. — Kareem Jamar scored 23 points and Montana beat Weber State 85-66 on Wednesday night to win the Big Sky Conference tournament and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Mathias Ward added 23 points as Montana (25-6) set a team record with 14 straight wins and closed with its best record since the 1992 season. The Grizzlies’ last loss was Jan. 14 at Weber State.
Damian Lillard, the nation’s second-leading scorer, scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Weber State (24-6), which lost in the regular season finale at Montana to give the Grizzlies the regular-season title.
Montana will make its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2010 and ninth overall. Jubilant fans stormed the floor after the game.
LIU 90, Robert Morris 73
NEW YORK — C.J. Garner was right around halfcourt when he saw Julian Boyd open near the basket. Perfect time for an alley-oop, the little guard thought.
Boyd leaped high for Garner’s on-target pass and threw down a dunk that must have had Spike Lee feeling as if he was watching Jeremy Lin and Amare Stoudamire at Madison Garden instead of Long Island University in a 1,700-seat gym in Brooklyn, his hometown.
Garner and Boyd provided the highlight of the night, and Jason Brickman directed the LIU’s fast-breaking Blackbirds flawlessly to a 90-73 victory against Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference championship game Wednesday night.
In a rematch of last season’s NEC title game thriller, the top-seeded Blackbirds (25-8) didn’t need overtime to fend off the No. 3 seed Colonials (24-10) this year and earn a second consecutive NCAA berth.
Lehigh 82, Bucknell 77
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Ear-piercing screams echoed through Sojka Pavilion with Lehigh backpedaling on defense, clinging to a one-point lead over Bucknell with 26 seconds left and an NCAA tournament bid on the line.
After turning back every Bison run on a tense night in hostile territory, the Mountain Hawks needed one more stop to win the Patriot League tournament.
Gabe Knutson blocked Cameron Ayers’ baseline layup attempt with 7 seconds left and C.J. McCollum scored 29 points to help Lehigh hold on for an 82-77 victory and clinch the league’s automatic NCAA bid for the second time in three seasons.