Top 25 roundup
Kansas storms back to defeat Texas LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Mario Chalmers had 21 points and No. 3 Kansas fought back from a 16-point deficit and beat the No. 15 Longhorns 90-86 on Saturday, claiming the Big 12 championship.
Texas’ freshman sensation Kevin Durant, a top candidate for national player of the year, hit all but four of his first 14 shots and scored 25 points in the first half and the Longhorns seized a 54-42 halftime lead.
But Durant, who leads the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots, injured his ankle with about 11 minutes left in the second half and was not the same after he returned from the locker room a few minutes later.
Hitting only 3-of-8 from the field in the second half, Durant finished with 32 points for Texas (22-8, 12-4).
Kansas (27-4, 14-2) trailed 51-35 late in the first half and the normally deafening Allen Fieldhouse crowd fell silent. But then Chalmers, Julian Wright and Russell Robinson sparked a 24-7 run, capped by Wright’s putback with 16:01 left for a 59-58 Kansas lead.
No. 1 Ohio St. 65, Michigan 61
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Greg Oden scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half to help Ohio State win its 14th straight game.
After trailing by six, the Buckeyes (27-3, 15-1 Big Ten) held the Wolverines (20-11, 8-8) scoreless for the final 3:54.
Ohio State’s Ron Lewis scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half and Mike Conley Jr. had nine of his 11 in the second.
Dion Harris scored 19 points for Michigan.
Washington 61, No. 2 UCLA 51
SEATTLE – Jon Brockman had 20 points and 13 rebounds, Spencer Hawes added 13 points and 15 boards and the Huskies got their biggest win of the season.
Washington (18-12, 8-10 Pac-10) physically matched the Bruins’ grind-it-out style and built some needed momentum for next week’s Pac-10 tournament. Winning the tournament is likely Washington’s only shot at getting into the NCAA tournament.
Josh Shipp had 13 points for UCLA (26-4, 15-3), already the Pac-10 champions, which lost its five-game winning streak. The Bruins could not overcome a season-low 20 first-half points and having three stretches of 5 minutes or more without scoring.
No. 4 Wisconsin 52, Michigan State 50
MADISON, Wis. – Kammron Taylor’s 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining lifted the Badgers, who avoided going into the postseason with three straight losses.
Drew Neitzel scored 22 points for the Spartans (21-10, 8-8 Big Ten), who have lost two straight after gaining momentum toward a potential NCAA tournament berth with four straight conference victories before losing at Michigan last week.
Alando Tucker led Wisconsin (27-4, 13-3) with 26 points in his final home game.
No. 24 Maryland 79, N.C. State 59
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Mike Jones scored 21 points in his final home game to lead Maryland to the victory.
Jones’ fellow seniors, D.J. Strawberry and Ekene Ibekwe, also played big roles in the Terrapins’ seventh straight win to close the regular season. Strawberry had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists and Ibekwe added 14 points and 12 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season and 13th of his career.
The Terps (24-7, 10-6) clinched fifth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. They could move up to fourth and grab a first-round bye in the tournament with a Duke win over North Carolina on Sunday.
Brandon Costner led N.C. State (15-14, 5-11) with 20 points.
Arkansas 82, No. 19 Vanderbilt 67
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Gary Ervin scored 21 points, and the Razorbacks kept their slim NCAA tournament hopes alive.
The Commodores (20-10, 10-6), who came in looking to go undefeated at home in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1993, had their 13-game home winning streak snapped. Derrick Byars led Vanderbilt with 19 points.
Arkansas (18-12, 7-9) now needs Mississippi State to beat Alabama on Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Division. That would let the Razorbacks play South Carolina in the second game of the SEC tournament on Thursday.
No. 11 S. Illinois 53, Bradley 51
ST. LOUIS – Matt Shaw’s tip-in with 3.2 seconds remaining lifted Southern Illinois over Bradley in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Jamaal Tatum had 20 points and was 4-for-5 from 3-point range for the Salukis (27-5), who have won 13 straight. Southern Illinois will play either Creighton or Missouri State in the championship Sunday.
Jeremy Crouch had 14 points for fourth-seeded Bradley (21-12).
Shaw finished with 11 points for Southern Illinois, which split a pair of regular-season meetings with Bradley.
No. 9 Georgetown 59, Connecticut 46
WASHINGTON – Roy Hibbert had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Hoyas ended a decade of frustration against Connecticut and clinched a least a share of the Big East regular season title.
The win assured Georgetown (23-6, 13-3) at least a first-place tie with Pittsburgh and possibly the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament, pending the outcome of other games this weekend under the conference’s complex tiebreaking rules. Georgetown hasn’t been the No. 1 seed since 1989.
The victory was also the first for Georgetown over UConn (17-13, 6-10) since 1997, a streak that spanned 11 games. Jeff Adrien had 14 points and nine rebounds to lead the Huskies.
No. 7 Texas A&M 94, Missouri 78
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Antanas Kavaliauskas scored a career-high 26 points to help Texas A&M get the win in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Texas A&M (25-5, 13-3) clinched the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament with the win.
It was a special day for Kavaliauskas, whose performance came in front of his mother Birute Kavaliauskiene, who traveled from Lithuania to watch him play college basketball for the first time.
Stefhon Hannah had 17 points for Missouri (18-11, 7-9).
No. 22 Notre Dame 73, Rutgers 66
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Colin Falls scored 22 points and Russell Carter had 17 for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame (23-6, 11-5), which clinched a first-round bye in the Big East tournament when Syracuse lost earlier in the day, can grab the third seed if Louisville loses to Seton Hall on Sunday.
The Irish have won five straight to earn their most regular-season wins in seven years under Mike Brey.
Rutgers (10-19, 3-13), which missed qualifying for the conference tournament for the fourth time in seven years, lost 12 of its final 14 games in Fred Hill’s first season as coach.
Adrian Hill had 16 points and 18 rebounds for Rutgers.