Arkansas stuns Tennessee
Steven Hill made one basket the entire game. It may knock Tennessee out of a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.
Hill hit a turnaround jumper with 5.3 seconds remaining for his only points and Arkansas knocked off fourth-ranked Tennessee 92-91 Saturday night in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Atlanta, a serious blow to the Volunteers' chances of claiming a top spot in one of the NCAA brackets.
"Wherever we're seeded," coach Bruce Pearl said defiantly, "we'll go play."
The Razorbacks (22-10) surely locked up an NCAA bid and advanced to face Georgia -- a 64-60 winner over Mississippi -- in today's championship game. Tennessee (29-4) claimed its first regular-season title in 41 years, then fell short of pulling off a double in the storm-plagued tournament.
"We had our hearts set on playing for the championship and making history," Lofton said. "But all along we were talking about the big dance, and we'll start that next week."
Memphis 77, Tulsa 51: At Memphis, Tenn., Antonio Anderson scored 19 points, and No. 2 Memphis (33-1) beat Tulsa (20-13) to add a third straight Conference USA tournament championship to the Tigers' third consecutive regular-season title. The Tigers finished the season with their seventh straight win and 42nd consecutive league win, strengthening their case for a second No. 1 seed in three seasons after tying the school record for wins in a season with 33.
UCLA 67, Stanford 64: Darren Collison scored 28 points, and No. 3 UCLA (31-3) survived its fourth close call in a week, beating No. 11 Stanford (26-7) to win the Pac-10 tournament title.
The Bruins used a 22-8 run in the second half to earn their 10th victory in a row and add the title to their third consecutive regular-season crown. They swept Stanford in the regular season, including an overtime win last week to clinch the league title.
Freshman Kevin Love overcame back spasms to score 12 points, giving him double figures in all 34 games he's played this season. Russell Westbrook had 11 rebounds.
Kansas 77, Texas A&M 71: At Kansas City, Mo., Brandon Rush scored a career-high 28 points in front of his hometown fans, sealing No. 5 Kansas' (30-3) Big 12 tournament semifinal win over Texas A&M (24-10) with 2 free throws in the final seconds. The two-time defending champion Jayhawks will meet No. 6 Texas for the championship for the third year in a row.
Texas 77, Oklahoma 49: At Kansas City, Mo., A.J. Abrams broke out of a shooting slump with seven 3-pointers and 24 points, helping No. 6 Texas (28-5) beat Oklahoma (22-11) to reach its third consecutive Big 12 tournament final. Abrams kept Texas close in a tight first half, then keyed a 14-2 run early in the second to help the Longhorns pull away for their sixth straight win over the rival Sooners.
Pittsburgh 74, Georgetown 65: At New York, Ronald Ramon scored 17 points, and Pittsburgh (26-9) won its second Big East tournament championship in its eighth title-game appearance with a victory over top-seeded and ninth-ranked Georgetown (27-5). The seventh-seeded Panthers shed their runner-up tag with a performance just like those in all the other championship games: a blue-collar effort without a star player.