Georgia clips ‘Cats in overtime
The game was originally scheduled for late Friday night at the Georgia Dome. It was postponed after a tornado damaged the facility during Mississippi State’s overtime win over Alabama Friday night.
The Southeastern Conference tournament shifted to Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech ‘ Georgia’s in-state rival. The game was played before an estimated crowd of 1,500, as only a limited number of friends, family and school officials will be allowed to attend the rest of the tournament schedule in the smaller facility.
Georgia (15-16) will play Mississippi State in Saturday night’s second semifinal. Kentucky (18-12) is left with a nervous wait for Sunday’s NCAA tournament show.
Terrance Woodbury scored 17 points and Sundiatta Gaines had 16 as Georgia took its first SEC tournament victory over Kentucky in nine tries.
The Tennessee game against Arkansas was not complete by Saturday’s press deadline.
In other conference tourney action:
Atlantic Coast
No. 1 N. Carolina 68,
Virginia Tech 66
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ‘ Tyler Hansbrough hit a fadeaway jumper off an offensive rebound with 0.8 seconds left to help No. 1 North Carolina beat Virginia Tech 68-66 on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals.
Hansbrough finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Tar Heels (31-2), who trailed almost the entire way against a team it had routed last month. The Tar Heels advanced to Sunday’s championship to play the winner between No. 7 Duke and Clemson.
A.D. Vassallo scored 17 points to lead the fourth-seeded Hokies (19-13), who couldn’t get off a shot on their final possession and watched a possible NCAA tournament bid-clinching win painfully slip away.
Conference USA
No. 2 Memphis 77, Tulsa 51
MEMPHIS (AP) ‘ Antonio Anderson scored 19 points, and No. 2 Memphis added a third straight Conference USA tournament championship to the Tigers’ third consecutive regular-season title.
Anderson hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range to become the third player to lead the Tigers (33-1) in scoring in as many games. He and Chris Doulas-Roberts, who added 16 points, went a combined 14-of-17 from the floor. Jeff Robinson had 11 off the bench.
Tulsa (20-13) 7-footer Jerome Jordan had a team-high 17 points, and Ben Uzoh added 13.
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.
Big 12
No. 6 Texas 77, Oklahoma 49
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ‘ A.J. Abrams broke out of a shooting slump with seven 3-pointers and 24 points, helping Texas reach its third consecutive Big 12 tournament final.
Abrams kept Texas (28-5) 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 (22-11).
Texas, which has lost the past two Big 12 title games to Kansas, shot 50 percent and got 17 points from D.J. Augustin to move on to Sunday’s championship game against the winner between the fifth-ranked Jayhawks and Texas A&M.
Big Ten
No. 8 Wisconsin 65, No. 19 Michigan St. 63
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ‘ Brian Butch scored 19, Marcus Landry added 18 and Joe Krabbenhoft had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Wisconsin held off a foul-challenged Michigan State and earned its second straight trip to the Big Ten tournament title game.