Kansas Falls In Big 8 Semis Tournament Finals Scheduled In Marquee Leagues Today

Hurl Beechum hit two 3-pointers in overtime and finished with 25 points as Iowa State upset No. 2 Kansas 80-72 Saturday in a semifinal of the Big Eight Tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Jacque Vaughn, a 33-percent 3-point shooter for Kansas (23-5) this season, had made one with 2.8 seconds left to tie the game at 64 and force the overtime.

Iowa State (22-9) advanced to the championship game today and will play Oklahoma State for the Big Eight’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

(19) Okla. St. 74, (16) Oklahoma 58

Bryant Reeves broke out of a slump with 28 points and 12 rebounds while leading the Cowboys (22-9) past the Sooners (23-8).

Ryan Minor, who beat Reeves in balloting for Big Eight player of the year, had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma before fouling out with 1:31 to play.

SEC Tournament

(3) Kentucky 86, Florida 72

Freshman Antoine Walker scored 11 of his 21 points in a 7-minute stretch of the first half when the Wildcats built a 19-point lead and coasted in the semifinal game.

The Wildcats (24-4) went on a 30-9 run in the first half, starting with Chris Harrison’s 3-point basket for a 16-15 lead.

The Gators (17-12) made a few brief runs at the Wildcats, but never got the lead below 10 points.

Kentucky’s seventh victory in a row set up a championship showdown with No. 5 Arkansas today.

Saturday’s two-game session drew a tournament-record crowd of 28,966 in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

(5) Arkansas 69, (20) Alabama 58

The Razorbacks (27-5) took control during a 21-8 second-half run to beat the Tide, ending a string of semifinal losses in their previous three SEC Tournament appearances.

Scotty Thurman led the Razorbacks with 14 points, five from the free-throw line in the final 50 seconds, and started the decisive run with 15:25 to play, hitting a 3-pointer that put Arkansas ahead to stay at 38-36.

Marvin Orange led the Crimson Tide (22-9) with 13 points.

ACC Tournament

(4) UNC 97, (10) Maryland 92 OT

Rasheed Wallace delivered two big baskets in overtime as the Tar Heels advanced to the ACC finals at Greensboro, N.C., where they will play Wake Forest. Although theirs is among the longest rivalries in North Carolina college basketball history, they will be playing for the first time in the ACC final.

Maryland (24-7) had the final in its sights when Duane Simpkins sank a pair of free throws with 1:17 remaining for an 86-83 lead. Jerry Stackhouse, a 40-percent shooter from 3-point range, calmly sank a 3-point shot with 55 seconds left to tie the score.

UNC (24-4) won for the seventh time in 10 overtime tournament games. It will be going into its 23rd ACC championship game in search of its 14th tourney title. Coach Dean Smith led the team to 13 of them.

(7) Wake Forest 77, (11) Virginia 68

Randolph Childress scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half after dislocating a finger on his shooting hand for the Demon Deacons, who will play in the title game for the first time since 1978.

The Demon Deacons (23-5) won their ninth straight and equaled the school record for wins in a season, set in 1984.

Childress set the ACC Tournament two-game scoring record with 70 points, breaking the mark of 67 set in 1961 by Wake Forest’s Len Chappell.

Virginia (22-8), assured of an NCAA Tournament bid, dropped to 6-14 in ACC tournament semifinals after shooting 23.8 percent in the second half.

Big East Tournament

(6) UConn 88, (24) Georgetown 81

At Madison Square Garden, Ray Allen scored 24 points as the Huskies advanced to their first Big East Tournament championship game since 1990. Connecticut (25-3) became the first Big East team to beat Georgetown (19-9) three times in one season.

With neither team leading by more than seven points in the second half, the Huskies took the lead for good at 76-75 with 2:29 to play on a dunk by Travis Knight off a nice pass from Donny Marshall.

Georgetown was trying to get to its second straight title game.

(13) Villanova 90, Providence 75

Kerry Kittles scored 29 points and the Wildcats withstood a second-half rally from the Friars.

Villanova (24-7) will make its first appearance in the title game since 1988 and will play UConn. The two split the regular-season series, both winning on each other’s home court. PC dropped to 16-12.

Kittles, the conference player of the year struggled in the first half against the Friars, going 4-for-12 for 10 points.

Mid-American Conf. Tournament

Ball St. 77, E. Michigan 70.

At Toledo, Ohio, Steve Payne scored 23 points and Marcus Norris added 22 as the Cardinals (19-10) picked up their second upset victory in as many days to beat the Eagles (20-9) for an NCAA bid.

Ball State advanced to the NCAA’s West Regional semifinals in 1990 before losing to eventual national champion Nevada Las Vegas 69-67. Two years ago, the Cardinals were knocked out in the first round by Kansas 94-72.

WAC Tournament

(22) Utah 67, Hawaii 54

Keith Van Horn scored 24 points and the Utes defense shut down the Rainbows in the title game.

Van Horn, a sophomore and player of the year in the conference, led a 13-2 run by the Utes (27-5) in the first 4 minutes of the second half that gave them a 45-34 lead.

Hawaii (16-13) made an impressive run to the title game by beating Texas-El Paso and Colorado State after starting out as the No. 6 seed.

Southwest Conference Tournament

Texas 107, Tech 104 OT

At Dallas, reserve Carl Simpson scored six points and Roderick Anderson hit four free throws in overtime as the Longhorns earned an automatic NCAA bid. improved its record to 22-6, while the Red Raiders, who were conference cochampions along with the Longhorns, dropped to 20-9.

Others

(9) Michigan St. 97, Wisconsin 72

Shawn Respert scored 31 points in his final home game to lead the Spartans at East Lansing, Mich., in the last Big Ten game in Jud Heathcote’s 19-year career with the Spartans.

Respert left the game with 2 minutes to play, and stopped to kiss the block “S” in the center circle as he received a standing ovation from the crowd of 15,138.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with story: NCAA automatic bids Schools that have received automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament: Ball State, Colgate, Drexel, Florida International, Gonzaga, Massachusetts, Mount St. Mary’s, Md., Murray State, Nicholls State, North Carolina A&T, Old Dominion, Pennsylvania, St. Peter’s, Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Texas, UCLA, Utah, Weber State, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin-Green Bay.