These kids from Kentucky are growing up fast. The second-ranked Wildcats showed they learned their lessons from their only loss of the season and got a preview of the intensity of postseason basketball, beating Mississippi State 81-75 in overtime on Tuesday night in one of college basketball’s most hostile arenas.
Cups filled with ice and plastic water bottles were thrown onto the court near the end of No. 2 Kentucky’s 81-75 overtime victory over Mississippi State on Tuesday night. The incident resembled a similar outburst on Feb. 3, when West Virginia fans threw objects on the court in a game against Pittsburgh.
Freshman Derrick Favors shook off a scoring slump with 13 points and Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 68-51 on Tuesday night in the Tar Heels’ lowest scoring game in the Roy Williams era. North Carolina’s previous scoring low in Williams’ seven seasons as coach came in a 64-54 loss to Duke on Feb.
Once LaceDarius Dunn finally started scoring, No. 22 Baylor had no problem reaching its third consecutive 20-win season. Dunn finished with 30 points after being held scoreless the first 14 1/2 minutes of the game, not getting on the board until two go-ahead free throws, and the Bears went on to an 88-70 victory over Texas Tech on Tuesday night.
Danero Thomas scored 18 points and Murray State clinched the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season title with an 80-68 victory over Southeast Missouri on Tuesday night. The Racers (25-3, 16-0) pushed the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games in winning their 21st conference title and the first since 2006.
Draymond Green brought the inside power. Kalin Lucas made all the big shots. Together, Michigan State’s tag-team tandem looked like a knockout combination. Green finished with 14 points Tuesday night, Lucas scored 13 and No. 11 Michigan State pulled away late for a 72-58 victory over Indiana. “We thought we could go inside a little bit,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.
Northern Iowa clinched the first outright Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship in school history by defeating Creighton 70-52 on Tuesday night. Ali Farokhmanesh hit 5 3-pointers and scored 17 points for the Panthers (23-3, 14-2 MVC), who tied Creighton for the title last season. Johnny Moran also scored 17 points, and Kwadzo Ahelegbe had five rebounds and four assists.
The attorney for former Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton entered a not guilty plea to four felony drug-related charges Tuesday and said his client is in a treatment center. The attorney, Trace Morgan, explained the reason for Sutton’s absence at the arraignment to Payne County Special Judge Michael Stano, who set an April 5 hearing date.
Dana Kirk, who coached the Memphis State Tigers to a 1985 Final Four appearance that was vacated because of NCAA violations, has died. He was 74. Kirk died Monday in Memphis, according to Warren Canale of Canale Funeral Directors. Kirk was fired after the 1986 season, just before he was indicted on income tax evasion.