NEW YORK -- Mike Gansey scored 21 points and West Virginia
hung on to upset No. 7 Boston College 78-72 in the quarterfinals of
the Big East tournament Thursday, ruining the Eagles' bid for a
final conference championship.
Kevin Pittsnogle added 17 points for the Mountaineers (20-9),
who very likely wrapped up at least an NCAA tournament at-large bid
with the surprising win over the Big East's top seed.
West Virginia, the No. 8 seed, improved to 3-8 in the tournament
and advanced to its first semifinals.
Craig Smith scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds for
Boston College (24-4), which leaves the Big East for the Atlantic
Coast Conference after this season.<
^No. 6 Louisville 85, TCU 61=
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Larry O'Bannon scored 18 points to lead
five Louisville players in double figures, and the sixth-ranked
Cardinals beat TCU in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA
tournament.
The top-seeded Cardinals (27-4) never trailed in winning their
seventh straight game, and 16th in their last 17.
TCU (19-13) hasn't advanced past the quarterfinals of any
tournament since reaching the semifinals of the Western Athletic
Conference tournament in 2000. The Horned Frogs stayed close for
the first 11 minutes, then Louisville blew them out just like it
has in four of the previous five meetings.
Francisco Garcia had 15 points for Louisville, Taquan Dean
finished with 12, and Otis George added 11 and Ellis Myles 10 with
10 rebounds.<
^No. 8 Arizona 88, California 63=
LOS ANGELES -- Channing Frye scored 22 points on 10-of-11
shooting and No. 8 Arizona routed California in the opening game of
the Pac-10 tournament.
Frye was perfect until missing a 15-footer with 13:05 remaining
in the game. He sat down for good moments later, only because the
Wildcats led by 28 points.
The game was all but decided at halftime, when they led 42-23.
Their comfortable lead allowed coach Lute Olson to give his
starters a lengthy rest in the second half, when the Wildcats' lead
ballooned to 30 points.
The Wildcats (26-5) have won 14 of their last 16 games.
The eighth-seeded Golden Bears (13-16) ended the season with
seven losses in their final eight games. Cal has lost in the
tournament's first round five times, including last year.<
^No. 12 Connecticut 66, Georgetown 62=
NEW YORK -- Connecticut, despite making just one field goal
over the final 5 minutes, hung on to beat Georgetown in the
quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
The second-seeded and 12th-ranked Huskies (22-6) advanced to
Friday's semifinals. Connecticut has been in the last three
championship games, winning the title in 2002 and 2004, and has
reached the semifinals in seven of the last eight years.
The Huskies had to sweat this one out as they won their seventh
straight and 10th of 11.
Freshman Rudy Gay had 17 points for the Huskies, while Marcus
Williams had 14 points and 10 assists.
Ashanti Cook had 17 points for the Hoyas and Brandon Bowman
added 15.
^No. 15 Utah 62, Colorado St 49=
DENVER -- Andrew Bogut scored 11 of his 21 points over the
first 4½ minutes and the Utah guards took over from there, leading
the 15th-ranked Utes past Colorado State in the opening round of
the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Bogut also grabbed 17 rebounds, although he was held in check
for long stretches of this game by the Rams (11-17).
With the conference's freshman of the year, 7-footer Jason
Smith, shutting down the big Australian -- even rejecting his shot
three times -- it was Marc Jackson and Bryant Markson who helped
top-seeded Utah (26-4) pull away.
Jackson (14 points, five assists) made two free throws, a
3-pointer and converted a three-point play during a 19-4 run in the
second half that turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 55-39
lead.<
^No. 19 Villanova 67, No. 22 Pittsburgh 58=
NEW YORK -- Randy Foye scored 23 points and No. 19 Villanova
won its eighth straight game, beating No. 22 Pittsburgh in the
quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
The Wildcats (22-6) advanced to the semifinals for the second
straight year where they will face eighth-seeded West Virginia.
The loss ended Pittsburgh's four-year run of championship game
appearances. The Panthers' only title in that span came in 2003.
Pittsburgh (20-8) entered the game as the second-best shooting
team in the conference at 47.8 percent. The Panthers shot a
season-worst 35 percent (20-for-57) against Villanova, going
5-for-25 in the first half. The 58 points were the second-lowest
total of the season for the Panthers.
^Memphis 83, No. 25 Charlotte 69=
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Rodney Carney scored 20 points, and
Memphis continued its run through the Conference USA tournament in
the quarterfinals.
Memphis (18-14), the tournament's No. 7 seed, won for the second
straight night after a season-ending four-game skid. St. Louis,
Memphis' first victim in the tournament was one of the losses
during that stretch, and Charlotte was another.
Memphis used strong rebounding and benefited from a poor
shooting night for second-seeded Charlotte (21-7). The Tigers
Memphis outrebounded the 49ers 45-33, including 22 offensive
rebounds that led to 28 second-chance points.
Charlotte shot just 35 percent, including hitting only 8 of 32
shots in the second half. Curtis Withers led the 49ers with 32
points, while C-USA player of the year Eddie Basden scored 13.
Jeremy Hunt and Anthony Rice added 13 each for Memphis.
^MORE