Dagunduro's 3-pointer keys Nebraska upset of Texas

Sunday, February 8, 2009

LINCOLN -- With the shot clock winding down, Ade Dagunduro had no choice but to launch the 3-pointer that gave Nebraska a four-point lead in the final minute against No. 16 Texas.

"That's not usually my shot," Dagunduro said, "but it was desperation time."

It's starting to become desperation time for Texas now.

Saturday's 58-55 loss to the Cornhuskers was the third straight for a Longhorn team that has reached the Elite Eight two of the last three years.

Texas (15-7, 4-4 Big 12) came into the game off home losses to Kansas State and Missouri by a combined eight points. The three-point loss dropped the Longhorns into the middle of the pack in the conference and marks the first time since 2004-05 that the Longhorns have dropped three straight.

"We've lost five or six games by one or two possessions," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "We are what we are, and that's the bottom line. We haven't won those games, and we've lost some games on the last possessions where teams make plays on us, and you have to give them credit for it."

Nebraska (15-7, 5-4), which took sole possession of fourth place with its third straight win, outplayed Texas with little more than their sheer will to win. The Huskers are a small team with only one player as tall as 6-foot-8. The Longhorns shuffled in three players who are 6-10 but outrebounded Nebraska just 34-30.

Dagunduro scored 17 points and had a career-high nine rebounds.

A.J. Abrams led the Longhorns with 16 points. Damion James added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Gary Johnson had 12 points.

"I thought Gary Johnson and Damion James both scored some points, and we knew that probably would happen," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. "I said anything over the low 60s and we'd probably be in trouble. If we held it in the 50s, we've got a chance to win it. We made some plays."

Barnes said his team made some bad decisions, which accounted for rushed shots and many of the 16 turnovers.

"I've always told our team, your defense will get the lead for you, but your offense has to keep it," he said. "It didn't do that for us tonight."

The win took some of the sting out of close losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State, Sadler said.

"We've been here many times, and it's not come down like this, but the effort has been the same," he said. "I think our guys, as they have every game, find a way to overachieve and stay in there. This time, at least, we got some good luck."

The Huskers also got some huge plays from Cookie Miller, Toney McCray and Dagunduro in the comeback.

The Longhorns looked to be in full control after a 24-4 run put them up 34-22 early in the second half. But the Huskers went on a 16-3 spurt, with Miller making a high-arcing 3-pointer just before the shot clock ran out to give the Huskers a 46-45 lead with 6:18 left.

The teams traded the lead four times before a McCray jumper made it 53-52 Nebraska with 1:43 left, and McCray came up with a big rebound after an Abrams miss.

Then Dagunduro, who hadn't attempted a 3-pointer in three games and had made only five all season, launched one from the left wing to give the Huskers a 56-52 lead with 50 seconds left. As Dagunduro ran back to play defense, he broke into a wide smile and pointed his index fingers toward the ceiling.

Abrams, the Big 12's all-time 3-point leader, hit his fourth of the game from long distance to get Texas within a point. But, down two points with nine seconds left, he missed from the corner with three defenders in his face.

"We tried to run the same play we had just run, but they kind of broke it up, so I tried to get the best shot I could," Abrams said. "It was a tough shot, obviously."

Justin Mason was well short with a 3 at the buzzer, prompting students to rush the floor and chants of "Go Big Red" throughout the Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne made his way to the floor at the end of the game to shake hands with a teary-eyed Sadler.

Nebraska has won against at least one Top 25 opponent nine years in a row.

"It's tough loss," James said. "We've got to go back, look at the film, learn from our mistakes and continue to fight."

Creighton 77, Northern Iowa 71

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Justin Carter scored a team-high 17 points and pulled down six rebounds to help Creighton end Northern Iowa's 11-game winning streak with a 77-71 victory on Sunday.

The Panthers (17-7, 11-2) trailed by just one point at halftime despite shooting 10 percentage points less than the Bluejays, but shot even worse in the second half and were unable to close the gap.

All those missed shots amounted to a 49-29 rebounding advantage for the Panthers, led by Adam Koch's 12 boards and 23 points.

The Bluejays (19-6, 9-4) moved the ball well, collecting 18 assists. Northern Iowa also failed to capitalize on the Bluejays' 10 missed free throws.

Even Northern Iowa's usually consistent three-point shooting failed them, as they shot 5-for-26 shots from behind the arc.

Creighton got help from its bench and starters, with each player scoring at least four points. Kenny Lawson Jr. was the team's second-leading scorer with 12 points.

No. 21 Kansas 78, Oklahoma St. 67

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- It seems like a rude way to treat the team that made possible your national championship.

No. 21 Kansas, which credits a loss at Oklahoma State for clearing its mind before the run to last year's NCAA title, roared to a big early lead on Saturday and cruised past the Cowboys, 78-67.

Kansas (19-4, 8-0 Big 12), stretched its nation's-best home court streak to 37 and led almost from the opening tip as Cole Aldrich had 12 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

The 6-foot-11 Aldrich, wearing a face mask to protect his broken nose, had 10 rebounds en route to his 13th double-double as the Jayhawks raced to a 37-24 halftime lead. They never let the Cowboys get closer than 10.

"I was just being aggressive to the boards," said Aldrich, who's worn a heavily taped protective mask since breaking his nose at Nebraska on Jan. 28. "I knew they didn't quite have size, so I tried to grab every board."

Aldrich's previous rebound high was 16.

"He's a big-time player and we know that," said Oklahoma State's Moses Marshall. "He's tough to guard but I felt like I believed in myself and in my team defensively."

Mario Little added 13 points for the Jayhawks, who returned to the national rankings this week for the first time since December.

Oklahoma State (14-8, 3-5) got 19 points from Obi Muonelo and 18 from Marshall.

"Aldrich is good," said Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford. "He's really good at that five-foot jump shot, jump hook. I thought we did a good job of not allowing him to catch it and just lay it in the basket. We didn't double-team as much as we normally probably would. But when you're guarding a 6-foot-11 guy with a 6-foot-4, he's going to shoot over you. And that's what he did."

After an upset loss at Oklahoma State last February, the upperclassmen called a players-only meeting. The Jayhawks did not lose again, beating Memphis in overtime in the NCAA title game.

"That game I think won us the national championship," Aldrich said. "We all just kind of figured out that we didn't know anything, and coach knew it all and we just wanted to listen to him and get better. We were ranked No. 3 in the country and they made us look silly."

Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor each had 12 points and Brady Morningstar had 9 for Kansas as Bill Self won for the 91st time in 97 home games as Kansas coach.

"We did some good things today," said Self. "I hate how we finished the game, and that's the last taste in our mouths. We were miserable the last 4 or 5 minutes. That should have been a 20-point game."

Collins hit his third 3-pointer early in the second half, then Oklahoma State lost control of the ball at mid-court and the sellout crowd let out a roar.

Tyrell Reed and Muonelo chased it down the court toward the Kansas basket. Then somebody kicked it, and the ball went skittering away again. As the ball and the two players neared the basket, Reed finally picked it up and banked home a bucket.

Muonelo banged into him and picked up his third foul, and Reed drained the free throw for a three-point play that gave the Jayhawks a 54-35 lead.

James Anderson, after missing his first eight shots, had 10 points for Oklahoma State, the last Big 12 team to beat Kansas.

Collins hit two quick uncontested 3-pointers to get the Jayhawks off to a fast start in the first half over an Oklahoma State team coming off an exhausting 81-80 victory at Texas Tech.

Moses scored on two straight Oklahoma State possessions and Muonelo drilled one of his five 3-pointers in an 7-3 burst that trimmed the lead to 59-44. But then after Aldrich hit a bucket, with an assist from Taylor, Travis Releford drilled a bucket for a 64-44 bulge and the Cowboys never got closer than 10.

The Jayhawks are 8-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2004-05.

Kansas St. 65, Texas A&M 60

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Kansas State has a three-game Big 12 Conference road winning streak for just the second time since the league began.

Jacob Pullen scored 16 points and had one of two key 3-pointers late to lead the Wildcats to a 65-60 win over Texas A&M on Saturday.

The run began with a win over Colorado and included a victory over Texas in between.

The Wildcats came to a conclusion after getting their first win in College Station since 2001, a week after beating then No. 11 Texas in Austin to end the Longhorns' 19-game home winning streak.

"I like Texas," Pullen said beaming. "Do you like Texas Denny," he asked teammate Denis Clemente.

They all agreed that Texas agrees with them lately. Their next game is against Texas Tech, but that one is at home. No worries though, they've also won their last two in Manhattan for a five-game winning streak overall.

"These wins against the University of Texas and against Texas A&M give us a lot of confidence for the rest of the season," Pullen said.

The Aggies (17-7, 3-6) had cut the lead to one thanks to a 7-2 run before Pullen and Fred Brown scored consecutive 3-pointers to give Kansas State a 64-57 lead with less than a minute to play.

Texas A&M's Donald Sloan hit a 3-pointer after that, but Pullen made one of two free throws and the Wildcats held on for the win.

"I thought K-State played really well," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "They made some big shots. I just felt like they were in control the whole game. They were tougher than we were and they made the plays to win the game."

The streak has helped the Wildcats (16-7, 5-4) make an impressive turnaround from an 0-4 start in Big 12 play.

While Kansas State coach Frank Martin is certainly happy about the improvement in his team, he was quick to point out that he never got down on his players, even at their lowest point.

"I was disappointed in our record, I've never been disappointed in our team because of their work ethic and their approach and their commitment to one another," he said. "I'm not going to sit here and tell you I wasn't concerned, because we were so young I thought maybe we weren't going to be able to handle that. But I've never been disappointed in the team."

Clemente, who scored 44 against Texas, had 12 of his 14 points in the last 13 minutes.

"I had to wait until the game came to me," he said. "I couldn't go to the game. I felt more comfortable in the second half."

The Aggies, who have dropped two straight, were led by Josh Carter with 14 points.

"We need to win all our games at home and to lose this one hurts," said Texas A&M's Chinemelu Elonu.

The lead changed more than 10 times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with neither team able to get more than three points ahead.

Texas A&M scored a season low 21 points in the first half after making 6-of-18 shots and committing 11 turnovers to trail 23-21 at halftime. Clemente was scoreless in the first half.

Evansville 61, Wichita State 52

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Jason Holsinger scored 22 points, and Evansville defeated Wichita State 61-52 on Saturday night.

Holsinger made 5 of 6 3-pointers, including his first five attempts. Shy Ely scored added 15 points for the Purple Aces (15-8, 7-6 Missouri Valley).

J.T. Durley scored 10 points for Wichita State (11-13, 5-8). No other Shocker scored more than seven points.

Evansville shot 50 percent from the field to make up for Wichita State's 36-20 rebounding edge. The Purple Aces outscored the Shockers 20-8 from the free-throw line.

Wichita State made just 21 of 47 shots, and 2 of 16 from 3-point range.

Wichita State took an early 19-8 lead, but Evansville battled back to take a 28-23 at the break.

No. 2 Oklahoma 77, Colorado 72

NORMAN, Okla. -- Blake Griffin never seems to be going it alone for No. 2 Oklahoma. It's just impossible to tell who's going to be his ace sidekick in any given game.

Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds for his 20th double-double, Tony Crocker added 24 points with a career-high seven 3-pointers and No. 2 Oklahoma had to scramble late to hold off Colorado 77-72 on Saturday.

It was a rare scoring outburst this season for Crocker, who had surpassed 20 points only two other times this season and hadn't totaled that much over his past three games.

"That's the beauty of our team. On any different night, we can have five different guys go for 20, and that's hard to guard," Griffin said. "It's hard for another team to scheme against us. They can shut down us inside ... but if our guards are hot, it kind of changes the game for us."

The Sooners trailed only twice but didn't shake free of the last-place Buffaloes until Griffin followed Crocker's fifth 3-pointer of the game by driving the lane for a right-handed dunk over two defenders. Griffin's jam gave Oklahoma its first double-digit lead at 56-45 with less than 11 minutes to play.

Colorado rallied back within 73-70 on Cory Higgins' jumper with 12.2 seconds left, but the Sooners (23-1, 9-0 Big 12) sealed it from the foul line for their 12th straight win.

Higgins finished with 20 points to lead the Buffaloes (9-13, 1-7), who lost for the 23rd consecutive time in Norman and the 25th straight time in a Big 12 road game. Austin Dufault and Dwight Thorne II added 13 points apiece, and Nate Tomlinson scored 11.

It was the closest game for the Buffaloes in Norman during the losing streak, with the previous 21 losses coming by at least double digits.

"People may think they can walk over us, but we're not just going to lay down," said Jermyl Jackson-Wilson, Colorado's lone senior. "You can give us whatever title you want to. People can call us the doormats you can just walk over, but we're not going to lay down for anyone.

"We came to this school to win. That's what we're trying to do. We're going uphill. It's an uphill battle right now, but once we get that train going downhill, I think teams should look out."

Griffin hit his first nine shots, the last coming on a right-handed windmill jam after he'd stolen the ball from Austin Eckloff near midcourt. After Colorado called timeout, the Sooners' 6-foot-10 preseason All-American walked into the huddle and told his teammates, "Let's go!" before coach Jeff Capel began talking.

It was still a few more minutes before Oklahoma had some breathing room. Eckloff cut Colorado's deficit to 51-45 with a layup and then had a chance to make it even closer with a 3-pointer after he'd stolen the ball from Griffin.

Crocker followed another defensive stop with his 3-pointer from the left side to help the Sooners start pulling away, and he added another a few possessions later. The Sooners led 65-51 after Taylor Griffin's first 3-pointer of the season with 6:47 to play.

The Sooners seemed to shut it down after that, allowing Higgins a pair of easy baskets in the lane to start the Buffaloes' rally. Higgins had a reverse layup to cap a string of seven straight Colorado points that sliced the deficit to 70-64 with 1:03 left, and the Sooners missed five of six free throws at one point to let the Buffs get even closer.

Cade Davis and Crocker closed it out by going 2-for-2 on free throws in the closing 12 seconds.

Oklahoma also scuffled in its first game since moving to its highest ranking since 1990, trailing by nine with 6:25 to play before rallying to beat Texas A&M on Wednesday night. In both instances, Griffin said he thought the Sooners relaxed after building big leads.

"We won. That's what matters," Crocker said. "But we didn't play the way we should have played. We didn't win how we should have won."

The Buffaloes shot 28-for-55 to become only the third team this season to clear 50 percent against Oklahoma's defense, but the Sooners were an even better 28-for-49 and also held a 33-20 advantage on the boards.

"Like we have been playing -- close but yet so far," Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We're just not quite strong enough underneath the boards."

Colorado has never beaten a top 10 team on the road and was seeking its first win at Oklahoma since 1980.

Missouri 82, Iowa State 68

AMES, Iowa -- DeMarre Carroll followed a below-average outing at Texas with one of the best games of his career, helping Missouri reach the 20-win mark for the first time since 2002-03.

Carroll scored a career-high 31 points and Missouri never trailed in beating Iowa State 82-68 Saturday.

Kim English added 16 for the Tigers (20-4, 7-2 Big 12), who shot 57 percent from the field and 9-of-16 from 3-point range in picking up their seventh win in eight games.

Carroll, who had just 13 points in the win over the Longhorns on Wednesday, responded by shooting 14-of-20 from the floor with nine rebounds, five assists and a pair of blocks.

"I thought he was a force," Missouri coach Mike Anderson said of Carroll. "I thought he was like a beast."

The Tigers handed Iowa State its worst loss of the season, 77-46, at Mizzou Arena back on Jan. 17. Though the Cyclones put up a better fight on Saturday, the outcome was never in doubt after Missouri went on a decisive 15-4 run early in the second half.

With shot after shot rattling in and out for Iowa State, Carroll hit a 3-pointer, Marcus Denmon drilled a fadeaway 3 over Bryan Peterson and Leo Lyons hit a tip-in that pushed the Tigers ahead 58-44.

Matt Lawrence then gave Missouri its biggest lead, 61-44, on a 3 with 11:25 left. Though Iowa State answered with eight quick points, English hit a 3 and Carroll scored to squash any notions of a comeback.

"The thing about this team is, we have a lot of options," Anderson said. "We shot the ball well early on, and I thought in the second half our defense really dictated the tempo of the game."

Craig Brackins had 16 points to lead five players in double figures for Iowa State (12-11, 1-7), and Diante Garrett added 13 points and tied a career high with 11 assists.

The Cyclones have lost six in a row and three straight at home to Big 12 opponents for the first time since 2006. Worse yet, Iowa State has been outscored by an average of 15 points a game during its current skid.

"Today, we just weren't good enough," Iowa State coach Greg McDermott said. "Missouri was much better today and that's about as simply as I can put it."

The Tigers had pushed a six-point halftime lead to 43-33, as Carroll followed a breakaway dunk with a layup off an Iowa State turnover. Missouri could have later gone ahead by 12, but Brackins blocked a Carroll shot in the paint and hit a pair of baskets to pull the Cyclones within 46-40.

Iowa State couldn't close the gap any further, though, and the Tigers quickly put the game out of reach.

This is the first 20-win season for Missouri under coach Mike Anderson, who led Alabama-Birmingham to four straight 20-win seasons before taking over in Columbia.

"Twenty is the number right now, and hopefully it's going to be more than that," Anderson said.

The Tigers hit six of their first seven shots to jump ahead 13-4. Iowa State eventually pulled within 31-29 on a Jamie Vanderbeken 3, but English answered with a 3 to help Missouri take a 37-31 lead into halftime.

Both teams shot well in the first half. Iowa State hit half of its tries from the field -- despite going just 3-of-12 from 3-point range -- and Missouri shot 57 percent, as Carroll and English combined to go 12-of-14 from the floor.

"My teammates just found me, got me the ball, saw I was hot," Carroll said.

The Tigers have a big week ahead of them, starting on Tuesday when 21st-ranked Kansas visits Mizzou Arena. This could have been a trap game for Missouri -- which had dropped road games at Kansas State and Nebraska -- but the Tigers played their game from the opening tip.

Missouri, which entered play second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, had 28 assists on 35 field goals and just nine turnovers.

"I'm very proud of our guys for the focus they had," Anderson said. "I thought we got better today."

Southern Illinois 72, Missouri State 64

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Justin Bocot scored 28 points, including 18 in the second half, to lead Southern Illinois to a 72-64 win over Missouri State on Saturday.

SIU (11-13, 6-6 Missouri Valley) hit 9-of-15 from 3-point range and 90.5 percent if its free throws to overcome a 31-28 Missouri State lead at the half.

The Bears (10-14, 3-10) struggled from the free throw line, hitting only 54.2 percent.

After trailing by three at halftime, the Salukis came out hot, with Bocot scoring 16 of Southern Illinois' first 26 points.

Missouri State trailed 58-51 with 6:09 left in the game when Southern Illinois went on a 10-2 run to go up 68-53 with three minutes left.

Wesley Clemens had 11 points for the Salukis.

Kyle Weems led Missouri State with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Chris Cooks had 14 points and Cardell McFarland added 12.

Southern Utah 81, Missouri-Kansas City 69

CEDAR CITY, Utah -- John Clifford scored 18 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds to lead Southern Utah to an 81-69 win over Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday night.

Davis Baker scored 17 points for the Thunderbirds (8-15, 6-6 Summit League). Tyler Quinney and David Marek had 11 points each. Clifford's double-double was his fifth of the season.

Southern Utah shot 52 percent from the field and went 31-for-34 from the foul line. The Thunderbirds won the rebound battle 35-25.

Bakari Lewis scored 23 points for the Kangaroos (6-19, 2-10), who have lost six straight, and Latreze Mushatt added 16 points.

Southern Utah led 30-22 at halftime before opening the second half with a 22-6 spurt that gave the Thunderbirds their biggest lead, 52-29, with 13:02 left.

Kangaroos scoring leader Dane Brumagin played five minutes after an ankle injury two weeks ago.

Drake 68, Bradley 54

DES MOINES, Iowa. -- Josh Young scored 18 points and Josh Parker added 16 as Drake snapped a three-game home losing streak by beating Bradley 68-54 Saturday in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Bulldogs (15-10, 6-7) had dropped their last three conference games at Knapp Center. But they shot 58 percent in the second half to protect their 10-point halftime lead.

Bradley (13-11, 7-6), which shot 42 percent, got no closer than eight points in the second half and dropped its fourth straight road game.

Young and Parker were a combined 12-for-12 from the free throw line for Drake, which made 15 of 20 attempts.

Dodie Dunson was Bradley's only double-figure scorer with 14 points.

Iowa 56, Northwestern 51

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- In his first career start, Iowa guard Devan Bawinkel knew what he was put in to do -- shoot 3-pointers.

Bawinkel hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds to play to give Iowa the lead as the Hawkeyes beat Northwestern 56-51 Saturday.

With Iowa down 46-45 -- trailing for the first time since the 15:05 mark of the second half -- Bawinkel's 3 gave Iowa a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

"It felt good going in," Bawinkel said. "Tonight the corner was open."

Sophomore Jeff Peterson finished with 16 points for the Hawkeyes, hitting three 3-pointers and going 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the second half. Peterson sank two from the line with five seconds left to seal the win for Iowa (13-11, 3-8 Big Ten), which snapped a four-game losing streak.

Peterson and freshman guard Matt Gatens went 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final 28 seconds to seal the victory.

"It's been a tough stretch. We like to win and learn," Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. "This losing and learning isn't much fun."

Matt Gatens scored 13 for Iowa (13-11, 3-8 Big Ten), while Bawinkel, in his first career start, added nine.

Iowa had trouble all game getting the ball inside against Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone, so the Hawkeyes put up 30 3-pointers, hitting 12.

"You just don't have many opportunities (inside against the zone). That's who they are and they play it very well. We had to hit some shots."

After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half against the Wildcats zone, Iowa took care of the ball in the second half, only committing six turnovers.

"I think it was better execution, being smart with the ball," Gatens said. "We didn't pass into areas where they could trap and hassle us."

Craig Moore led Northwestern (13-8, 4-6) with 20 points, including a number of 3-pointers from well beyond the arc.

Luka Mirkovic added nine for Northwestern.

"We got the lead, but we weren't able to sustain it," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. "Iowa made plays; they came through when they had to."

Iowa took an early 15-7 lead on the strength of two 3-pointers each from Gatens and Bawkinkel. Gatens third 3-pointer of the half gave Iowa an 18-7 advantage, but the Wildcats went on an 8-0 run to shave the Hawkeye lead.

Iowa led 24-21 at the break.

Northern Colorado 79, Idaho State 74

GREELEY, Colo. -- Devon Beitzel scored 19 points and Will Figures scored 14 as Northern Colorado defeated Idaho State 79-74 Saturday night.

Idaho State trailed 73-68 before Chron Tatum hit a 3-pointer to pull Idaho State (7-17, 4-6 Big Sky) within two points with 38 seconds left. Northern Colorado (10-15, 6-6) made 6-of-8 foul shots the rest of the way to hold off the Bengals.

Idaho State trailed 41-30 at halftime but tied it 68-68 with 2:21 to go. A jumper by John Pena and a layup by Figures gave Northern Colorado some breathing room, though Idaho State kept the game close.

Tatum finished with 18 points. Matt Stucki scored 15 points, and Austin Kilpatrick had 14 for Idaho State.

Arkansas-Little Rock 66, Denver 57

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Shane Edwards and Steven Moore scored 18 points apiece to lead Arkansas-Little Rock to a 66-57 win Saturday night over Denver.

Edwards pulled down 10 rebounds and two steals and Moore had two steals in the win for Arkansas-Little Rock (17-6, 10-2).

Denver (10-13, 5-7) came out quick with a six-point lead only a few minutes into the first half. The lead would change only once, allowing the Trojans to pull ahead to a 26-24 halftime score and put the game away as the second half went on.

The Trojans scored 21 points off the bench and were helped by solid shooting -- going four-for-eight from beyond the arc and hitting 18 of their 25 free throws. The Pioneers' cold shooting from the floor and 12 points from the bench doomed them to another Sun Belt Conference loss.

Rob Lewis led Denver with 12 points and four rebounds.

Utah 80, Wyoming 70

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Wyoming took a calculated risk once again on Saturday, focusing on Utah's 7-foot-2 center Luke Nevill.

Nevill scored 29 points earlier in the season in the 24-point win against Wyoming, as the Cowboys chose to defend him one-on-one. On Saturday, the Cowboys doubled up defensively on Nevill and he scored 15 points. But five other Utes scored in double figures in the 80-70 win over Wyoming.

"Utah, coming down the stretch, got the ball where they wanted it and we didn't keep it out of where we wanted it," Wyoming coach Heath Schroyer said. "I give them credit. We cut it down to six and we didn't get it stopped and they made the plays when we needed to."

Luka Drca, Lawrence Borha and Tyler Kepkay all scored 15 points as well, with Shaun Green and Carlon Brown both adding 10 for the Utes (16-7, 10-2 Mountain West).

It was the first loss in 11 home games for Wyoming (14-9, 3-6) this season.

The Utes hit 11-of-24 3-pointers, as Drca, Borha and Kepkay combined to hit 9-of-14 from long range.

"The league is a great shooting league and you have to make your shots if you want to win, especially on the road," Utah coach Jim Boylen said.

Wyoming led 32-29 late in the first half before Drca hit two straight 3s to put the Utes up 35-34 at halftime. Utah then opened the second by hitting 4 of 6 3-pointers -- two each by Borha and Kepkay. Borha's third 3-pointer with 9:42 left put the Utes up by a dozen.

The Cowboys cut the lead in half before a 3-pointer by Shaun Green and two free throws with 52 seconds left put Utah back up by 11.

"I just wanted to get out of the first half," Boylen said. "I thought that in the first half, we played pretty good. I thought we refocused at halftime and made some adjustments. In the second half, we moved the ball, and when the ball moves, we're a good basketball team."

Brandon Ewing led Wyoming with 18 points, followed by Sean Ogirri with 17 and Mikhail Linskens with 10.

"Give Utah a lot of credit," Schroyer said. "They really stepped up and played well. Their seniors made big plays, like seniors are supposed to. They are very good; they are an NCAA Tournament team."

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 69,

Nicholls State 68

THIBODAUX, La. -- Kevin Palmer scored five of his 10 points in the game's final 39 seconds, lifting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to a 69-68 win over Nicholls State on Saturday.

The teams traded leads throughout in a close game. Anatoly Bose hit a pair of free throws to put Nicholls State up 66-64 with 51 seconds remaining. Palmer answered with a 3-pointer on the Islanders' (13-10, 7-8 Southland Conference) next possession to put them up 67-66 12 seconds later.

After Justin Payne made both of his free throws to put the Colonels (13-9, 6-3) up again with 17 seconds to play, Palmer hit two shots from the foul line with 3 seconds left to seal the win for the Islanders.

Tim Green led the Islanders with 14 points.

Fred Hunter paced the Colonels with 25 points.

Texas-San Antonio 66,

Southeastern Louisiana 61

HAMMOND, La. -- Morris Smith IV scored 17 points and Texas-San Antonio defeated Southeastern Louisiana 66-61 on Saturday.

After a halftime score tied at 31-31, Texas-San Antonio (14-7, 5-3 Southland Conference) opened the second half with 10 unanswered points. Josh Bonney started the half with a three-point play with 17:57 to go, and a little more than four minutes later the Roadrunners led 48-38.

The Lions (9-13, 3-6) answered with a 10-2 run to pull within 58-57 with 4:43 to play, but never take the lead.

Travis Gabbidon had his fourth double-double of the season for the Roadrunners, tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds. Bonney chipped in 13 points for Texas-San Antonio.

Damon Forest paced the Lions with 22 points and Brandon Fortenberry added 14. Patrick Sullivan, the Lions' leading scorer (11.8 points per game) was held to six points in 17 minutes.

Texas-Arlington 85,

Northwestern State 66

NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Roge'r Guignard scored 15 points to lead Texas-Arlington to an 85-66 victory over Northwestern State on Saturday.

The Mavericks (11-10, 4-4 Southland Conference) ended a three-game skid while the Demons (9-14, 1-7) lost their second straight contest and 10 of their last 11.

Leading 27-25 with 6:09 left in the first half, Texas-Arlington used a 9-0 run to pull ahead and led 43-34 at halftime.

The Demons made only 9 of 39 field goals (23.1 percent) in the second half, falling behind by 27 points on two occasions.

Northwestern State shot 29.2 percent (21 of 71) for the game, compared to 32 of 76 (42.1 percent) for Texas-Arlington.

Marquez Haynes added 13 points for the Mavericks, while Anthony Vereen had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Kalem Porterie had 13 points for the Demons and William Mosley added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

SMU 73, CS-Bakersfield 56

DALLAS -- Paul McCoy scored 19 points, including 12 in the second half, to help SMU defeat Cal State Bakersfield 73-56 on Saturday.

Robert Nyakundi came off the bench to add 14 points for the Mustangs (7-14). Derek Williams scored 11 and Mouhammad Faye had 10.

Trent Blakley led Cal State Bakersfield with 21 points, 15 of those off 3-pointers. Alex Johnson added 10 and had six assists.

SMU outscored Cal State Bakersfield 17-2 over a 5:32 stretch late in the first half to take a 30-20 lead.

Cal State Bakersfield (6-17) pulled to within two points twice early in the second half before SMU put the game away with a 9-0 run.

WOMEN

No. 8 Baylor 59, No. 18 Kansas State 50

WACO, Texas -- Jhasmin Player was surprised when memories of last season's knee injury returned during the past couple of days.

Baylor's senior guard put those thoughts out of her mind with her best offensive game of the season.

Player scored a season-high 16 points just more than a year after suffering a season-ending injury against Kansas State, and eighth-ranked Lady Bears pulled away late to beat the No. 18 Wildcats 59-50 on Saturday.

"I didn't think this was a big deal at first," said Player, who was 7-for-10 from the field. "Then I saw the scouting report and watched film of them. I started to think about it more."

Player went down hard and injured her left knee on a fast break last Feb. 2 against the Wildcats. She missed the final 11 games of the season, including Baylor's two games in the NCAA tournament.

Player may have put those bad memories to rest by scoring 12 points in the second half, including seven during a 13-0 run that helped Baylor (19-3, 7-2 Big 12) seal the victory.

"It was fulfilling because of all (Player) dealt with," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "You remember the moment, the feeling, the score and the time when it all happened."

Baylor snapped a two-game home losing streak in which it lost to No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 16 Texas. The Lady Bears avoided their first three-game home skid since the 1999-2000 season.

"When you play in a league like this, home wins are as tough to come by as road wins," Mulkey said.

Jessica Morrow scored 17 points and Danielle Wilson posted her 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Bears, who took sole possession of second place in the Big 12.

Ashley Sweat scored 17 points and Kari Kincaid added 11 for Kansas State (19-3, 6-3).

"We found ways to keep battling back," Kansas State coach Deb Patterson said. "Baylor just made more assertive runs on the offensive end of the floor."

Kansas State was within 45-43 when Baylor broke the game open. Wilson hit a free throw and Morrow had a layup to put Baylor on top 48-43.

Player had two layups and a 3-pointer that gave Baylor a 58-43 lead with 3:43 left.

Mulkey credited Player and Morrow, two of Baylor's seniors, for closing out the game.

"Seniors have to take you there," Mulkey said. "They made plays with confidence to help us win the ballgame."

Morrow scored her team's first eight points of the second half as part of a 10-2 run that gave the Lady Bears a 36-27 advantage.

Kansas State fought back to tie the game at 38 when Kelsey Nelson hit a 3-pointer with 11:41 remaining.

The Wildcats, who came in with the nation's top scoring defense allowing 50 points per game, were within 45-43 when Sweat hit a 3-pointer with 9 minutes remaining.

Kansas State turned the ball over five times in its next nine possessions and went six minutes without a point. The Wildcats finished 16-for-47 from the field (34 percent).

"It's hard to win in this league scoring 50 points," Patterson said.

Kincaid scored her team's first eight points of the game, including back-to-back 3-pointers, that gave the Wildcats an 8-2 lead.

Despite going more than eight minutes without a field goal during one stretch, Kansas State still led 23-19 late in the half.

Baylor closed the first half with a 7-2 run, taking a 26-25 lead on Player's jumper with 28 seconds remaining.

Missouri 74, Kansas 60

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Jessra Johnson scored 20 points Saturday and three other Missouri players were in double figures as the Tigers beat Kansas 74-60.

Missouri (11-11, 2-7 Big 12) took a 40-29 lead into halftime thanks to 50 percent shooting from the field, then stretched that to 18 points at 53-35 about 6 minutes into the second half.

Shakara Jones and Alyssa Hollins each had 15 points for the Tigers and Marissa Scott had 10 as Missouri led by double figures the whole second half.

Danielle McCray had 20 points and LaChelda Jacobs added 17 for Kansas (13-8, 2-6), which shot only 38.2 percent from the field while Missouri shot a season-high 52.7 percent.

No. 21 Iowa State 53, Colorado 47

BOULDER, Colo. -- Defense came through for Iowa State on a day when free throws weren't going through the hoop.

No. 21 Iowa State (18-4, 6-2 Big 12) held a fifth straight opponent to 50 points or less and defeated Colorado 53-47 Saturday, despite making just 4-of-13 shots from the foul line.

"Missing free throws in other games might cost us the game, but in this game we got lucky in missing that many free throws," said guard Denae Stuckey.

Nicky Wieben scored 18 points to lead Iowa State to its fifth straight win. Heather Ezell added 11 points.

"Usually we're able to step up there and knock down those free throws and we weren't able to tonight, but then we were able to come down on the defensive end and get stops," Ezell said.

Iowa State went on a 17-2 run early in the game to lead 24-8, and the Cyclones led by as many as 18 in the first half. Iowa led 31-22 at halftime.

Colorado (10-11, 2-7) cut the deficit to five early in the second half but could get no closer.

"It was a tough game to lose," Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. "When we went down 18 it was not what we wanted. We talked about the runs teams make on us, and we consistently have to recover from them. We did a lot to come back and we have to get to the point where we don't allow teams to go on runs."

Brittany Spears had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Colorado, and Alyssa Fressle scored 10 points.

No. 10 Texas A&M 86, Nebraska 43

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Takia Starks and Sydney Carter had 13 points each to lead No. 10 Texas A&M to an easy 86-43 win over Nebraska on Sunday.

The Aggies (18-4, 6-3 Big 12 Conference) led by 15 at halftime and opened the second half with a 15-4 run which pushed the lead to 55-29 with about 11 minutes left.

Texas A&M scored 11 straight points later in the half to make it 71-34 with five minutes remaining and the Aggies starters sat down.

The Aggies took advantage of a season-high 28 turnovers by Nebraska (10-12, 1-8) to cruise to the win and rebound from Wednesday's 67-50 loss to No. 21 Iowa State.

Texas A&M used a balanced attack with 10 players chipping in and the Aggies bench outscored Nebraska's reserves 47-4.

Nebraska was led by Cory Montgomery who had 15 points.

It is Nebraska's fifth consecutive loss and the Cornhuskers' second straight defeat by a team in the top 10 after No. 8 Baylor won 76-71 Wednesday.

Tanisha Smith added 11 points for the Aggies and Sydney Colson and Danielle Gant scored nine apiece.

The Aggies outshot Nebraska 61 percent to 28 percent and the Cornhuskers were 1-of-12 from 3-point range. The only area where Nebraska didn't struggle was at the free throw line where the team was 16-of-16.

Nebraska scored the first four points of the game before the Aggies went on a 12-2 run to take a 12-6 lead with about 11 minutes in the first half. Texas A&M did not trail after that.

A&M was up by five before scoring 15 of the last 20 points of the first half to lead 40-25 at halftime. The Aggies scored 14 points off 15 first-half turnovers by Nebraska.

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