NCAA News Wire
Top 25 roundup: Iowa State buzzer-beater sinks Texas
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Guard Monte Morris hit a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to give Iowa State a come-from-behind 69-67 victory over Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday night at the Sprint Center.
The 13th-ranked Cyclones (23-8) scored the final 12 points of the game, and the final score represented the only time in the game that Iowa State led.
The loss could be costly for Texas (20-13), which needed the win over a quality team like Iowa State to solidify its chance for an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Iowa State was led by Morris with 24 points and forward Georges Niang with 22.
The Longhorns, who led by 15 points in the first half and 13 in the second, were paced by forward Jonathan Holmes with 15 points.
North Carolina 70, Louisville 60
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Forward Brice Johnson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 19 North Carolina upended No. 14 Louisville in the Cardinals’ first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game.
Fifth-seeded North Carolina (23-10), which survived a back-and-forth second half in the quarterfinal game in Greensboro Coliseum, will meet top-seeded and defending champion Virginia (29-2) in Friday night’s first semifinal.
Guard Terry Rozier’s 20 points and forward Wayne Blackshear’s 18 points paced fourth-seeded Louisville (24-8), which had won conference tournaments the past three years.
Trailing 57-56, North Carolina scored the next eight points with two baskets by Johnson and two from forward Kennedy Meeks. Blackshear’s 3-point basket pulled the Cardinals within 64-60, but the Tar Heels made 6 of 6 free throws in the last minute.
Kansas 64, TCU 59
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Freshman guard Kelly Oubre scored 25 points and ninth-ranked Kansas escaped against TCU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.
Kansas (25-7) will face Baylor in the semifinals on Friday night.
Oubre scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half, including 10 straight during one late stretch. TCU (18-15) was led by Trey Zeigler with 20 points and Chris Washburn with 10.
The Horned Frogs’ chances were hurt when point guard and leading scorer Kyan Anderson picked up his fourth foul with 16:37 left in the game and TCU trailing 35-32. But the Horned Frogs hung tough. After trailing by seven at the half, the rattled off the first six points after intermission and never led but tied the score several times, the last at 51.
Arizona 73, Cal 51
LAS VEGAS — It wasn’t fifth-ranked Arizona’s best performance, but it was still good enough to win routinely in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament as freshman forward Stanley Johnson led a balanced attack with 19 points and the Wildcats held eighth-seeded California below 40 percent from the field at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Forward Brandon Ashley added 15 points for the conference regular-season champion, which improved to 29-3 and will meet the USC-UCLA winner in Friday night’s first semifinal. Point guard T.J. McConnell had 13 points and forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson netted 10.
Guard Tyrone Wallace scored 19 points to lead the Golden Bears (18-15) but made just 8-of-20 shots from the field. Guard Jabari Bird hit for 10.
Virginia 58, Florida State 44
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Reserve center Mike Tobey and forward Evan Nolte scored 11 points apiece as third-ranked Virginia, buoyed by a strong start, defeated Florida State in an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Greensboro Coliseum.
Top-seeded and defending champion Virginia (29-2) advances to take on North Carolina in Friday night’s first semifinal.
Guard Malcolm Brogdon scored all 10 of his points in the second half for Virginia. Guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 13 points for 12th-seeded Florida State (17-16).
Forward Justin Anderson, who missed eight games with a broken finger followed by an appendectomy, played for the first time since Feb. 7.
Duke 77, N.C. State 53
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Six players Duke scored in double figures, led by guard Quinn Cook’s 15 points, as the second-ranked Blue Devils sprinted to a huge early lead and whipped North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
Duke (29-3) extended its winning streak to 12 games and avenged one of its losses from earlier this season.
Guard Ralston Turner scored 16
