Damon Archibald led all scorers with 20 points as Boise State clinched the final spot in next weekend's Big Sky Conference tournament with an 83-65 victory over Eastern Washington on Sunday at Cheney, Wash.
The Broncos (14-12 overall, 7-7 Big Sky) jumped out to a 10-3 lead and never trailed in their first conference road victory of the season. The Eagles (5-21, 0-14) became the first Big Sky team to finish a season without a single conference victory.Eastern Washington cut Boise State's lead to 23-20 when Donald Smith hit a jump shot in the first period. The Broncos then went on a 10-3 scoring run and had a 37-28 lead at the half.
Eastern never got closer than seven points behind in the second half. The Broncos' winning margin of 18 was their biggest lead of the day.
Brad Sebree led Eastern Washington with 19 points while Craig Stinnett had 13 and Chris Artis added 12.
UCLA 75, Louisville 72
At Los Angeles, Denny Crum, who should know, says it was a little early for people to be writing off UCLA.
The 15th-ranked Bruins, who had lost four of their last five games going into Sunday's meeting against No. 10 Louisville, beat the Cardinals, 75-72.
Crum, a former UCLA assistant under John Wooden who now is 0-6 at Pauley Pavilion as Louisville's coach, wasn't surprised.
"I've said all along to people who are knocking the Bruins that you're all too tough on them," Crum said. "Regardless of the losses they've had, they are pretty good."
UCLA's Ed O'Bannon scored 19 points and had nine rebounds, and his brother Charles had 11 rebounds and 17 points, including a key basket with 1:42 remaining.
Kansas 84, Oklahoma 81
At Norman, Okla., Kansas coach Roy Williams made his point, loud and clear.
After watching his starters struggle early in the second half, Williams benched all five. The reserves then went on a 10-2 run to get the 13th-ranked Jayhawks back in the game, and Kansas went on to beat Oklahoma 84-81.
The Jayhawks (24-6, 9-5 Big Eight) got outscored 8-1 in the first two minutes of the second half to fall behind by 11. They were within three points three minutes later, and the starters performed like starters when they were allowed to return.
Richard Scott and Steve Woodberry led Kansas. Scott scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half, while Woodberry finished with 21 and hit two big 3-pointers as the Jayhawks rallied.
The loss could prove costly for Oklahoma (15-11, 6-8), which is fighting for an NCAA tournament berth.
Kansas finished third in the league and will play Kansas State in the first round of the conference tournament on Friday. Oklahoma finished fifth and will play Nebraska in the first round.
The Jayhawks were miserable from the perimeter most of the afternoon and wound up shooting just 46 percent, although they made 62 percent in the second half.
VA Tech 61, N.C. Charlotte 57
At Charlotte, N.C., Adrian Custis scored 18 points and Shawn Smith added 12 as Virginia Tech benefitted from North Carolina Charlotte's poor shooting in a 61-57 victory Sunday.
The 49ers hit just 15 of 59 field goals for 25.4 percent, setting a school record. They were able to stay close because they hit 25 of 30 free throws. Jarvis Lang, who led UNCC with 20 points, hit all 12 free throws he attempted to tie a team record.
Lang also had 12 rebounds for UNCC.
Penn 81, Cornell 66
At Ithaca, N.Y., Penn earned its second consecutive Ivy League championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament on Sunday. Still, coach Fran Dunphy wasn't happy.
"We played smart, but we didn't play particularly well," Dunphy said of No. 25 Penn's 81-66 victory over Cornell.
Penn, which trailed Cornell only once in the game, shot 39 percent in the first half, making 11-of-28 from the field.
Junior guard Jerome Allen, who is the favorite to be Ivy League player of the year, did not have a good game. Allen, who averages 14 points a game, only had three points, hitting 1-of-10 from the field.
Cornell coach Al Walker pointed out that Penn doesn't have to rely on its shooting game.
"Penn is a very very good team," he said. "It was hard for us to stay with them. Even when they don't shoot particularly well, they do so many things to beat you."
Matt Maloney was the leading scorer for Penn with 19 points, 14 in the second half.
S. Illinois 72, Bradley 59
At St. Louis, Chris Carr sparked a second-half comeback and had 22 points and eight rebounds as Southern Illinois defeated Bradley 72-59 Sunday in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Steve Timmons added 17 points and 10 rebounds for Southern Illinois (22-6), the No. 3 seed, which will play No. 5 seed Northern Iowa (16-12) in the championship game Monday night. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Southern Illinois outrebounded Bradley 38-24 and pounded it inside during a 24-4 run to start the second half, turning a nine-point deficit into a 53-42 lead with 7:40 to go. Carr hit four follow shots and had a dunk, and Timmons had two dunks in a span of 55 seconds to highlight the breakaway.
Ohio State 82, Indiana 78
At Columbus, Ohio, Lawrence Funderburke has always said that playing Indiana - the team he left before ending up at Ohio State - isn't anything special.
"Don't believe it," Ohio State coach Randy Ayers said.
Funderburke scored 25 points, including the basket that put Ohio State ahead to stay, as the Buckeyes upset 17th-ranked Indiana 82-78 Sunday. He also was involved in a skirmish at the end of the game.
The loss dropped the Hoosiers (18-7) 11/2 games back of Big Ten leader Purdue at 11-5. Purdue beat Michigan 95-94 on Sunday to improve its Big Ten record to 13-4.
Ohio State (12-15, 5-11 Big Ten) had lost its last two games, five of its last six and eight of 10. But the Buckeyes had history on their side, having upset the then-No.1 Hoosiers by an almost identical 81-77 score a year ago in overtime at St. John Arena.
Indiana won the first matchup of the season, 87-83 in overtime.
Syracuse 81, Georgetown 75
The 3-point shot has not been kind to Syracuse this season. On Sunday, it saved the day.
Lawrence Moten broke a 66-66 tie with a pair of long 3-pointers and No. 14 Syracuse was 8-for-12 as a team as it ended its regular season Sunday with an 81-75 victory over Georgetown in a game marked by 48 fouls at Syracuse, N.Y.
Syracuse (21-5, 13-5, Big East) entered the game next to last in the Big East in 3-point shooting at 30 percent. Moten was shooting 25 percent.
Moten had little to say he as rushed out of the Syracuse lockerroom after the game.
"It's funny the way people write articles and say I shouldn't shoot 3s and when I start making them, people change their opinions," said Moten, who was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has been one of those urging Moten to shoot less from outside, but he found no fault with his junior guard's shot selection against the Hoyas.
"The difference in the game was that we made our 3-point shots. We haven't done that except for one game all year," he said.