Associated Press
No. 1 KU tops Texas Tech 80-68 to reach 2,000 wins
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas reached a major milestone, one just two other programs can claim.
A nice accomplishment, worthy of the trophy case.
There just isn't time for the Jayhawks to enjoy it. Not after struggling against Texas Tech, not with more important goals still out there.
Leaning on stars Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins, No. 1 Kansas became the third team to reach 2,000 wins by pulling out an 80-68 victory over scrappy Texas Tech on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
"It means a lot to us right now, but right now we still have a lot of games ahead of us and we don't want to put too much focus on it," Collins said. "It means a lot to people who support us, all the players who played before us and all the people who support the program, so it's more for them than for us."
Kansas (30-2) was upset by Baylor in last year's Big 12 tournament and seemed headed for another with an uneven start. The Jayhawks slogged through a sloppy first half and had to withstand a Texas Tech rally in the second before pulling away to reach 30 wins for the ninth time, including three of the past four years.
Aldrich had 12 points, 18 rebounds and altered the game defensively, while Collins had 19 points and six assists despite foul trouble. Markieff Morris provided a lift off the bench with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Xavier Henry added 13 points help Kansas join Kentucky and North Carolina in the 2,000-win club.
The milestone behind them, Kansas has some work to do before Friday's semifinals against Texas A&M, then on into the NCAA Tournament.
"We can improve on a lot of things," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
Texas Tech (17-15) all but secured a NIT berth by beating Colorado in the opener, but its only chance at an NCAA berth was to win the Big 12 tournament. The Red Raiders gave themselves at least a shot against the nation's top-ranked team, answering every run but one.
John Roberson had 14 points and eight assists, and Darko Cohadarevic added 14 points to keep Texas Tech within reach until the closing minutes.
"I'm proud of these guys," Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said. "Many kids would have quit after the three weeks we had, but they came back, won a game we had to have yesterday, then gave Kansas everything we had. I couldn't ask for more from a group of kids."
Ranked as high as No. 19 early in the season, Texas Tech staggered down the stretch behind a struggling defense. The Red Raiders had a few defensive lapses early against Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 before tightening up for a decisive win that ended a seven-game losing streak.
The intensity continued early against Kansas.
The Jayhawks manhandled Texas Tech inside in the first meeting in January -- 14 more points in the paint, 11 more rebounds -- and the Red Raiders were determined not to let it happen again, swarming Kansas' post players on every touch.
Kansas was out of sorts even without Tech's pressure.
The Jayhawks made careless passes, took poor shots and had one blunder after another in the first half to let Texas Tech stay within two -- a 22-point turnaround from the first meeting.
"They played better than us for sure in the first half," Self said. "We were fortunate to be up two."
Kansas, as Texas Tech expected, went on a run, going up 12 early in the second half.
The Jayhawks tried to pull away from there, but Texas Tech wouldn't back down.
The Red Raiders cut the lead to 55-50 on Mike Singletary's three-point play with 11 1/2 minutes left and kept answering Kansas' attempts to stretch the lead. Texas Tech made it 65-61 on Cohadarevic's sweeping hook shot and were within two when Roberson scored on a tough reverse to set up a potential three-point play.
He missed and Kansas took over.
Collins hit a 3-pointer, Kansas got a stop and Henry added another 3, putting Kansas up 71-63 with five minutes left. Texas Tech didn't have another run after that and will likely head to the NIT while Kansas hopes to sew up the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
"We know how they are," Knight said. "A team like that, you get up 10, you know they're going to come back. They're just so potent from an offensive and defensive standpoint, you just can't get too happy with yourself."
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No. 9 Kansas State 83, Oklahoma State 64: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jamar Samuels scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half, helping No. 9 Kansas State turn a rematch into a rout with an 83-64 win over Oklahoma State Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Kansas State (25-6) had been waiting to play Oklahoma State again since a home loss in January. The Wildcats opened the game with a big run and closed the first half with an even bigger one, leaving no doubt while tying a school single-season record for wins.
Denis Clemente had 12 points and 10 assists, Jacob Pullen added 19 points and Samuels had 10 rebounds to send Kansas State into Friday's semifinals against the Baylor-Texas winner.
Oklahoma State (22-10) shot poorly and defended even worse, following up an impressive win over rival Oklahoma with a clunker.
The Cowboys will still likely get into the NCAA Tournament, but their seeding is sure to drop. Big 12 player of the year James Anderson had 27 points to lead Oklahoma State.
Kansas State had been hoping this game would come.
The Wildcats were riding an emotional high into the first meeting on Jan. 23 after knocking Texas from the top spot in the polls earlier that week. Oklahoma State put a quick end to the euphoria, beating Kansas State 73-69 in the Little Apple for its 12th win in 14 games against the Wildcats since the inception of the Big 12.
The Cowboys won that game by packing into a zone and daring K-State's guards to shoot over them. Clemente and Pullen went a combined 8 of 29, including 6 for 21 from 3-point range, and Oklahoma State ended the Wildcats' Bramlage Coliseum-record 14-game winning streak.
Kansas State seemed to be counting the days to get back at the Cowboys.
Charged up by what felt like a home crowd at the Sprint Center, the Wildcats got off to a good start when the Cowboys opened in man-to-man and kept rolling when they switched to zone, working the ball around for open shots to outscore Oklahoma State 23-8 in the first 8 minutes.
Kansas State wasn't bad on defense, either. Oklahoma State had seven turnovers and just six shot attempts in that span.
The Cowboys tried to make a game of it. Behind two 3-pointers by Keiton Page and one from Anderson, Oklahoma State reeled off a 15-4 run to get within 27-23.
All that seemed to do was make the Wildcats angry.
Led by Samuels, Kansas State closed the half with a 24-3 run, scoring the final 16 points as Oklahoma State missed its final eight shots. Samuels matched his career high with 21 points and had nine rebounds by halftime, scoring on jumpers and flying putbacks, and adding his second 3-pointer just before the buzzer to put Kansas State up 51-26.
The Wildcats made sure Oklahoma State never stood a chance after that, pushing the lead to as much as 33 in the second half.
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No. 21 Baylor 86, Texas 67: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- LaceDarius Dunn, benched with three quick fouls in the first half, rebounded with 17 of his 19 points after intermission and No. 21 Baylor made it three in a row over Texas this season with an 86-67 victory Thursday night in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Epke Udoh, the Big 12's newcomer of the year, scored 25 points for the third-seeded Bears (25-6), who will meet No. 2 seed Kansas State in the semis.
Damion James had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his second straight double-double for Texas (24-9) but the all-conference senior drew one of Texas' two technicals and fouled out with 2:43 left. A few seconds later, center Dexter Pittman also fouled out for Texas, which started the season 17-0 and climbed to No. 1 before falling out of the rankings.
Tweety Carter had 20 points for Baylor, which hadn't beaten Texas three in a row since 1981-82.
Dunn, benched with two points just 4 minutes, 20 seconds into the game with three fouls, scored seven points in a 13-2 run that put Baylor in command at the beginning of the second half.
Pittman's basket got the Longhorns to 43-41 in the first seconds of the second half, then Udoh scored, Dunn followed with a driving layup and Udoh came right back with another basket.
Dunn, fouled by James, sank a free throw and then followed with another basket and then another foul shot when James was whistled for a technical foul.
After Carter stole a Texas pass and drove in for a layup, the Bears led 56-41.
Pittman, the Longhorns' bulky senior center, scored six straight points and cut the lead to 64-59 before Dunn answered with a 10-footer and Carter followed with a running one-handed basket.
Dunn, with an assist from Carter, went in for a layup and made the foul shot when Pittman picked up his fourth foul, putting Baylor up 71-61.
Pittman and Avery Bradley each had 14 points for the Longhorns.
James, who had 28 points and 16 rebounds on Wednesday against Iowa State, picked up right where he left off, putting in 16 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the first half.
Baylor managed to take a 43-39 lead into halftime in spite of getting only two points from Dunn. The Big 12's second-leading scorer with almost 20 points a game, went to the bench with his third foul after he and Texas' J'Covan Brown each drew a technical foul.
Players on each team began taunting each other and officials acted quickly before things got out of hand between the two rivals who were playing for the 234th time.
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