Favorites Regain Some of Their Swagger

One day after several tournament favorites fell nationwide, top teams returned to form with a few notable exceptions.

In Las Cruces, N.M., Chaz Spicer hit two free throws with 2.5 seconds left and Utah State took advantage of an intentional foul call for a 79-77 victory over 10th-ranked Nevada in the Western Athletic Conference semifinals Friday night.

Mario Boggan provided the heroics for Oklahoma State against No. 7 Texas A&M by scoring from the right block with 11.5 seconds left to give the Cowboys a 57-56 victory over the Aggies in the Big 12 quarterfinals in Oklahoma City. Earlier, No. 2 Kansas rolled to a 64-47 victory over Oklahoma behind 16 points from Brandon Rush.

No. 11 Washington State was also upended, losing 70-61 to Southern California, which got 26 points from Gabe Pruitt in the Pac-10 semifinals. The Trojans will play in the final Saturday against No. 16 Oregon, which cruised to an 83-61 victory over California behind 24 points from Taj Porter.

Mostly the favorites prevailed, though some had to rely on unusual performances.

Texas’ Kevin Durant rebounded from a dismal first half to finish with 29 points and 13 rebounds, and the 15th-ranked Longhorns rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat Baylor 74-69 in the Big 12 quarterfinals.

Ohio State center Greg Oden, known for his defensive prowess, showed off his offensive moves, scoring 22 points – 15 in the second half – to lead the top-ranked Buckeyes to their 15th straight win, 72-62 over Michigan in the Big Ten quarterfinals.

Also in the Big Ten, Alando Tucker bounced back after being held to three free throws in the opening half to make four 3-pointers in the second half and lift No. 3 Wisconsin to a 70-57 victory over Michigan State. Tucker, the league’s player of the year, finished with 21 points – his 39th straight game in double figures.

No. 9 Georgetown got a career-high 30 points from Jeff Green, including the winning basket with 13 seconds left, in the Hoyas’ 84-82 victory over No. 20 Notre Dame in the Big East semifinals. Georgetown advanced to the final against No. 13 Pittsburgh, which overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat No. 12 Louisville.

In an ominous sign for national title contenders, No. 6 Florida showed signs of waking from its recent slumber in a 74-57 victory over Georgia in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Gators scored the first 17 points of the game and built a 25-point lead before halftime in romping past the Bulldogs.

Also advancing were No. 5 Memphis 71-49 over Tulane, No. 8 North Carolina 73-58 over Florida State, No. 23 BYU 96-84 over Wyoming and No. 25 UNLV 88-72 over Colorado State.

Big Ten

Oden scored 11 of his points in the final 8:27 after Michigan (21-12) pulled within four.

"I was just trying to do something for us to win. I was just trying to go at the other team and fire my team up," Oden said. "It was just to be more aggressive, take what the defense was giving us. They weren’t doubling, so I had to go to work."

Oden was 8-for-12 from the field and 6-for-10 from the free-throw line to go with eight rebounds and four blocks. The Buckeyes (28-3) overcame a 47-25 rebounding disadvantage to advance to a semifinal Saturday against Purdue, which beat Iowa 74-55.

When the Badgers’ 15-point halftime lead began to evaporate in the second half, Tucker found his range and led the Badgers to victory, hitting four 3-pointers to cut off a Spartans’ rally.

The Badgers will play Illinois in the semis. The Illini beat Indiana 58-54 in overtime.

Big East

At New York, DaJuan Summers added 18 points and Patrick Ewing Jr. tied his career high of 15 to help the top-seeded Hoyas (25-6) advance to the tournament final for the first time since 1996 with their 14th win in 15 games. They will face Pittsburgh in the championship game Saturday.

Russell Carter had 21 points, including five 3s, and freshman guard Tory Jackson added 20 for fourth-seeded Notre Dame (24-7).

Antonio Graves scored 10 of his 23 points during Pittsburgh’s 20-2 run to start the second half, and the Panthers (27-6) advanced to the championship for the sixth time in seven years.

Terrence Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Earl Clark added 12 rebounds for second-seeded Louisville (23-9).

Big 12

At Oklahoma City, Boggan and David Monds scored 11 points apiece to lead the Oklahoma State (21-11), which rallied from nine points down in the second half and won after trailing at halftime for only the second time in 11 chances this season. The Cowboys advanced to a semifinal Saturday against Texas.

Joseph Jones led the Aggies (25-5) with 18 points.

For Texas, Durant got help from an unexpected source. Seldom-used Craig Winder scored eight points, including a basket with 1:56 left that put the third-seeded Longhorns (23-8) ahead for the first time since the opening minutes.

Curtis Jerrells scored 19 points to lead Baylor (15-16), which has lost 20 straight to Texas, a run that dates to 1988.

SEC

At Atlanta, Taurean Green scored 19 points to lead Florida (27-5), which looked vulnerable by losing three of four to close out February. The Gators advanced to a semifinal against Mississippi, an 80-60 winner over LSU.

Takais Brown scored 12 points for Georgia (18-13), which hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2002 and is likely headed to the National Invitation Tournament.

ACC

At Tampa, Fla., Wayne Ellington scored 18 points and Ty Lawson had 14, and the Tar Heels’ balanced attack was too much for the Seminoles’ one-man show, Al Thornton. FSU (20-12) never led, and Thornton – the ACC’s leading scorer and runner-up for conference player of the year – scored 12 points before fouling out with more than 6 minutes to go.

North Carolina (26-6) advanced to a semifinal Saturday against Boston College, which beat Miami 74-71 in overtime.

Pac-10

At Los Angeles, Taj Gibson added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Lodrick Stewart also scored 15 for Southern California (23-10), which shot 10-of-16 from 3-point range and 18-of-38 overall (47.4 percent).

Derrick Low led second-seeded Washington State (25-7) with 15 points.

Malik Hairston added 22 points and Maarty Leunen 13 for Oregon, which shot 62 percent from the floor in beating California (16-17). The Ducks advanced to the final for the first time since winning it in 2003 by beating the Trojans.

Conference USA

At Memphis, Tenn., Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 17 points, and Memphis extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 straight by beating Tulane (17-13) in the semifinals.

The top-seeded Tigers (29-3) will play in the championship Saturday against Houston, which beat Rice 77-62. The regular-season champions will be playing for consecutive tournament titles on a court where they have won 31 consecutive games.

Western Athletic Conference

At Las Cruces, N.M., Jaycee Carroll scored 24 points to lead the Aggies (23-10), who beat Nevada for the second time in a week to move into the championship game against New Mexico State, which beat Boise State 88-69.

Nick Fazekas posted his 20th double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds for Nevada (28-4), which hurt its seeding but is assured of a fourth straight NCAA tournament bid.

Mountain West

At Las Vegas, Trent Plaisted tied his career-high with 27 points to help BYU beat Wyoming (17-15) in the semifinals and send the Cougars (25-7) to the conference championship for the first time since 2001.

They will face a resurgent UNLV Rebels (27-6), who handily beat Colorado State (17-13) to win their 16th straight game on their homecourt, where they’re 17-1 this season.