No. 3 Kansas Falls To Missouri

Top 25 For once, nobody could criticize Simeon Haley’s hands.

Missouri’s 7-foot center has had a lot of trouble bobbling the ball, but he held on to an errant pass by Jerod Haase with about 5 seconds to go and then hit two free throws to clinch a 77-73 victory over No. 3 Kansas on Saturday at Columbia, Mo.

“It felt like they weren’t looking where they were throwing it,” said Haley, whose finish made up for six turnovers. “The ball just came to me. ‘Wow, look what I’ve got.”’

Haase said he was trying to get the ball inside to Scot Pollard.

“I just misread it,” Haase said. “It was just a poor play. There’s no other thing to say about it.”

Haley’s free throws with 2.9 seconds to go also were a bonus from his usual production. Haley is a 59-percent free-throw shooter.

“It was just adrenaline flowing,” said Haley, who had 13 points and seven rebounds. “I wasn’t thinking about nothing. I haven’t been making too many in practice.”

Jason Sutherland scored 18 points as Missouri (15-8, 5-4 Big Eight) won for only the fourth time this season over a team with a winning record.

The Tigers also ended Kansas’ 12-game winning streak, handed the Jayhawks their first loss in the Big Eight and raised their winning streak at the Hearnes Center to 14 in a row.

Jacque Vaughn had 17 points and six assists for Kansas (19-2, 7-1).

(6) Villanova 76, Rutgers 64

At Piscataway, N.J., Jason Lawson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half as the Wildcats defeated the Scarlet Knights.

After Rutgers (6-14) got within 63-59 with 3:22 left, Lawson scored six straight points for the Wildcats to make it 69-61 with 57 seconds remaining. With Rutgers’ big men in foul trouble, Lawson scored two straight baskets inside, then twice made 1 of 2 from the foul line.

The Wildcats (20-3) opened a 72-61 lead with 45 seconds left to seal their seventh straight win.

(7) Utah 78, Colorado St. 73

At Fort Collins, Colo., Keith Van Horn scored 22 points, six during the Utes’ second-half rally.

Utah (19-3, 11-1 Western Athletic Conference) outscored the Rams 15-4 midway through the second half to erase a 60-54 deficit. Van Horn and Mark Rydalch accounted for 11 of the Utes’ points during the run that gave them a 69-64 lead with 6:40 to play. The Rams dropped to 14-8, 8-5.

(18) Syracuse 85, (8) G’town 64

At Syracuse, N.Y., John Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds and the Orangemen held a foul-plagued Allen Iverson in check in a rout over the Hoyas.

Syracuse (18-6, 8-5 Big East) won for the fifth time in six games since a 19-point loss to the Hoyas on Jan. 24.

It was the third loss in five games for Georgetown (19-5, 9-4), which still maintains a one-game lead over the Orangemen in the Big East standings.

(10) Penn St. 54, Michigan St. 50

At State College, Pa., Glenn Sekunda scored 13 points and the Nittany Lions retained their share of the Big Ten lead and avenged one of their two losses with a win over the Spartans.

Penn State (18-2, 9-2 Big Ten) remains tied with Purdue for first place in the conference. The Spartans dropped to 13-10, 7-4.

(11) Va. Tech 78, Xavier 73

At Cincinnati, Damon Watlington hit a pair of 3-pointers in a second-half run that set up a win over the Musketeers (9-11, 5-5 Atlantic 10).

The Hokies (18-2, 10-1) put up the best 20-game record in school history by extending their winning streak to six games.

Georgia Tech 92, (12) N.C. 83 (OT)

At Chapel Hill, N.C., Drew Barry led the Yellow Jackets’ school-record 3-point shooting performance with a career-high 30 points as Georgia Tech dominated the Tar Heels (16-7, 7-4) in an overtime win.

The Yellow Jackets (15-10, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a tie for first place in the league with No. 9 Wake Forest, which plays host to Duke today.

(13) Texas Tech 66, Texas A&M 63

At College Station, Texas, Jason Sasser scored 19 points to lead the Red Raiders to a win over the Aggies to remain undefeated in the Southwest Conference.

Sasser gave the Red Raiders (20-1, 9-0) a 65-61 lead with 2:18 remaining, but a basket by Dario Quesada pulled the Aggies (11-10, 3-6) within two.

In the closing minute, Jason Martin hit 1 of 2 free throws for Tech and Derrick Hart missed a short jumper for A&M. Hart and Quesada also missed 3-point attempts.

(14) Purdue 69, (23) Michigan 64

At West Lafayette, Ind., reserve Brad Miller hit four free throws in the final minute and Brandon Brantley had a crucial tip-in with 43 seconds left as the Boilermakers held off the Wolverines.

Purdue (19-4, 9-2 Big Ten) retained first place in its bid for a third straight conference title.

Michigan (15-8, 5-5) lost for the fourth time in five games.

(20) Louisville 81, UAB 66

At Louisville, Ky., Tick Rogers scored 20 points and Brian Kiser added 19 as the Cardinals built a 19-point lead and then withstood a furious rally by the Blazers.

Louisville (17-7, 8-2 Conference USA) went ahead 33-14 on B.J. Flynn’s free throw with 4:07 remaining in the first half as Alabama-Birmingham missed 15 of its first 20 shots.

But Alabama-Birmingham (14-9, 4-5), hitting its first 10 shots of the second half, sliced the margin to 57-47 on Cedric Dixon’s 3-pointer from the right wing with 11:49 left.

(22) Boston College 62, Miami 58

At Miami, Bevan Thomas converted two consecutive offensive rebounds into baskets to help the Eagles hold off the Hurricanes.

BC (15-5, 8-4 Big East) concluded a 3-0 road trip against conference foes. Miami (11-9, 5-7) had won four straight home games against Big East rivals.

(21) Iowa St. 74, Nebraska 59

At Ames, Iowa, Dedric Willoughby scored a career-high 29 points and the Cyclones recovered from a slow start to beat the Huskers.

Willoughby hit seven 3-pointers, one short of the school record, in topping his previous best of 28 points against Richmond earlier this season. Kenny Pratt added 17 points for Iowa State (17-5, 6-2 Big Eight) and Shawn Bankhead scored 15.

Tyronn Lue’s 13 points led Nebraska (15-9, 3-6), which lost its fifth in a row. , (24) E. Mich. 91, Central Mich. 79

At Ypsilanti, Mich., Theron Wilson scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half as the Eagles made a big early lead hold up against the Chippewas (5-15, 2-10).

Derrick Dial and Brian Tolbert each added 17 points for the Eagles (18-2, 11-1 Mid-American Conference), while Earl Boykins and James Head both had 12. Boykins also had five assists and Wilson pulled down nine rebounds.