College basketball: Boggan leads Cowboys to upset

Given a chance to keep Oklahoma State’s season alive, Mario Boggan came through with the latest in a series of clutch plays.

Boggan scored from the right block with 11.5 seconds left to give Oklahoma State a 57-56 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals Friday night in Oklahoma City.

It was the fourth time Boggan put the Cowboys ahead in the final minute of a game this season, and the second time he hit a game-winner against a ranked foe.

“It’s not unbelievable if it keeps on happening,” the 6-foot-7 forward said.

After Antanas Kavaliauskas missed a baseline jumper that would have stretched the second-seeded Aggies’ lead to three, the Cowboys took possession and set up their last chance during a timeout with 21.3 seconds remaining.

Boggan took a feed at the right block, spun and laid the ball into the basket for the winning shot.

A&M’s Josh Carter missed a 3-pointer from the right corner, and Kavaliauskas couldn’t connect on a jumper from the left side after grabbing the offensive rebound.

Carter missed another shot as the buzzer sounded, and Cowboys flooded onto the court to celebrate.

In other Big 12 tournament games:

(2) Kansas 64, Oklahoma 47: Brandon Rush scored 16 points and ignited Kansas after an uninspired first half, lifting the Jayhawks (28-4) past the Sooners (19-13).

Oklahoma’s leading scorer, Nate Carter, was held to six points – about half of his average – as the Sooners were held to their lowest scoring output this season.

(15) Texas 74, Baylor 69: Kevin Durant rebounded from a dismal first half to score 29 points and grab 13 rebounds, and the Longhorns (23-8) rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Bears (15-16).

Kansas State 66, Texas Tech 45: Lance Harris scored 20 points as the Wildcats (22-10) polished its NCAA tournament credentials with a win over the Red Raiders (21-12).

Big East Conference

(9) Georgetown 84, Notre Dame 82: At New York, Jeff Green had a career-high 30 points, including the winning basket with 13 seconds left, and 12 rebounds to lead the Hoyas (25-6) to a victory over the Fighting Irish (24-7) in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

DaJuan Summers added 18 points and Patrick Ewing Jr. tied his career high of 15 for the Hoyas.

(13) Pittsburgh 65, (12) Louisville 59: 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 Big East tournament championship with a victory over the Cardinals (25-6).

Terrence Williams had 18 points and seven rebounds, and Earl Clark added 12 rebounds for Louisville.

Atlantic Coast Conference

(8) North Carolina 73, Florida State 58: At Tampa, Fla., Wayne Ellington scored 18 points and Ty Lawson had 14 to lead the Tar Heels (26-6) to a victory over the Seminoles (20-12) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Al Thornton scored 12 points for the Seminoles and Jerel Allen and Toney Douglas joined him in double figures with 10 each.

N.C. State 79, Virginia 71: Gavin Grant scored nine of his 20 points in the final 2 minutes and the Wolfpack (17-14) rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to pull off its second straight upset in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, a victory over the Cavaliers (20-10).

Boston College 74, Miami 71 (OT): Tyrese Rice scored a career-high 32 points, including a key 3-pointer near the end of regulation and two huge free throws in overtime, to propel the Eagles (20-10) to a victory over the Hurricanes (12-20).

Virginia Tech 71, Wake Forest 52: A.D. Vassallo scored 22 points, Deron Washington added 13 – all in the second half – and the Hokies (21-10) pulled away for a victory over the Demon Deacons (15-16).

Southeast Conference

(6) Florida 74, Georgia 57: At Atlanta, the Gators (27-5) scored the first 17 points of the game, built a 25-point lead before halftime and romped to a victory over the Bulldogs (18-13) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Taurean Green scored 19 points to lead the Gators.

Arkansas 72, Vanderbilt 71: Gary Ervin sank a jump shot with 11 seconds left to give the Razorbacks (20-12) a victory over the Commodores (20-11) and send the Razorbacks to the semifinals of the SEC tournament for the first time since 2001.

Mississippi State 84, Kentucky 82 (OT): Jamont Gordon scored 26 points, including a tying 3-pointer after the Wildcats (21-11) squandered a chance to win in regulation with a lane violation, and the Bulldogs (18-12) took advantage for an overtime victory.

Mississippi 80, LSU 60: Bam Doyne scored 26 points and the Rebels (20-11) built a 20-point first-half lead over cold-shooting Louisiana State to beat the Tigers (17-15).

Glen Davis had only six points on 1-for-8 shooting for LSU.

Big 10 Conference

(1) Ohio State 72, Michigan 62: At Chicago, Greg Oden scored 22 points – 15 in the second half – and the Buckeyes (28-3) won their 15th straight game, beating the Wolverines (21-12) in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

Oden was 8 for 12 from the field and 6 for 10 from the free-throw line while pulling down eight rebounds and tallying four blocks.

(3) Wisconsin 70, Michigan State 57: Alando Tucker, held to three free throws in the opening half, made four 3-pointers in the second half and the Badgers (28-4) beat the Spartans (22-11).

Purdue 74, Iowa 55: Carl Landry scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and the Boilermakers (21-10) strengthened their case for an NCAA tournament berth by beating the Hawkeyes (17-14).

Illinois 58, Indiana 54 (OT): Warren Carter scored 17 and Shaun Pruitt added 16 to lead the Illini (23-10) to a victory over the Hoosiers (20-10).

Other Top 25 men

(23) BYU 96, Wyoming 84: At Las Vegas, Trent Plaisted tied his career high with 27 points as the Cougars (25-7) defeated the Cowboys (17-15) in the Mountain West semifinals and sent them to the conference championship for the first time since 2001.

(25) UNLV 88, Colorado State 72: At Las Vegas, Kevin Kruger scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half and dished out nine assists to lead the Runnin’ Rebels (27-6) past the Rams (17-13) in the Mountain West tournament semifinals.

Patriot League

Holy Cross 74, Bucknell 66: At Boston, Torey Thomas scored a season-high 28 points and Keith Simmons added 23 to lead the Crusadors (25-8) to a victory over the Bisons (22-9) that gave the Crusaders their fifth Patriot League championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.