Volunteers survive South Carolina

Tennessee is still alive for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. It sure wasn’t easy.

Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds remaining and the fourth-ranked Volunteers survived South Carolina’s bid for a huge upset, sending Dave Odom into retirement with an 89-87 victory over the Gamecocks in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday in Atlanta.

Tennessee (29-3) already claimed its first SEC championship in 41 years and hopes to lock up a top seed by winning the league tournament. South Carolina (14-18) made it tough in Odom’s final game. He announced in January he would step down at season’s end.

Wayne Chism led the Volunteers with 23 points.

(1) North Carolina 82, Florida State 70: At Charlotte, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points to lead the Tar Heels (30-2) to the win over the Seminoles (19-14) in the ACC tournament.

(2) Memphis 69, Southern Mississippi 53: At Memphis, Tenn., Derrick Rose scored 25 points and the Tigers (32-1) advanced to the Conference USA tournament championship, beating the Golden Eagles (19-14).

(5) Kansas 64, Nebraska 54: At Kansas City, Mo., Brandon Rush scored six points in a 15-4 run and the Jayhawks (29-3) beat the Cornhuskers (19-12) in the Big 12 tournament.

(6) Texas 66, Oklahoma State 59: At Kansas City, Mo., Damion James had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Longhorns (27-5) past the Cowboys (17-15).

(7) Duke 82, Georgia Tech 70: At Charlotte, N.C., Jon Scheyer scored 18 points and the Blue Devils (27-4) beat the Yellow Jackets (15-17) in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.

(8) Wisconsin 51, Michigan 34: At Indianapolis, Joe Krabbenhoft scored 12 points to lead the Badgers (27-4) past the Wolverines (10-22) in the lowest-scoring game in Big Ten tournament history.

(9) Georgetown 72, West Virginia 65: At New York, Roy Hibbert had 25 points and 13 rebounds in the Hoyas’ (27-4) win over the Mountaineers (24-10).

St. Joseph’s 61, (10) Xavier 53: At Atlantic City, N.J., Pat Calathes scored 24 points and the Hawks (21-11) beat the Musketeers (27-6) in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Illinois 74, (17) Purdue 67 (OT): At Indianapolis, Demetri McCamey scored 26 points and the Illini (15-18) defeated the Boilermakers (24-8) in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

(19) Michigan State 67, Ohio State 60: At Indianapolis, Drew Neitzel scored 28 points to lead the Spartans (25-7) to a win over the Buckeyes (19-13).

Arkansas 81, (18) Vanderbilt 75: At Atlanta, Darian Townes and Gary Ervin each scored 18 points and the Razorbacks (21-10) defeated the Commodores (26-7) to advance to the SEC tournament semifinals.

Minnesota 59, (22) Indiana 58: At Indianapolis, Blake Hoffarber caught a long pass with 1.5 seconds left, spun away from a defender and hit a 14-foot left-handed shot at the buzzer and the Golden Gophers (20-12) upset the Hoosiers (25-7).

(24) BYU 63, San Diego State 54: At Las Vegas, Lee Cummard’s 20 points led the Cougars (27-6) past the Aztecs (20-12) in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Pittsburgh 68, Marquette 61: At New York, Sam Young scored 22 points to lead the Panthers (25-9) into the Big East tournament championship game with a win over the Golden Eagles (24-9).

Patriot League

American 52, Colgate 46: At Washington, Garrison Carr scored 17 points and the Eagles (21-11) earned their first trip to the NCAA tournament since the school joined Division I in 1967, defeating the Raiders (18-14).

Georgia dome hit

A severe storm ripped away two panels in the side of the Georgia Dome during the Southeastern Conference tournament, sending debris tumbling from the ceiling, halting the Alabama-Mississippi State game and prompting fans to flee for the exits in Atlanta.

The teams were sent to the locker rooms, while those who remained at their seats looked anxiously toward the roof.

After a delay of more than an hour because of bad weather, Mississippi State beat Alabama 69-67 in overtime.