Author: Michael Protos

Conference USA: Golden Hurricane Rain 10 3-Pointers on Owls

No. 2 Tulsa blew away No. 10 Rice 73-51 with exceptional three-point shooting and suffocating defense. Senior guard Paul Delaney refused to let No. 3 UAB lose to No. 11 Southern Miss, hitting two clutch shots to give the Blazers a 74-73 overtime win. No. 1 Memphis remained perfect in Conference USA with a 51-41 victory against No. 8 Tulane. Senior guard Stefon Jackson did all he could to put No. 4 UTEP into the semifinals, finishing with 38 points in an 89-85 loss to No. 5 Houston.

Mid-American: Top Seeds Are 3-0 in Quarterfinals

No. 2 Ball State had to work overtime to get past No. 7 Central Michigan 64-61. Poor free throw shooting nearly doomed No. 3 Buffalo in a 65-62 win against No. 6 Kent State, as the Bulls missed 12 free throws. No. 1 Bowling Green beat No. 9 Ohio 74-61 to complete a three-game season sweep of the Bobcats. No. 5 Akron hit 12 three-pointers to pace the Zips to a 73-63 win against No. 4 Miami, Ohio.

Southland: Nicholls State Rallies After Halftime; Roadrunners Upset Sam Houston

No. 2 Nicholls State trailed by eight at halftime to No. 7 Texas State, but the Colonels used a 17-4 run midway through the second half to pull ahead and slip past the Bobcats for an 80-75 win. No. 6 Texas-San Antonio hit 10 three-pointers and shot 57 percent from the field to win 83-74 against No. 3 Sam Houston State. Junior swingman Kevin Palmer had 35 points for No. 4 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, helping the Islanders to a 79-72 win against No. 5 Texas-Arlington. No. 1 Stephen F. Austin beat back No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana 67-56 by hitting 11 three-pointers to help overcome a 39 percent shooting day.

Mountain West: Utah Survives Horned Frogs; San Diego State and BYU Roll

After failing to win a Mountain West game during the regular season, No. 9 Air Force appeared poised to win its second in two days before faltering in the second half in an 80-69 loss to No. 1 BYU. No. 4 San Diego State led No. 5 UNLV for nearly the entire game in a 71-57 win, the third victory for the Aztecs against UNLV this season. Senior guard Lawrence Borha drained a three-pointer with less than a second remaining to give No. 2 Utah a 61-58 win against No. 7 TCU. No. 3 New Mexico will be sweating on Selection Sunday after the Lobos lost 75-67 to No. 6 Wyoming.

Pac-10: Sun Devils Complete Season Sweep of Arizona

No. 5 Arizona did nothing to improve its NCAA Tournament outlook by losing to No. 4 Arizona State 68-56. No. 1 Washington’s defense pressured No. 9 Stanford into 18 turnovers and nearly 50 missed shots in an 85-73 win. No. 6 USC obliterated No. 3 California on the glass for a 51-25 rebounding advantage that helped the Trojans slip past the Bears 79-75.

SEC: Kentucky and Mississippi State Claim Double-Digit Wins

As usual, junior guard Jodie Meeks and freshman forward Patrick Patterson carried No. E4 Kentucky, and the Wildcats beat No. W5 Mississippi 71-58. No. W3 Mississippi State ensured that No. E6 Georgia would not pull off another miracle championship run like the team did last season by whipping Georgia 79-60 in the opening round. No. W4 Alabama used a 14-3 run early in the second half to put away No. E5 Vanderbilt in an 82-75 win. No. E3 Florida avoided a disastrous loss to No. W6 Arkansas with a 73-58 victory.

SWAC: Prairie View Hits Key Free Throws

No. 3 Prairie View made seven free throws in the final minutes to produce a 65-60 win against No. 6 Mississippi Valley State. No. 4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff held on for a 62-61 win against No. 5 Southern after the two teams failed to score any points for five minutes down the stretch.