UNDATED (AP) — With Selection Sunday looming for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, most of the major conferences are days away from crowning a champion who will receive an automatic berth.
In the Big 12 quarterfinals, Umoja Gibson scored 14 points, including a crucial three-point play with less than a minute left in Oklahoma’s 72-67 victory over third-ranked Baylor. Jacob Groves added 15 points and Marvin Johnson made two foul shots with five seconds left to finish with 12 points.
Ochai Agbaji furnished 18 points and Christian Braun had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds in a 87-63 rout by sixth-ranked Kansas over West Virginia. The Jayhawks outscored the Mountaineers, 41-19 in a first half that saw WVU coach Bob Huggins ejected for receiving two technicals.
TCU rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat No. 22 Texas, 65-60 and earn the right to face Kansas. Damion Baugh led the Horned Frogs on a frantic second-half comeback in their fifth win over a ranked team this season.
Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 18 points and No. 14 Texas Tech rolled to a 72-41 rout of Iowa State. The Red Raiders built a 39-20 halftime lead and cruised into a semifinal showdown with No. 7 seed Oklahoma.
In Big East quarterfinal action, No. 8 Villanova overcame a 17-point deficit to beat St. John’s, 66-65. Caleb Daniels scored 19 points and Brandon Slater made the go-ahead free throws with 2.8 seconds left.
No. 11 Providence barely got past pesky Butler, 65-61 as Nate Watson poured in 26 points for the Friars. Al Durham drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 41 seconds left for his first basket of the game
R.J. Cole and Tyrese Martin each scored 17 points to lead No. 20 Connecticut into the Big East semifinals with a 62-52 win over Seton Hall. Seton Hall’s 18 points in the first half was its lowest total of any game this season.
Over to the Big Ten quarterfinals, where Keegan Murray provided 26 points and Jordan Bohannon had 17 in No. 24 Iowa’s record-setting win over Northwestern, 112-76. Murray was 11 of 16 from the field and had eight rebounds for the Hawkeyes, who set tourney records with 43 field goals and 19 3-pointers as well as for points.
Also in the Big Ten, Indiana closed on a 31-9 run to beat Michigan, 74-69. Freshman Max Christie scored 16 points and Michigan State nearly blew a 20-point, second-half lead before holding off Maryland, 76-72.
Checking out the ACC quarterfinals, seventh-ranked Duke trailed by four at halftime before pulling out a 88-79 win over Syracuse, which played without leading scorer Buddy Boeheim because of a suspension. Wendell Moore Jr. scored 26 points and Jeremy Roach had 17 in the second half for the Blue Devils, who closed the game on a 10-0 run.
The Tar Heels also reached the ACC semis as Brady Manek outscored Virginia in the first half on the way to 21 points, leading No. 25 North Carolina’s 63-43 victory.
Miami won on a last-second shot, putting the Hurricanes in the semifinals against Duke.
Keve Aluma tossed in 20 points and Virginia Tech hit eight straight free throws in the final 46 seconds to beat Notre Dame, 87-80.
The Pac-12 quarterfinals began with Christian Koloko scoring 24 points and Bennedict Mathurin adding 20 in second-ranked Arizona’s 84-80 victory against Stanford. Pelle Larsson made two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to secure the win for the top-seeded Wildcats.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 23 points and Jules Bernard added 19 as the duo helped No. 13 UCLA knock off Washington State 75-65. The Bruins went on a 19-2 run in building a 12-point halftime lead.
Evan Battey had 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Jabari Walker added 18 points and 16 rebounds to send Colorado past Oregon 80-69
No. 21 Southern Cal closed out Thursday’s Pac-12 action by overcoming 22 turnovers in a 65-61 win against Washington. Boogie Ellis finished with 17 points for the Trojans and Isaiah Mobley chipped in nine points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Chandler Jacobs banked in the winning basket with 1.8 seconds left to give No. 23 Colorado State a 53-51 triumph over Utah State in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals. Isaiah Stevens had 14 points and seven boards for the Rams.
