BIG TEN

MICHIGAN 49, MINNESOTA 40 Michigan shook off a sluggish morning start, got 14 points from Dion Harris and used a second-half spurt to beat Minnesota in the opening game of the Big Ten tournament. Michigan (21–11), hoping to play its way into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998, faces no. 1 Ohio State in today’s quarterfinals.

MICHIGAN ST. 62, NORTHWESTERN 57 Drew Neitzel scored 20 points and Travis Walton hit two free throws with 10.4 seconds left to lead Michigan State to victory over Northwestern. The Spartans’ Goran Suton shot a long airball with about 11 seconds left.

ILLINOIS 66, PENN ST. 60 Chester Frazier scored a careerhigh 21 points as Illinois survived a late scare from Penn State to beat the Nittany Lions yesterday. Penn State’s Mike Walker made a tournament-record seven 3-pointers.

ACC

NORTH CAROLINA ST. 85, DUKE 80 Duke’s reign as kingpins of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament is over. Freshman Brandon Costner scored a career-high 30 points and Engin Atsur scored all 21 of his points after halftime, helping 10th-seeded North Carolina State defeat the defending tourney champions in overtime last night. No. 21 Duke (22-10) had won seven of the previous eight ACC tournament titles, including the past two, but entered the league’s signature event this year as the seventh seed, the Blue Devils’ lowest seeding since 1995.

FLORIDA ST. 67, CLEMSON 66 With the game, and maybe even Florida State’s NCAA tournament hopes, on the line, there was only one guy the Seminoles wanted to take the shot. As usual, Al Thornton didn’t let them down. Thornton’s free throw with 1.5 seconds remaining capped a 25-point, 11-rebound performance and gave Florida State a victory over Clemson.

MIAMI 67, MARYLAND 62 Jack McClinton scored 17 points, Brian Asbury added 12 and undermanned Miami upset no. 17 Maryland in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

BIG 12

OKLAHOMA 68, IOWA ST. 63 Nate Carter scored 22 points and got Oklahoma back on track after it had squandered a 14-point lead as the Sooners beat Iowa State..

TEXAS TECH 81, COLORADO 71 Martin Zeno matched his season high with 28 points as Texas Tech burnished its NCAA tournament résumé with a win over Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament.

OKLAHOMA ST. 54, NEBRASKA 39 Mario Boggan scored 11 points to lead a balanced scoring attack as Oklahoma State beat Nebraska last night.

SEC

KENTUCKY 79, ALABAMA 67 Kentucky would have preferred to wait another day to start the Southeastern Conference tournament. Fortunately for the Wildcats, they were at a place that feels just like home. Ramel Bradley and Randolph Morris scored 17 points apiece to lead five players in double figures.

ARKANSAS 82, SOUTH CAROLINA 52 Arkansas kept alive its hopes for making a second straight visit to the NCAA tournament while ending South Carolina’s hopes for a third straight NIT title. Arkansas broke open a close game with a 27–9 run in the second half to beat South Carolina.

GEORGIA 80, AUBURN 65 Levi Stukes scored 22 points, Takais Brown added 19 and Georgia set up a crucial game with Florida by beating Auburn last night.

PAC-10

CALIFORNIA 76, UCLA 69 Ayinde Ubaka scored eight of his careerhigh 29 points in overtime and California stunned fourth-ranked UCLA in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals last night. UCLA’s second straight loss dealt a serious blow to its hopes of being a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA tournament. The five-minute overtime turned into a blowout, with Cal outscoring the Bruins 15-8.

OREGON 69, ARIZONA 50 TaJuan Porter and Aaron Brooks burned Arizona with their longrange shooting , combining for nine 3-pointers to help no. 16 Oregon beat the Wildcats.