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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 5, 2009

No. 4 Sooners fall to Missouri

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Three days earlier, Missouri was awful. At home, the 15th-ranked Tigers achieved perfection.

DeMarre Carroll had 15 points and 10 rebounds, helping Missouri wind up an unbeaten season at home and grab a share of second place in the Big 12 with a 73-64 victory over No. 4 Oklahoma last night.

"Perfect, that's a good word," said Carroll, who is also coach Mike Anderson's nephew. "It's one of those things you dream about. To finish it off like this, it's amazing."

Leo Lyons added 15 points and J.T. Tiller had 13 for Missouri (25-5, 12-3), which went 18-0 at home after regaining its footing from a 25-point spanking at Kansas on Sunday.

Blake Griffin had 16 points and 21 rebounds, his nation-leading 24th double-double of the season, for Oklahoma (26-4, 12-3), which has lost three of four.

No. 2 North Carolina 86, Virginia Tech 78: Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points and 15 rebounds and the visiting Tar Heels (26-3, 12-3) stayed on track to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title with a victory over the fading Hokies (17-12, 7-8), who lost for the fifth time in six games.

The Tar Heels lead Duke by one game heading into their regular season finale on Sunday against the No. 7 Blue Devils in Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 3 Pittsburgh 90, No. 13 Marquette 75: DeJuan Blair scored 23 points and the host Panthers (27-3, 14-3) used a 21-2 run to rally from a 57-48 deficit to beat the Golden Eagles (23-7, 12-5) and set up a Big East showdown against No. 1 Connecticut on Saturday that eventually might decide one — or two — of the four top seeds in the NCAA tournament.

No. 5 Memphis 69, Houston 60: Tyreke Evans scored 23 points, Shawn Taggart added 12 points and 10 rebounds and the visiting Tigers (27-3, 15-0) inched closer to another perfect run through Conference USA after beating the Cougars (18-10, 9-6) for their 21 straight victory, the nation's longest winning streak.

No. 6 Louisville 95, Seton Hall 78: Earl Clark scored 27 points, Terrence Williams added 14 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and the host Cardinals (24-5, 15-2 Big East) kept their hopes for at least a share of the conference title alive by beating the reeling Pirates (15-14, 6-11).

Vanderbilt 75, No. 12 LSU 67: A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the Commodores (18-11, 7-8 Southeastern Conference) hand the Tigers (25-5, 13-2), the SEC regular season champs, only their second loss at home this season.

Northwestern 64, No. 19 Purdue 61: Kevin Coble scored 16 points, Michael Thompson and Craig Moore each added 12, and the Wildcats (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten) took the lead for good, 49-47, on Jeff Ryan's layup to end the Boilermakers' (22-8, 11-6) seven-game home winning streak.

RANKED WOMEN

KANSAS 69, NO. 5 BAYLOR 45: Danielle McCray hit seven 3-pointers en route to 35 points, and the host Jayhawks (17-11, 6-9 Big 12) raced to a 16-4 lead and never looked back in beating the Bears (23-5, 11-4), who played without leading scorer Danielle Wilson (knee injury).

No. 3 Oklahoma 61, Texas Tech 49: Courtney Paris had 12 points and 16 rebounds in the final home game of her career, and the Sooners (26-3, 14-1 Big 12) overcame 23 turnovers to beat the Lady Raiders (15-14, 5-10) and clinch the Big 12 championship outright.

Kansas State 66, No. 15 Texas 50: Marlies Gipson scored 24 points, Ashley Sweat added 14, and the host Wildcats (22-6, 9-6 Big 12) used a 17-3 run to open their lead to 54-36 with 6:10 left in their upset of the Longhorns (20-9, 8-7).

Miami (Ohio) 45, No. 25 Bowling Green 40: Rachael Hencke scored 13 points and the host Redhawks (14-14, 6-9 Mid-American) finished the game with a 13-6 run to end the Falcons' (25-3, 14-1) 25-game winning streak.