KU advances in Big 12 Tournament, K-State does not

March 10, 2011|By Eyewitness Sports

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — Mario Little's three-point play broke a tie with 71 seconds to go and Oklahoma State missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, allowing No. 2 Kansas to escape with a 63-62 victory Thursday in the second round of the Big 12 tournament.

Big 12 player of the year Marcus Morris, shut down most of the second half, hit a key 3-pointer for the Jayhawks (30-2). Kansas trailed by as many as eight until Oklahoma State (19-13) got in deep foul trouble in the second half.

Keiton Page had 23 points and Jean-Paul Olukemi had 17 for Oklahoma State, which did a good job of keeping Marcus and Markieff Morris away from the basket and forced the Jayhawks out deep. They put up 25 3-pointers but made only five. They finished just 12 of 21 from the foul line while the Cowboys were 18 for 21.

Marcus Morris, who hadn't made a field goal since the 8:26 mark of the first half, drilled a 3-pointer that put the Jayhawks ahead 58-54 with 4:07 left.

Colorado will play Kansas Friday evening six o'clock. The game can be seen on the Big 12 Network. You can also watch the game by clicking here.

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Cory Higgins scored 28 points, Alec Burks had 24 and Colorado beat No. 19 Kansas State for the third time this season, ousting the Wildcats 87-75 on Thursday in the Big
12 tournament quarterfinals.

Colorado (21-12), after losing nine in a row to Kansas State, was the only team to beat the streaking Wildcats (22-10) in their final nine games.

Higgins had 19 points in the second half, picking up the slack while Burks struggled with three fouls and spent much of the time on the bench. The Buffaloes closed the game on a 14-3 run, sinking eight straight free throws during one stretch. They were 23 of 27
from the line.

Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly had 18 points apiece for Kansas State, which rode a six-game winning streak into the tournament. Kelly also had 10 rebounds.

Andre Roberson had 11 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado.

*The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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