LaFrentz Is a Pain to Oklahoma State

Raef LaFrentz said his shoulder hurt, although you wouldn’t have known it when the game was on the line for No. 4 Kansas.

LaFrentz, playing with a strained left shoulder, made only seven of 16 shots Sunday, but still had 17 points and 14 rebounds, including two big offensive rebounds down the stretch, to help the Jayhawks hold off No. 25 Oklahoma State, 71-67, at Stillwater, Okla.

“I want to do more for this team than score,” LaFrentz said. “I have to rebound.”

And Kansas (31-3, 15-1 Big 12) needed him to rebound. After leading by 13 points at halftime and by 10 with 6 1/2 minutes to play, the Jayhawks saw Oklahoma State (21-5, 11-5) get within 67-63 on a baseline jump shot by Adrian Peterson with 1:21 to play.

Ryan Robertson, who scored all 12 of his points on first-half three-pointers, missed from long range with 1:05 left, but LaFrentz got the rebound, allowing the Jayhawks to burn another 20 seconds before they turned it over.

After an Oklahoma State miss, Billy Thomas missed the front of a one-and-one free-throw situation with 34 seconds left. Again LaFrentz came through with an offensive rebound.

Robertson was fouled and missed the front of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left. LaFrentz got that rebound, too, but was called for pushing off. Alex Webber’s free throw brought Oklahoma State within 67-64.

Paul Pierce, who scored 13 points, made two free throws with 13 seconds to play to give Kansas a five-point lead. Oklahoma State lost one of its starters, forward Desmond Mason, early in the second half because of a hip bruise.

No. 11 Purdue 99, No. 10 Michigan State 96--Brad Miller scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, and Mike Robinson made two free throws with 30 seconds to play in overtime to lift the Boilermakers to a victory at East Lansing, Mich.

With the loss, the Spartans share the Big Ten regular-season title with Illinois, although they will be the top-seeded team in the Big Ten tournament.

Jason Klein hit a jump shot from just beyond the free-throw line with 45 seconds to play in overtime to give Michigan State (20-6, 13-3) a 96-95 lead. Robinson was fouled after grabbing an offensive rebound and made both free throws to give the Boilermakers (24-6, 12-4) a 97-96 lead.

Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves missed a driving layup with about four seconds left, and Purdue’s Alan Eldridge was fouled with 0.8 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to give the Boilermakers the three-point lead.

Cleaves took a desperation shot from midcourt that hit the front of the rim and bounced off as time expired.

Brian Cardinal had 19 points for Purdue, and Robinson finished with 17 and Eldridge had 15.

No. 24 Temple 74, No. 20 Massachusetts 66--Pepe Sanchez scored 19 points and Rasheed Brokenborough had 16 for the Owls, who won at Philadelphia to take the Eastern Division of the Atlantic 10.

The victory gave Temple (20-7, 13-3) a first-round bye in the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday in Philadelphia.

Monty Mack had 15 points for the Minutemen (20-9, 12-4), who committed 20 turnovers. They will meet Virginia Tech in the tournament’s first round.

No. 23 Syracuse 77, Georgetown 72--Todd Burgan rallied the Orangemen in the second half with clutch shooting and timely defensive plays in the overtime game at Syracuse, N.Y.

Burgan scored all 19 of his points after halftime and led Syracuse (22-7, 12-6 Big East) back from a 10-point deficit over the final 5:14 to send Georgetown (14-13, 6-12) to its seventh loss in 10 games and dim the Hoyas’ hopes of an NIT bid.

Syracuse trailed, 58-48, with 5:14 to play after Long scored on a fast-break layup. But Burgan, Jason Hart and Marius Janulis made three-point baskets as the Orangemen chipped away.

Syracuse was only seven for 23 from the field, missing at least a half-dozen open shots, and fumbled the ball away 13 times in the first 20 minutes.

Georgetown, too, had turnover problems, committing 14.

Syracuse’s victory over Pitt on Thursday night locked up the Big East 7 division title and the accompanying bye in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

OTHER GAMES

Bakari Hendrix scored 22 points and Matt Santangelo had 21 for Gonzaga (23-8), which was a 74-59 winner over San Diego (14-14) in a semifinal game in the West Coast Conference tournament at Santa Clara, Calif. The Bulldogs earned the right to meet San Francisco (18-10) in the finals. The Dons were 85-83 winners over Santa Clara (18-10) in the other semifinal.

Davidson (20-9), held off Appalachian State (21-8) for its first Southern Conference championship in 12 years, defeating the Mountaineers, 66-62, at Greensboro, N.C. . . . Isaac Spencer had 20 points and 11 rebounds as Murray State (29-3) scored an easy 92-69 victory over Tennessee State (13-16), at Nashville, Tenn., to win the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship. . . . Jonathan Baker made all five of his three-point shots for Richmond (22-7) in a 79-64 win over North Carolina Wilmington (20-10) in the Colonial Athletic Assn. tournament finals at Richmond, Va.

Tony Rutland scored 28 points in his final home game as Wake Forest (15-12, 7-9) rolled to a 71-57 victory over North Carolina State (15-13, 5-11) in the final Atlantic Coast Conference game of the regular season at Winston-Salem, N.C. . . . Greg Buckner scored 29 points for Clemson (17-12, 7-9 in the ACC), salvaging the Tigers’ NCAA tournament chances in a 76-62, victory over Georgia Tech (17-13, 6-10) at Clemson, S.C. . . . Torraye Braggs scored 23 points as Xavier (19-7, 11-5) rallied from a 13-point deficit in an 89-84 victory over Dayton (19-10, 11-5) at Cincinnati to win a share of the Atlantic 10’s West title.

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They’re In

Schools that have received automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of the Ivy League and Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments:

* Arizona: Pacific 10

* College of Charleston: Trans America Athletic

* Princeton: Ivy

* Radford: Big South

* Davidson: Southern

* Murray State: Ohio Valley

* Richmond: Colonial Athletic Assn.