Kansas Has to Make Room for Oklahoma

Oklahoma may have sent a message while beating Kansas to move into a first-place tie with the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Conference.

“Our program, from a consistency standpoint, we’re getting pretty good,” Coach Kelvin Sampson said after the Sooners’ 77-70 victory Sunday at Norman, Okla.

“Kansas has set a standard for this conference and will continue to do so,” he said. “But at the same time, Oklahoma basketball is getting pretty good.”

The No. 5-ranked Sooners (19-4, 10-2) were better than that for 25 minutes in building a 32-point lead, then withstood a rally in which No. 6 Kansas got within five in the final 30 seconds.

Hollis Price and Quannas White each scored 19 points for the Sooners, but there were contributions throughout the lineup as they extended the nation’s longest home-court winning streak to 36 games. Kirk Hinrich scored 21 points, Wayne Simien had 17 and Nick Collison had 15 points and 14 rebounds for Kansas (20-6, 10-2), which shot 34%.

No. 2 Kentucky 70, Mississippi State 62 -- The Wildcats extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 16 games, but it wasn’t easy at Lexington, Ky.

Kentucky (22-3, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) had won its last 10 games by double figures. The Wildcats nearly blew a 16-point lead with 10 minutes left, missing eight consecutive shots and going nearly five minutes without scoring.

Mario Austin led the Bulldogs (17-6, 7-5) with 20 points and eight rebounds.

No. 10 Wake Forest 75, Virginia 71 -- Justin Gray banked in a desperation three-point field goal for the lead with 1:35 left and the Demon Deacons (19-4, 9-3) recorded their 15th consecutive home victory to remain a half-game ahead of Duke and Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Todd Billet scored 25 points to lead the Cavaliers (14-11, 5-8), who lost for the fourth straight time and fell to 1-6 on the road in ACC play. Virginia Coach Pete Gillen held leading scorer Travis Watson out of the starting lineup for missing a class and “another commitment,” though Gillen wouldn’t elaborate.

No. 15 Syracuse 76, Michigan State 75 -- The Orangemen (19-4) held on at East Lansing, Mich., as the Spartans had three chances to win in the final six seconds.

Kelvin Torbert missed a short jump shot from the side, Adam Ballinger missed on a tap, and Alan Anderson misfired from the lane after grabbing a loose ball. Michigan State’s Chris Hill scored a career-high 34 points, including a Big Ten-record 10 three-point field goals, but it wasn’t enough to give the Spartans (14-11) the victory they needed to improve their fading hopes of making the NCAA tournament.

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OTHER GAMES

Temple (10-13, 7-5 Atlantic 10) defeated Fordham, 99-77, to become the sixth NCAA Division I school to reach 1,600 wins. Temple (1,600-871) joined Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke and St. John’s at that milestone. Brian Polk scored 30 points, and David Hawkins added 29 at New York for the Owls, who had their highest point total in 15 years. Fordham is 2-22 and 1-12. ... Brad Anderson stole the ball and passed it to his twin brother, Cord, for a layup with 2.5 seconds left to give Santa Clara (13-12, 4-8 West Coast Conference) a 57-56 victory over St. Mary’s (12-13, 5-7) at Moraga, Calif.