Coach Sutton Embraces a 79-61 Defeat

Kansas’ 79-61 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday at Lawrence, Kan., didn’t stop Cowboy Coach Eddie Sutton from taking everybody by surprise.

After combining for 43 points in their final home game for No. 7 Kansas, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison went to the bench with 55 seconds left, hugging coaches and teammates as the sellout crowd roared.

Then the noise reached a crescendo as Sutton trotted all the way down the court to embrace the startled players who had just beaten his 16th-ranked team.

“Those two guys are the type of people we would all like to recruit as coaches,” Sutton said. “They have just had a remarkable career. I wanted to tell them they brought a lot of class not only to the University of Kansas, but to the Big 12.”

Sutton’s gesture caught Collison completely off guard.

“He said it’s been a lot of fun coaching against me. It was really a classy move by him. It means a lot to me,” Collison said. “He’s as good a coach as there is in basketball.”

Collison had 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Jayhawks. Hinrich had 19 points as Kansas, 22-6 overall and 12-2 in the Big 12, beat the Cowboys (20-7, 9-5) for the 11th consecutive time in Allen Fieldhouse.

Both starters as freshmen, Hinrich and Collison played in only three home losses in four seasons.

No. 3 Oklahoma 69, Texas A&M; 64 -- Hollis Price scored 23 points at College Station, Texas, and the Sooners (20-5, 11-3 Big 12) improved their record to 19-1 over the Aggies (13-12, 5-9), who need one win for their first .500 season since 1994-95.

No. 4 Florida 73, Auburn 70 -- Matt Bonner scored 23 points at Auburn, Ala., as the Gators (24-4, 12-2 Southeastern) set a school record for regular-season wins. Auburn (18-9, 7-7) almost overcame a 14-point deficit over the final 6:28.

No. 5 Texas 76, Texas Tech 71 -- Brandon Mouton scored 20 points as the Longhorns (20-5, 11-3 Big 12) led most of the way at Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech (16-9, 6-8) scored 44 points in the paint to 24 for Texas.

Rutgers 95, No. 9 Notre Dame 82 -- Jerome Coleman broke out of a scoring slump with 27 points at Piscataway, N.J., and Rutgers (12-14, 4-10 Big East) got its first win against a top-10 team in more than 20 years. Chris Thomas scored 24 points for Notre Dame (21-7, 9-5).

No. 10 Marquette 98, Alabama Birmingham 87 -- Dwyane Wade scored 26 points at Milwaukee as Marquette (22-4, 13-2) won a share of the Conference USA title for the first time in the league’s eight-year history. Morris Finley scored 31 to lead the Blazers (16-9, 8-6).

No. 11 Louisville 82, East Carolina 76 -- Reece Gaines scored a season-high 30 points as Louisville (20-5, 10-4 Conference USA) ended a three-game losing streak at Louisville, Ky. East Carolina is 12-14 and 3-12.

No. 12 Wake Forest 80, Clemson 68 -- Josh Howard had 29 points at Winston-Salem, N.C., as Wake Forest (21-4, 11-3) moved closer to its first outright Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1962. The Tigers (15-10, 5-9) fell into a four-way tie for fifth.

No. 13 Xavier 71, George Washington 70 -- David West tipped in a shot at the buzzer, and the officials watched the replay for several minutes before counting the basket to give Xavier (22-4, 13-1 Atlantic 10) the win at Cincinnati. George Washington fell to 10-16 and 4-11.

No. 15 Syracuse 93, Georgetown 84 -- Gerry McNamara scored 10 of his 22 points in overtime as Syracuse (21-4, 11-3 Big East) rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit at Washington. Mike Sweetney had 31 points for Georgetown (13-12, 5-9).

Southern Illinois 70, No. 17 Creighton 62 -- The win, at Carbondale, Ill., clinched the No. 1 seeding in the conference tournament and a share of the league championship for the Salukis (21-5, 15-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Creighton is 25-4, 14-3.

No. 18 Illinois 82, Michigan 79 -- Brian Cook’s 26 points helped the Illini (20-5, 10-4) grab a share of first place in the Big Ten at Ann Arbor, Mich., and beat the Wolverines (16-11, 9-5) for the seventh time in a row.

Arkansas 53, No. 20 Mississippi St. 51 -- Kendrick Davis’ three-point play with 25 seconds left led the Razorbacks (9-16, 4-10) at Fayetteville, Ark. The Bulldogs are 18-7, 8-6.

New Mexico 76, No. 22 Utah 69 -- The Lobos’ Ruben Douglas, the nation’s leading scorer, had 39 points, including a school-record 26 free throws at Albuquerque. New Mexico (10-15, 4-8 Mountain West) ended a win streak at nine for Utah (21-5, 9-2).

No. 24 Memphis 67, Cincinnati 48 -- Chris Massie scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half at Memphis, and the Tigers (20-5, 11-3 Conference USA) ended a six-game losing streak against the Bearcats (16-9, 8-6).

No. 25 Dayton 69, Fordham 64 -- Brooks Hall scored 15 points to lead five players in double figures for Dayton (21-5, 13-2 Atlantic 10) at Dayton, Ohio. Michael Haynes had 25 points for Fordham (2-23, 1-13).

OTHER GAMES

Andre Barrett made a go-ahead three-pointer from the corner with 57.6 seconds and Seton Hall (16-9, 10-4 Big East) won its ninth consecutive game, a 56-53 victory over West Virginia (13-13, 4-10) at East Rutherford, N.J.... Troy Bell scored 32 points to move past Seton Hall’s Terry Dehere into second on the Big East all-time scoring list as Boston College (16-9, 9-5) beat Miami (10-15, 3-11), 72-68, at Coral Gables, Fla. Bell needs 71 points to pass Syracuse’s Lawrence Moten, the all-time leader.