Texas Escapes With a Victory

After a career night, Brad Buckman could only wait and watch to see if his Texas Longhorns would pay for his one big mistake.

After tying his career-high with 27 points Saturday night at Stillwater, Okla., Buckman fouled Oklahoma State’s Terrence Crawford on a desperation three-point try with 0.3 of a second left and gave the eighth-ranked Cowboys a chance to tie.

When Crawford missed his second foul shot, Buckman was finally able to exhale and Texas was assured of a 74-73 victory.

“It was a fun and exciting end, but it could almost give you a heart attack,” Buckman said.

The Cowboys, 20-6 overall, 11-5 Big 12, rallied from six points down in the final 48 seconds before blowing the chance to tie it.

John Lucas III brought Oklahoma State to within 71-68 on a floater in the lane, and neither Kenny Taylor nor Buckman could put the game away at the foul line for Texas (20-9, 9-7). Taylor was one for two with 18.9 seconds left and Buckman missed both his free throws after grabbing the offensive rebound on Taylor’s miss.

Crawford’s three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left brought Oklahoma State within one point. After two free throws by Gibson put Texas ahead, 74-71, Crawford got the inbounds pass and Buckman fouled him behind midcourt while he was attempting a desperation shot.

After missing the second of the three foul shots, Crawford -- a 78% free-throw shooter -- was supposed to intentionally miss his third. The Cowboys substituted their tallest players to go after the miss for a game-tying tip-in.

But the free-throw hit the back of the rim and fell through, and Oklahoma State’s chances to win fell too.

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No. 5 Boston College 78, Rutgers 66 -- The Eagles (24-3, 13-3) made their final season in the Big East Conference a championship one. They clinched the conference regular-season title and earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament by beating the Scarlet Knights (9-18, 2-14) at Piscataway, N.J.

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No. 9 Louisville 66, DePaul 52 -- The Cardinals (26-4, 14-2), who had already clinched the top seed in the Conference USA tournament, beat the Blue Demons (18-9, 10-6) at Rosemont, Ill., for their 15th win in 16 games.

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No. 14 Michigan State 90, Penn State 64 -- The Spartans (22-5, 13-3) earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament, beating the Nittany Lions (7-22, 1-15) at East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans have won eight of their last nine games.

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No. 16 Utah 72, San Diego State 60 -- Andrew Bogut recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 20 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Utes (25-4, 13-1 Mountain West) past the Aztecs (10-17, 4-9) to complete a 16-0 season at Salt Lake City.

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South Florida 85, No. 18 Charlotte 73 -- The loss to the Bulls (12-15, 5-11 Conference USA) at Tampa, Fla., was the second in a row for the 49ers (21-6, 12-3). They fell behind by 17 before using runs of 10-0 and 9-1 to wipe out most of the big deficit and give themselves a chance to win.

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No. 19 Villanova 70, St. John’s 68 -- The Wildcats (21-6, 11-5), who have won seven in a row, clinched a first-round bye in the Big East tournament by beating the Red Storm (9-18, 3-13) at New York.

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No. 20 Oklahoma 74, Texas Tech 54 -- The Sooners (23-6, 14-2 Big 12) scored on five of their first six possessions in the second half to put together a 12-0 run and take a 42-29 lead at Lubbock, Texas. The 20-point loss was the worst for the Red Raiders (18-9, 10-6) at home since Coach Bob Knight arrived in 2001.

No. 21 Alabama 68, Mississippi State 63 -- Ronald Steele gave the Crimson Tide (23-6, 12-4 SEC) the lead for good when his three-point basket with 2:20 left at Starkville, Miss., started a 9-0 run. The Bulldogs (21-9, 9-7) shot only 24%.

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No. 22 Cincinnati 62, Memphis 60 -- James White made an eight-foot baseline jumper with 16.2 seconds left at Memphis, Tenn., to give the Bearcats (24-6, 12-4 Conference USA) their sixth win in a row.

The Tigers (16-14, 9-7) called timeout with 5.2 seconds left, but Rodney Carney lost the ball on the inbounds play, sending them to their fourth consecutive loss.

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No. 23 Wisconsin 64, Purdue 52 -- At Madison, Wis., the Badgers (20-7, 11-5 Big Ten) spoiled the last regular-season game of Boilermaker Coach Gene Keady’s farewell season, ensuring the first 20-loss season for the Boilermakers (7-20, 3-13) in the program’s 107-year history.

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No. 24 Pittsburgh 85, Notre Dame 77 -- The Panthers (20-7, 10-6), who posted their fourth consecutive 20-win season, clinched fifth place in the Big East and first-round bye in the conference tournament with the victory at South Bend, Ind. The Irish (17-9, 9-7) lost for the third time in four games and hurt their hopes for an NCAA tournament berth.

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No. 25 Nevada 73, San Jose State 69 -- Mo Charlo made two free throws with 39.6 seconds left at San Jose to help the Wolf Pack (24-5, 16-2) get past the Spartans (6-22, 3-15) for their 10th win in a row and enter the Western Athletic Conference tournament on their longest winning streak since the 1965-66 season.

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OTHER GAMES

Georgia Tech held Clemson without a basket for the last 7:44 in a 64-56 victory at Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets (17-10, 8-8), who kept their NCAA tournament hopes alive, clinched at least a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 8-8 record. The Tigers (15-14, 5-11) solidified their standing as the ACC’s worst free-throw shooting team by making only nine of 24 attempts.... Jamon Gordon scored seven points during a 12-1 run over the final 2 1/2 minutes at Blacksburg, Va., to help Virginia Tech (15-12, 8-8) beat Maryland, 86-76, to clinch a first-round bye in the ACC tournament. The Terrapins (16-11, 7-9), hoping for a 12th consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament, lost their third in a row.