Storm reroutes SEC games

A possible tornado ripped into the Georgia Dome in Atlanta during the Southeastern Conference tournament, sending debris tumbling from the ceiling, prompting fans to flee for the exits and postponing the final quarterfinal game Friday night.

The storm struck while Alabama and Mississippi State were in overtime in their quarterfinal matchup. They were able to finish after a delay of more than an hour -- Mississippi State won, 69-67 -- but the last game between Georgia and Kentucky was called off.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the SEC will move the tournament to Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum, which seats 9,191 -- considerably less than the 25,000 that the Georgia Dome holds. There is an unprecedented scenario of playing three games today. The Georgia-Kentucky winner might have to return later in the day for a semifinal game against Mississippi State.

In other games, Tennessee hardly looked worthy of a No. 1 seeding, and South Carolina sure didn’t resemble the team that lost by 33 points to the Volunteers five days earlier.

The Gamecocks were in position to pull off a major upset against No. 4 Tennessee before Chris Lofton made a three-point basket with 11.4 seconds left to give the Volunteers (29-3) an 89-87 victory over the Gamecocks (14-18). The Volunteers will play Arkansas (21-10), which upset No. 18 Vanderbilt (26-7), 81-75.

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Big Ten

No. 8 Wisconsin beat Michigan, 51-34, at Indianapolis in the lowest-scoring game in Big Ten tournament history. The Badgers (27-4) and Wolverines (10-22) combined for the fewest points in the 11-year history of the tournament. Michigan and Minnesota scored 89 in the first round last year. Michigan’s 34 points were also the fewest ever by a Big Ten tournament team, falling short of the 40 scored last year by Minnesota. In today’s semifinals, the Badgers will play No. 19 Michigan State (25-7), which advanced with a 67-60 victory over Ohio State (19-13).

Illinois (15-18) advanced to the semifinals for the 10th time in 11 years by upsetting No. 17 Purdue (24-8), 74-67, in overtime. . . . Blake Hoffarber made a 14-foot left-handed shot at the buzzer to give Minnesota (20-12) a 59-58 victory over No. 22 Indiana (25-7).

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Atlantic Coast

Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points to help top-ranked North Carolina beat Florida State, 82-70, in the ACC quarterfinals at Charlotte, N.C., completing a three-game season sweep of the Seminoles and putting the Tar Heels in the semifinals for the fifth time in six seasons. North Carolina (30-2) will next play Virginia Tech, which beat Miami, 63-49. . . . No. 7 Duke (27-4) squandered most of a 20-point lead before pulling away to beat Georgia Tech, 82-70. The Blue Devils will next play Clemson (23-8), which beat Boston College, 82-48.

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Big East

Pittsburgh advanced to the tournament championship game for the seventh time in eight years, this time with a 68-61 victory over No. 25 Marquette at Madison Square Garden. The Panthers (25-9) will meet ninth-ranked Georgetown for the conference title for the second year in a row. The Hoyas won last year’s game, 65-42. Georgetown (27-4) advanced by beating West Virginia, 72-55.

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Atlantic 10

St. Joseph’s held No. 10 Xavier to a season-low point total in a 61-53 victory in the tournament semifinals at Atlantic City, N.J. Despite the loss, the top-seeded Musketeers (27-6) are all but guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Hawks (21-11) can lock up their first NCAA tournament berth since 2004 tonight by beating Temple. The Owls (20-12) beat Charlotte, 60-45, to move to within a win of their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001.

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Big 12

Fifth-ranked Kansas fell nine points behind a Nebraska team it had beaten 19 of the previous 20 times they’d played. But Brandon Rush helped key a 14-4 run in the second half and the Jayhawks (29-3) held on for a 64-54 victory in the second round at Kansas City, Mo. D.J. Augustin scored eight points during a 14-0 second-half run and No. 6 Texas (27-5) defeated Oklahoma State, 66-59.