NEW YORK — There is nothing pretty about the Cincinnati Bearcats.
Unless you’re a fan of the black camouflage shorts they are wearing at the Big East Tournament.
The Bearcats (22-10) don’t always shoot well and don’t always take care of the basketball, but as they proved again in beating eighth-seeded Providence 61-44 Wednesday in the second round of the conference tournament, they are one of the best defensive teams in a league where floor burns are badges of honor.
“We’re a team that doesn’t back down,” said Sean Kilpatrick, a second-team all-conference guard who led the Bearcats with a game-high 17 points. “We’re a great team when we play with a lot of energy defensively.”
In other Big East games, James Southerland hit five three-pointers in the first half and Brandon Triche keyed a big second-half run as No. 19 Syracuse defeated Seton Hall 75-63. Southerland finished with 20 points and Triche had 17. C.J. Fair added for 16 for Syracuse (24-8) and Michael Carter-Williams had 14 assists. Aaron Cosby led Seton Hall (15-18) with 22 points. ... Mouphtaou Yarou made his first seven shots and scored 18 points, sending Villanova to a 66-53 victory over St. John’s. Ryan Arcidiacono added 15 points for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (20-12). JayVaughn Pinkston had 12 points and nine rebounds for Villanova. Phil Greene scored 16 on 7-of-19 shooting for the 10th-seeded Red Storm (16-15). JaKarr Sampson, the conference Rookie of the Year, had 13 points and nine rebounds.PACIFIC-12 Colorado tops Oregon St.
LAS VEGAS - Spencer Dinwiddie scored 20 points and Colorado held off Oregon State 74-68 in the first round of the Pacific-12 Tournament.
Colorado (21-10) needed a couple of victories in Las Vegas to boost its NCAA chances and is off to a good start after dominating Oregon State (14-18) defensively most of the second half.
Xavier Johnson had 16 points and Andre Roberson 12 for the fifth-seeded Buffaloes.
Roberto Nelson had 20 points and Eric Moreland had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Oregon State.
In other Pac-12 games, Jahii Carson scored five of his 34 points in overtime, Carrick Felix had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Arizona State (21-11) held off Stanford (18-14) 89-88. Stanford’s Aaron Bright, whose four-point play tied the game at 79-79 with 38 seconds left in regulation, hit six three-pointers and had 27 points. Dwight Powell added 23. ... Jarred DuBois scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, Jordan Loveridge added 15 points and Utah (14-17) took a 69-66 victory over short-handed Southern California (14-18). Utah hounded USC defensively in the first half and withstood a couple of second-half runs by the Trojans to earn a spot today’s quarterfinals against second-seeded California. Omar Oraby had 18 points and 10 rebounds and J.T. Terrell added 14 for USC.
CONFERENCE USA
UAB knocks off SMU
TULSA - Jordan Swing scored 17 points, including a layup with 9 seconds to play, and Alabama-Birmingham (16-16) beat SMU (15-17) 53-52in the opener of the Conference USA tournament.
Swing had a team-high nine rebounds and was 7 of 13 from the field for the game. Rod Rucker had 11 points.
Jalen Jones led SMU with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Cannen Cunningham had 11 points.
In other Conference USA games, TaShawn Thomas scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Houston (19-11) took a 72-67 victory over Rice (5-26). Danuel House had 14 points and eight rebounds, Joseph Young had 10 points, and the sixth-seeded Cougars shot 51.9 percent from the field to win their fourth consecutive game. Houston led 17-14 midway through the first half before using a 19-4 run capped by a Thomas jumper to make it 36-18 with 2:34 remaining before halftime. Tamir Jackson had 30 points and nine rebounds for Rice. ... Ricky Tarrant scored 21 points, but none was bigger than his three-pointer with 7 seconds left to give Tulane a 66-64 victory over Marshall. Josh Davis added 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Tulane (19-13). DeAndre Kane led Marshall (13-19) with 22 points.
MOUNTAIN WEST
UNLV routs Air Force
LAS VEGAS - Anthony Bennett scored 23 points and UNLV defeated Air Force 72-56 in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference.
The third-seeded Rebels (24-8) will play Colorado State in Friday’s semifinals.
Bryce Dejean-Jones scored 12 points and Anthony Marshall scored 11 for UNLV. Mike Moser had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Green and Marek Olesinski led the Falcons (17-13) with 13 points. Cameron Michael scored 11.
In another Mountain West game, Wes Eikmeier scored 18 points and second-seeded Colorado State (25-7) held off Fresno State (11-19) 67-61 in the Mountain West Conference Tournament quarterfinals.. BIG 12 Raiders top Mountaineers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Dejan Kravic rebounded Texas Tech’s desperation shot and dropped it into the bucket just ahead of the buzzer, lifting Texas Tech over West Virginia 71-69 in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.
Jaye Crockett’s 18 points led Texas Tech (11-19), which had lost 11 of 12.
Terry Henderson had 12 points for the Mountaineers (13-19).
In another Big 12 game, Myck Kabongo had 16 points and six assists for Texas, which used a late run to beat TCU 70-57. The seventh-seeded Longhorns (16-16) trailed 44-43 midway through the second half but took the lead on a basket underneath by Prince Ibeh. Moments later, the Horned Frogs (11-21) watched Texas rip off a 13-3 run that resulted in a 62-49 lead. Julien Lewis finished with 19 points and Sheldon McClellan had 12 for the Longhorns.
Sports, Pages 22 on 03/14/2013