Undisclosed illness sidelines Self indefinitely as the No. 3 Jayhawks move on
Kansas coach ruled out of Big 12 tourney after win over West Virginia
Kansas assistant Norm Roberts was sitting inside T-mobile Center on Wednesday night, scouting potential Big 12 tournament quarterfinal opponents, when he learned that Jayhawks Coach Bill Self had gone to the emergency room.
Once the shock wore off and Roberts knew the Hall of Fame coach would be okay, he turned his attention to his team, which was less than 24 hours away from beginning the defense of its conference tournament title.
“When we found out, we didn’t really let the guys know until this morning,” Roberts said after third-ranked Kansas (26-6) cruised to a 78-61 win over West Virginia (19-14) on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., “because nothing was concrete that was going to happen.”
It wasn’t until after the Jayhawks had advanced to Friday night’s semifinal against Iowa State that the school said Self would be out for the remainder of the Big 12 tournament. Still unclear is whether Self will be back for the start of the NCAA tournament, in which the third-ranked Jayhawks are the defending national champions.
“Throughout all the adversity we’ve been through the entire season, this just brings us together,” said Big 12 player of the year Jalen Wilson, who led the top-seeded Jayhawks with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
AMERICAN: Mike Brennan l was fired as men’s basketball coach of the Eagles after going 125-166 across 10 seasons.
American went 17-15 this season, including a double-overtime loss to Lafayette in the Patriot League semifinals Sunday.
Marquette survives stiff test
Conference player of the year Tyler Kolek scored all 19 of his points after halftime, including the tiebreaking free throws with 15.8 seconds left in overtime, as the top-seeded Golden Eagles (26-6) survived a stiff test to earn a 72-70 win over scrappy St. John’s (18-15) in a Big East tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden.
• UCLA 80, COLORADO 69: l Freshman Amari Bailey scored a season-high 26 points to help the second-ranked Bruins (28-4) handle the Buffaloes (17-16) in the Pac-12 quarterfinals in Las Vegas for their 11th straight win.
• TEXAS 61, OKLAHOMA l STATE 47: Sir’jabari Rice scored 15 points after being thrust into the starting lineup as the secondseeded and seventh-ranked Longhorns (24-8) handled the Cowboys (18-15) in the Big 12 semifinals.
• IOWA STATE 78, BAYLOR 72: Gabe Kalscheur scored 24 points as the fifth-seeded Cyclones (19-12) held off the fourthseeded and 10th-ranked Bears (22-10) in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
• CONNECTICUT 73, PROVIDENCE 66: Jordan Hawkins scored 19 points as the 11th-ranked Huskies (25-7) held off a furious rally to upend the Friars (21-11) in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
• MIAMI 74, WAKE FOREST 72: Jordan Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds for the 14th-ranked Hurricanes, who held off a fierce comeback by Wake Forest to top the Demon Deacons in the ACC quarterfinals in Greensboro, N.C.
• DUKE 96, PITTSBURGH 69: Kyle Filipowski overcame an early ankle injury to score 22 points, Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and 10 assists, and the 21st-ranked Blue Devils (24-8) cruised past the Panthers (22-11) in the ACC quarterfinals.
• SAINT LOUIS 82, GEORGE MASON 54: Gibson Jimerson had 21 points to help propel the Billikens (21-11) to a rout of the Patriots (20-13) in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament in New York.
• VCU 71, DAVIDSON 53: Dal vid Shriver, Jamir Watkins and Adrian Baldwin Jr. scored 11 points apiece as the top-seeded Rams (25-7) cruised past the Wildcats (16-16) in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament.
Bison roll in MEAC tourney
Aziah Hudson scored a gamehigh 21 points as the third-seeded Howard women (15-13) routed Delaware State, 67-35, in the MidEastern Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals in Norfolk.