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Penn State guard Jermaine Marshall (3) loses control of the ball in the first half of a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal game in Indianapolis, Friday. At right is Wisconsin forward Keaton Nankivil (52). Penn State edged No. 13 Wisconsin, 36-33.
Ap photo
INDIANAPOLIS — In one of the ugliest games of the college basketball season, Talor Battle scored nine points to lead Penn State past No. 13 Wisconsin 36-33 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals Friday night.
The 69 points marked by far the lowest combined total in the 14-year history of the tournament. The previous low was 85 points when Wisconsin beat Michigan 51-34 in the quarterfinals.
The Badgers (23-8) were led by Jordan Taylor with 16 points and Jon Leuer with 10. Taylor could have forced overtime with a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left, but Tim Frazier grabbed the rebound to seal the win.
Battle also broke Jesse Arnelle’s school scoring record, which had stood since 1955. Battle now has 2,140 career points.
Penn State (18-13) broke out to an 18-2 lead, then made only five baskets the rest of the game.
But Wisconsin was just as bad. It connected on 15 of 51 shots and just two of 21 3-pointers in its second straight loss.
No. 1 Ohio State 67, Northwestern 61
INDIANAPOLIS — Jared Sullinger had 20 points and 18 rebounds as No. 1 Ohio State barely avoided a stunning upset, beating Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.
Sullinger made all 10 of his free throws in overtime after missing a baseline jumper that would have won the game as time expired in regulation. His 18 rebounds fell one short of the tournament record set by Ohio State’s Greg Oden in 2007.
Top-seeded Ohio State, the defending tournament champion, won its fifth straight game to advance to today’s semifinals against Michigan.
Aaron Craft scored 17 points and Jon Diebler added 13 for the Buckeyes (30-2).
Michigan State 74, No. 9 Purdue 56
INDIANAPOLIS — Kalin Lucas scored a career-high 30 points to help resurgent Michigan State rout Purdue in a Big Ten quarterfinal.
Lucas tied a career high with four 3-pointers for the Spartans (19-13), who greatly improved their chances of receiving an NCAA tournament bid. Michigan State had a 14-11 record on Feb. 15 and was in danger of being left out of the field after reaching the Final Four the past two years. But now the Spartans have won five of their past seven games.
BIG 12 No. 2 Kansas 90, Colorado 83
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marcus and Markieff Morris personally outscored Colorado 17-4 during one stretch of the first half, pulling Kansas out of a deep early deficit and leading the Jayhawks past Colorado in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
Marcus, the younger of the Philadelphia twins by 7 minutes, totaled 20 points and 13 rebounds while Markieff had 20 points and eight boards for the top-seeded Jayhawks (31-2), who sent the Buffaloes off to the Pac-10 by beating them for the 45th time in 46 meetings.
Colorado (21-13) is switching conferences next season but appears to have a good chance at an NCAA tournament bid.
ACC No. 5 Duke 87, Maryland 71
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kyle Singler scored 29 points and Duke, after star guard Nolan Smith went down with a toe injury, pulled away late to beat Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Mason Plumlee added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the second-seeded Blue Devils (28-4), but coach Mike Krzyzewski said Smith, the league’s player of the year, injured the second toe on his left foot with under 7 minutes left. He did not return, and Krzyzewski said Smith was questionable for today’s semifinal.
The two-time reigning ACC tournament champions held seventh-seeded Maryland (19-14) without a field goal for 6 minutes down the stretch.
No. 6 UNC 61, Miami 59
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kendall Marshall penetrated into the lane and found Tyler Zeller for a layup to beat the horn as North Carolina rallied from 19 down in the second half to beat ninth-seeded Miami (19-14) in the ACC quarterfinals.
Zeller finished with 13 points for the top-seeded Tar Heels (25-6), who escaped a shocking exit with a frantic comeback in the final 8 minutes. North Carolina rallied with a flurry of 3-pointers before Zeller provided its only lead on the final play.
BIG EAST No. 21 Connecticut 76, No. 11 Syracuse 71, OT
NEW YORK — Connecticut didn’t need six overtimes. One was enough.
Kemba Walker had 33 points and 12 rebounds in another phenomenal performance and the Huskies held off Syracuse (26-7) in overtime in the Big East tournament semifinals — two years after the teams played a six-overtime game for the ages.
The ninth-seeded Huskies (25-9) improved to 10-3 in Big East semifinals with their fourth win in four days and will play tonight for their first tournament title since 2004.
SEC No. 12 Florida 85, Tennessee 74
ATLANTA — Kenny Boynton scored 22 points and Florida rebounded after going more than 6 minutes at the end of the first half without scoring, beating Tennessee (19-14) in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
All five starters were in double figures for the Gators (25-6), who picked up their trophy for winning the SEC regular-season title, then played like champions after that dismal stretch.
No. 15 Kentucky 75, Mississippi 66
ATLANTA — Doron Lamb scored 19 points and fellow freshman Brandon Knight had 17 to lead Kentucky past Mississippi in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Knight made five free throws in the final 41 seconds as Kentucky (23-8), which never trailed, held off Ole Miss. The Rebels trailed 68-66 following Chris Warren’s 3-pointer with 1:45 remaining, but didn’t score again.
Warren had 20 points for Mississippi (20-13) but shot only 5 of 20 from the field.
ATLANTIC 10 Dayton 68, No. 18 Xavier 67
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Luke Fabrizius hit two free throws with 5.8 seconds to play and Dayton stunned top-seeded Xavier (24-7) in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
The ninth-seeded Flyers (21-12), last year’s NIT champions, blew a 17-point lead in the second half and trailed by a point before Fabrizius made his foul shots.
No. 24 Temple 96, La Salle 76
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Ramone Moore scored 23 points and Khalif Wyatt had 20 to lead three-time defending champion Temple over Philadelphia-rival La Salle in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.
Lavoy Allen added 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists as the No. 24 Owls (25-6) posted a season-high point total in beating La Salle (15-18) for the third time this season.