With only 5 seconds left on the clock in their 2nd round Big 10 men’s basketball Tournament game last night, the Hoosiers and Penn State’s Nittany Lions were tied at 59. That’s when former Indiana high school “Mr. Basketball” Anthony Leal swooped in to put a rebound back, and give Indiana the victory, 61-59. Next in the tourney for the 6th-seed Hoosiers, it’s the Number 3 Cornhuskers of Nebraska tonight.
Also in the Big 10, Ohio State beat Iowa 90-78, so the Buckeyes now take on the Fighting Illini. Today’s first of 4 games in the league tournament tips off at noon, however– it’ll be the 8th-seeded Spartans from Michigan State against Purdue’s top seeds, the Boilermakers.
After the early portions of the Big 12 quarterfinal were dominated by UC’s Bearcats, Baylor took the lead early in their 2nd half, and built on it. The Bearcats stayed fairly close much of the way, but in the closing minutes when they had to foul, Baylor made the needed free throws, and salted the game away, 68-56. 3rd seed Baylor goes to the semi-finals against Number 2 Iowa State tonight. The other semi is top seed Houston, versus Number 4 Texas Tech.
Also Thursday in the Big East tournament, Xavier ran into the buzz saw that is Number 1 UConn… the final there– Huskies 87, Musketeers 60.
Following Wednesday’s overtime NBA home loss to the Bulls, the Pacers are back on court tonight, getting a visit from the Brooklyn Nets.
Cactus League baseball saw the Rangers jump out front of the Reds early in their late-night game, and Cincinnati could never quite come all the way back, Texas getting the win, 7-4. Today, the Reds host the Royals, with the pregame coverage coming your way at 3:50 on the Sports Voice, 103.9 FM.
And in the NFL, the Colts are one of several teams proposing rule changes for next fall, seeking to let a coach or replay official challenge any penalty called by a field official with less than 2 minutes to go in a half. The proposal says the reason is to in these words, “correct officiating error.” That follows a controversial ending in the Colts’ game against Cleveland, when 2 penalties were called on defensive back Darrell Baker Junior, that let the Browns score the winning touchdown. Colts owner Jim Irsay says the NFL admits the officials were incorrect on those couple penalty calls.