NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The young Georgia Bulldogs finally put together a road or neutral site game that their coach could be proud of, beating the No. 3 seed Arkansas Razorbacks in what passes for a minor upset on the first day of the SEC tournament. Behind sophomore studs Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins, who combined for 44 of the Bulldogs 77 points, Georgia led for the entire second half en route to a 77-64 win.
In front of the smallest crowd of the night, the once mighty Arkansas Razorback fans could barely muster a hog cheer loud enough to echo in the arena. The loss ends Arkansas' season with six consecutive losses and leaves many fans wondering whether John Pelphrey will ever get things rolling at Arkansas. Meanwhile, Mark Fox, in his first season at Georgia, looks to have a maturing team that is going to be incredibly dangerous next season.
GAME BALL GOES TO:
Trey Thompkins. The Bulldogs' future NBA stud forward put up 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists and edged out his fellow sophomore Travis Leslie for best player on the court honors. But there's no doubt that the Bulldog duo was the best tandem on the court.
HEART GOES TO:
The Arkansas fan base. As a kid, I remember attending SEC tournaments when Arkansas Razorback fans rivaled Kentucky fans for the loudest and most passionate fans in the arena. This year? It's not even a contest. Aside from the actual results on the court, which have been fairly unimpressive, John Pelphrey isn't igniting the Arkansas faithful.
As such, you have to truly wonder how many years he's got to get things turned around. The guess here? One more year.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With the mistakes and deficit continuing to mount, Texas senior forward Damion James let loose a rare display of emotion three minutes into the start of the second half of the sixth-seeded Longhorns' Big 12 tournament quarterfinal game against No. 3 Baylor on Thursday night.
James slammed the basketball to the floor as he walked toward the sideline during a timeout , shortly after the Bears went up by 12 points following yet another transition basket. He promptly assessed a technical for his actions as he exemplified the frustration by felt by his entire time en route to their 86-67 loss to the Bears at the Sprint Center.
"I let my emotions get the best of me," James said afterward. "They were talking a lot of noise and you know me being a player, I just got frustrated and Coach said I can't do that. I let my team down.
"I've got to keep my composure so I'm really disappointed in myself."
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With the exception of top-seeded Duke, this state's other three ACC teams -- North Carolina, North Carolina State and Wake Forest -- all played among the other lower-ranked teams on Thursday.
Surprise, surprise, only N.C. State, the lowest seed in that Carolina trifecta, survived.
The 11th-seeded Wolfpack upset sixth-seeded Clemson 59-57 in opening-round play of the ACC Tournament here at the Greensboro Coliseum. The fourth and final game of the day featured plenty of drama and an exciting finish, one that vaulted N.C. State into Friday's second round against No. 3 Florida State.
The Tigers (21-10) beat the Wolfpack (18-14) in their lone match-up in Raleigh back in January. Both teams came into the tournament with some momentum: The Wolfpack had won three of their last four games, while Clemson won five of its last seven.
The Tigers, however, haven't been able to figure out how to get past the ACC tourney's opening round. They dropped to 3-10.
NEW YORK -- The winningest senior class in Notre Dame history is not quite done winning yet.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish defeated No. 2 seed Pittsburgh 50-45, in Thursday's quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
And, once again, it was Luke Harangody coming off the bench to lead the Irish. Harangody had 12 points in only 22 minutes.
His biggest contributions came with 16 seconds remaining when he rebounded a Pittsburgh miss, was fouled and hit both free throws giving Notre Dame a 49-45 lead. On the Irish's previous possession, Harangody committed a turnover giving the Panthers a chance to tie but Jermaine Dixon missed.
"You know, for Luke to bounce back after traveling when we go to him in a big possession and come back and make the two free throws, just kind of tells you the kind of guy he is," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Roy Williams was unsure what to say to his North Carolina Tar Heels late Thursday night. The Tar Heels filed quietly into their locker room, frustrated and perplexed, again. They had put together a strong performance against Georgia Tech, building a double-digit advantage in their Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament opener.
However, as has been the case for much of this season, UNC just wasnn't good enough to finish off the Yellow Jackets. The Tar Heels lost their shooting touch from the perimeter, failed to score a second-half point off a turnover and couldn't slow Tech's late surge in the Yellow Jackets' 62-58 victory.
Much like his team, Williams struggled to find a solution.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The young 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With the mistakes and deficit continuing to mount, 
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With the exception of top-seeded 
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