No. 11 K- State beats Texas in Big 12 quarters

Rodney McGruder scored 24 points and sparked an 11-0 run in the second half, lifting No. 11 Kansas State past Texas 66-49 on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.

An all-conference senior who ranks in the top 10 in 14 of Kansas State's career categories, McGruder also had a team-leading seven rebounds as the second-seeded Wildcats (26-6) whipped the Longhorns for the third time this year. 

Julien Lewis scored 13 points and Jonathan Holmes had 10 for Texas (16-17), which trailed almost the entire game.

The Wildcats held a 43-36 lead midway through the second half when McGruder's one-handed floater ignited the run that put the game out of reach.

A moment later, the 6-4 senior stole the ball at midcourt, drew a foul and then connected on a 3-pointer over the Longhorns' zone defense. D.J. Johnson followed with a dunk and McGruder added a pair of 3-pointers.

Missouri defeats cold-shooting Texas A&M 62-50

Alex Oriakhi scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds Thursday night as No. 6 seed Missouri defeated cold-shooting No. 11 seed Texas A&M 62-50 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Texas A&M (18-15) shot a season-low 24.1 percent (14 of 58) in the first SEC tournament confrontation between these two former Big 12 rivals. Missouri (23-9) led from start to finish and earned a quarterfinal matchup with No. 3 seed Mississippi (23-8).

Missouri is seeking its second straight conference tournament title and third in the last five years. The Tigers won the Big 12 tournament in 2009 and 2012.

Laurence Bowers, Jabari Brown and Tony Criswell had 10 points each for Missouri. Fabyon Harris led Texas A&M with 15 points. Texas A&M star Elston Turner played with a broken left pinkie finger and scored seven points while shooting 3 of 17.