Jared Sullinger's looks of agitation, frustration, confusion and disbelief best told the story of Ohio State's surprising 58-48 loss to Michigan State Saturday night. Sullinger entered the game as a national player of the year contender and a certain lottery pick, the elite player on a talented team that could have put a stranglehold on the Big Ten race and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a victory. Instead, this young Buckeyes team needs to do some soul searching after a frustrating night that locked No. 11 Michigan State (20-5, 9-3) atop the Big Ten with No. 3 Ohio State (21-4, 9-3). Missouri 72, Baylor 57: It had been nearly four minutes since a ball passed through a net. The Big 12 Conference rematch between No. 4 Missouri and No. 6 Baylor had trudged up and down the court before sputtering to a stall five minutes into the second half. A voice in the crowd shouted: “Come on, guys, get in the game!” As if on cue, Missouri guard Michael Dixon hit a 3-pointer, touching off a string of 8 points that sent Missouri out of a back-and-forth grudge match and on toward a 72-57 victory against Baylor also Saturday at Mizzou Arena. Syracuse 85, UConn 67: Scoop Jardine was ready when second-ranked Syracuse needed him. Jardine made three 3-pointers and a layup in the closing minutes to break open a close game Saturday, and finished with a season-high 21 points as the Orange pulled away for an 85-67 victory over visiting Connecticut. On Wednesday, Jardine, a senior guard, had only 3 points during a 64-61 overtime victory against Georgetown. But Jardine came through against the Huskies, making 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to stop a charge by Connecticut in the second half. Kentucky 69, Vanderbilt 63: Doron Lamb made a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating host Vanderbilt for their 17th straight win. In other games it was: North Carolina 70, Virginia 52; Kansas 81, Oklahoma State 66; Tennessee 75, Florida 70; Murray State 82, Austin Peay 62; Duke 73, Maryland 55; Florida State 64, Miami 59; UNLV 65, San Diego State 63; Wichita State 89, Creighton 68; Marquette 95, Cincinnati 78; Georgia 70, Mississippi State 68; Louisville 77, West Virginia 74.
