Missouri advances to Big 12 semifinal

OKLAHOMA CITY -- DeMarre Carroll scored 19 points and No. 14 Missouri used a pair of second-half spurts to avoid an upset at the Big 12 tournament, beating Texas Tech 81-60 in the quarterfinals Thursday night.

The Tigers (26-6) watched regular-season champion Kansas, second-seeded Oklahoma and No. 4 seed Kansas State all fall victim to upsets earlier in the day, but used runs of 13 and 10 consecutive points to put away the Red Raiders (14-19).

J.T. Tiller and Matt Lawrence each added 13 points for third-seeded Missouri, which advances to face seventh-seeded Oklahoma State in the semifinals tonight.

Mike Singletary led the Red Raiders with 17 points, one night after he scored 29 straight Texas Tech points to lead the biggest comeback in Big 12 tournament history. Nick Okorie added 13 points.