Kansas St. 74, Baylor 73, OT

<br>KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The first day of the Big 12 tournament saw its share of clutch performances and oncourt drama _ and just off the court, a reminder that sometimes, sports must defer to more

Friday, March 8th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ The first day of the Big 12 tournament saw its share of clutch performances and oncourt drama _ and just off the court, a reminder that sometimes, sports must defer to more pressing matters.

Kansas State's Larry Reid found his scoring touch late and led the Wildcats to a 74-73 overtime victory over Baylor. Missouri's Clarence Gilbert found his stroke early and hit eight 3-pointers _ six in the first half _ in a 79-59 win over Iowa State.

Colorado, playing without its captain, held off two Nebraska rallies and won 67-60.

But in the second half of Texas Tech's 80-71 win over Texas A&M, the focus suddenly shifted to courtside _ where paramedics attended to veteran sportswriter and author Bob Hammel, a close friend of Tech coach Bob Knight and co-author of Knight's upcoming autobiography.

Hammel, who doctors said had suffered a seizure, was taken out on a stretcher and remained hospitalized Thursday night, with his condition listed as stable. Hammel formerly was sports editor of The Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind., and Knight told doctors he is 67.

After his collapse, Knight delivered a message to the Red Raiders.

``He just said that was one of his really good friends who came down from Indiana and if there was any time to play hard, that would be the time,'' said center Andy Ellis. ``He didn't want us to lose that game.''

Texas Tech (22-7) responded with a 9-0 run to secure its win, after the Aggies (9-22) closed to within two points late in the second half.

Ellis scored 27 points and Emmett added 24 for the Red Raiders, who meet No. 12 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Bernard King led Texas A&M with 26 points and Jesse King had 11.

Reid, Kansas State's senior point guard, went scoreless in the first 29 minutes of the Wildcats' overtime win over Baylor (14-16). He scored 21 points after that, though, including eight in the extra period.

``The second half, we needed some scores, so I decided to be more aggressive,'' said Reid, whose layup with six seconds left in regulation forced a 60-all tie. ``In overtime, we knew it was a new game.''

After Reid scored with 1:01 left in overtime, tying the game at 73, Matt Siebrandt drew two fouls that won the game for Kansas State (13-15).

He drew a charging call on Baylor's Wendell Greenleaf, giving the Wildcats the ball with 33 seconds left. Then, after Phineas Atchison missed a layup for Kansas State with three seconds to go, Siebrandt got the rebound and was fouled by R.T. Guinn.

He hit the first free throw, deliberately missed the second and then stole the ball to seal the win.

Nick Williams added four 3-pointers and 16 points for Kansas State, which plays No. 4 Oklahoma in the quarterfinals, and Pervis Pasco had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Lawrence Roberts led Baylor with 23 points and 10 rebounds. John Lucas added 16 points, Guinn had 12 and Greenleaf finished with 11 points and seven assists.

In Missouri's win over Iowa State, Gilbert scored all 18 of his first-half points from 3-point range. He had three 3-pointers and Kareem Rush hit another in a 13-0 run that put the Tigers up 31-16 with 6:35 left in the half.

``I like it when he's on,'' said Rush, who finished with 17 points. Arthur Johnson also scored 17 for the Tigers (21-10), who meet Texas in the quarterfinals,

Tyray Pearson led 11th-seeded Iowa State (12-19) with 19 points, and Omar Bynum added 17 points. The Cyclones shot just 42 percent (22-for-53) from the field and committed 22 turnovers.

``It's not that we were not playing hard, it's that we weren't thinking when we were playing,'' forward Shane Power said. ``At this level, it's going to cost you.''

Blair Wilson's 24 points led Colorado (15-13), which lost senior center D.J. Harrison to a broken hand on Feb. 20 and had lost six of its last seven games.

``We stepped up our effort. That was the only thing we did different,'' said Stephane Pelle, who had 12 points and 14 rebounds for Colorado.

Michael Morandais added 16 points for the Buffaloes, who next face No. 1 Kansas.

Cary Cochran led Nebraska with 22 points and Jake Muhleisen had 13.