Perry Jones III Scores 31 with 11 Boards as Baylor Advances

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, March 8, 2012

Of all the fine individual performances on a day full of conference tournament play, the work of Baylor's budding superstar, Perry Jones III, stood out.

Jones led the Bears to an 82-74 win over Kansas State, setting up Friday's semi-final meeting with Kansas in the Big 12 tourney. Jones scored 31 points on 11 of 14 shooting, going 2-for-2 from the 3-point line, making seven of nine free throws. The sophomore forward - who most expect will make the jump to the NBA after the NCAA tourney - added 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double and eighth of the season.

Conference Tournaments UPDATE (late, late games):

Big East: Notre Dame 57 South Florida 53, OT - Determining the final entrant into the Big East semi-finals took overtime, as #23 Notre Dame outscored the Bulls in the extra session, 12-8, setting up a Friday night meeting with Louisville. Despite the loss, it's probably not the end of the road for South Florida. With a 12-6 mark in the conference, a 20-13 record overall and a win over Villanova in the opening round of the tourney, the Bulls should be one of the seven or eight teams from the 16-team Big East to receive an invitation on Sunday.

Big 12: Texas 71 Iowa State 67 - Even though J'Covan Brown missed all five of his three-point attempts, he still managed to lead all scorers with 23 points as the Longhorns advanced to the Big 12 tournament semi-final match-up with Missouri Friday night. The Longhorns may have needed the win over the Cyclones to qualify for the NCAAs, as they went through the conference regular season with a 9-9 mark and are now 20-12 overall. Iowa State (20-10, 12-6) is also projected to receive an at-large bid.