TOURNAMENTS : Conn. Ousts Seton Hall in Big East

NEW YORK — Tate George scored 20 points, and his six steals helped Connecticut force 24 turnovers today as the No. 8 Huskies defeated Seton Hall 76-58 in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.

Connecticut, already the winningest team in the school’s history, overcame an off day by its front-court players to improve its record to 26-5. The Huskies, second-seeded in the tournament, will meet the winner of the Georgetown-Providence game in Saturday’s semifinals.

Seton Hall, a finalist in last year’s NCAA tournament, finished the season 12-16.

Freshman Terry Dehere led Seton Hall with 20 points, and Oliver Taylor had 12.

The eight-ranked Huskies made only 37.9% of their field goals in the first half but forced 14 Seton Hall turnovers.

Clemson 79, Wake Forest 70--At Charlotte, N.C., David Young scored the final six points for 17th-ranked Clemson as the Tigers beat Wake Forest 79-70 today for their first opening-round victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in a decade.

Clemson (24-7), which earned the tournament’s top seed after finishing first in the ACC in the regular season for the first time, opened up a 26-point lead in the first half and was up by 16 early in the second half. But the eighth-seeded Demon Deacons (12-16) did not quit, despite the loss of point guard Derrick McQueen.

McQueen was carried off the court on a stretcher with nine minutes left in the first half after being involved in a collision under the Clemson basket. Wake Forest officials said he suffered a possible mild concussion.

After going down by 16 with 16:18 left in the game, Wake Forest chipped away at the lead behind Chris King, who scored 12 of his team’s 20 points over an 11-minute span. Wake Forest cut the lead to 71-68 with 1:53 left on a jumper from the lane by King, but the Demon Deacons could get no closer.

Oklahoma State 82, Kansas State 78--Byron Houston scored 25 points and John Potter added 17 today as Oklahoma State erased a 13-point deficit and beat Kansas State 82-78 in the first round of the Big Eight Tournament.

Kansas State’s Steve Henson had 18 points in the first half but just nine in the second in a game which both teams thought would mean an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats (17-14) shot 63% and held a 44-34 halftime lead, but hit only 33% in the second half.