ATLANTA — A possible tornado ripped into the Georgia Dome during the Southeastern Conference tournament, sending debris tumbling from the ceiling, prompting fans to flee for the exits and postponing the final game last night.

The storm struck while Alabama and Mississippi State were in overtime in their quarterfinal matchup. They were able to finish after a delay of more than an hour — Mississippi State won 69-67 — but the last game between Georgia and Kentucky was called off because of concerns that more strong storm cells were closing in on the city.

"I thought it was a tornado or a terrorist attack," said Mississippi State guard Ben Hansbrough, who was guarding Alabama's Mykal Riley when rumbling began above their heads.

National Weather Service officials called the storm a possible tornado, and winds were clocked at up to 60 mph as the storm moved through the city.

Said one of Hansbrough's teammates, Charles Rhodes, "This has got to be one of the worst environments I've ever been in as a player. To see stuff falling from the roof, it really scared me. I really didn't know what to do."

The SEC moved the rest of its men's tournament to Georgia Tech, and one team will have to play a doubleheader today.

The Georgia-Kentucky quarterfinal game will be played at noon today. The winner of that game will have to return in the evening to face Mississippi State in the semifinals.

The other semifinal between No. 4 Tennessee and Arkansas will be played at 6 p.m. today.

Since Alexander Memorial Coliseum is smaller than the Georgia Dome — 9,100 seats as opposed to 26,000 in the dome's basketball configuration — only players' families and those with working credentials will be allowed to attend the remaining games.

The championship will be held tomorrow.

Yesterday, the weather service waffled on whether a tornado struck the 16-year-old dome.

There were no reports of injuries inside the stadium, SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said. The crowd was estimated at about 18,000.

The fabric roof rippled like waves in the ocean, and two cloth panels above the upper deck tore open. Outside, large chunks of insulation and metal panels — some as long as 25 feet long — were blown off the building.

No. 4 Tennessee 89, South Carolina 87: Chris Lofton hit a 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds remaining and the Volunteers (29-3) beat the Gamecocks (14-18), sending Dave Odom into retirement in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Atlanta. Tennessee already claimed its first SEC championship in 41 years and hopes to lock up a top seed in the NCAA tournament by winning the league tourney. Tennessee will face Arkansas in the semifinals. Devan Downey scored 26 points for the Gamecocks (14-18) in Odom's final game; the coach announced in January he would step down at the end of the season.

Arkansas 81, No. 18 Vanderbilt 75: Darian Townes and Gary Ervin each scored 18 points and the Razorbacks (21-10) rolled to a 45-24 rebounding edge and outscored the Commodores 50-20 in the paint in the semifinals. Alex Gordon led Vanderbilt (26-7) with 22 points.

ATLANTIC 10

Saint Joseph's 61, No. 10 Xavier 53: Pat Calathes scored 24 points and the Hawks (21-11) held the Musketeers (27-6) to a season-low point total in the Atlantic 10 semifinals at Atlantic City, N.J. Saint Joseph's can lock up its first NCAA tournament berth since 2003-04 tonight in the championship game against second-seeded Temple.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

No. 1 North Carolina 82, Florida State 70: Tyler Hansbrough scored 22 points to lead the Tar Heels (30-2) to the win in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at Charlotte, N.C. North Carolina, the defending tournament champion, will face Virginia Tech in the semifinals. Jason Rich scored 23 points for the Seminoles (19-14).

No. 7 Duke 82, Georgia Tech 70: Jon Scheyer scored 18 points and the Blue Devils (27-4) advanced to the ACC semifinals. Maurice Miller scored 16 points for Yellow Jackets (15-17).

BIG EAST

No. 9 Georgetown 72, West Virginia 55: Roy Hibbert had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Hoyas (27-4) beat the Mountaineers (24-10) to advance to the Big East championship at New York. Georgetown (27-4) will get a rematch of last year's title game with Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh 68, No. 25 Marquette 61: Sam Young scored 22 points to lead the Panthers (25-9) to the tournament title game for the seventh time in eight years. Dominic James scored the first and last points of a 7-0 run that pulled the Golden Eagles (24-9) to 62-59 with 1:20 to go. However, the Panthers were able to close it out by making six of eight free throws the rest of the way.

BIG TEN

No. 8 Wisconsin 51, Michigan 34: Joe Krabbenhoft scored 12 points and Michael Flowers keyed the Badgers (27-4) offensively and defensively in the lowest-scoring game in Big Ten tournament history at Indianapolis. Wisconsin will play No. 19 Michigan State in the semifinals. Wisconsin and Michigan (10-22) combined for the fewest points in the 11-year history of the Big Ten tournament, "beating" the 89 scored by Michigan and Minnesota in the first round last year.

No. 19 Michigan St. 67, Ohio St. 60: Drew Neitzel hit six 3-pointers and scored 28 points, and Travis Walton hit five free throws in the final minute as the Spartans (25-7) beat the Buckeyes (19-13) in the quarterfinals. Kosta Koufos scored 19 points and David Lighty had 12 for Ohio State, which won the conference tournament last year.

Illinois 74, No. 17 Purdue 67, OT: Demetri McCamey scored 26 points, and the Fighting Illini (15-18) advanced to the Big Ten semifinals against Minnesota today. McCamey, a freshman guard, made 9 of 14 field goals and all six of his 3-point shots. E'Twaun Moore scored 22 points for the Boilermakers (24-8).

Minnesota 59, No. 22 Indiana 58: Blake Hoffarber caught a long pass with 1.5 seconds left, spun away from a defender and hit a 14-foot left-handed shot at the buzzer as the Golden Gophers (20-12) upset the Hoosiers (25-7). Hoosiers forward D.J. White tipped in a missed free throw and drew a foul with 3.1 seconds left to tie the score at 57. He then rebounded his own miss, drew another foul and made one free throw to give Indiana a 58-57 lead with 1.5 seconds left.

BIG 12

No. 6 Texas 66, Oklahoma St. 59: Damion James had 23 points and 11 rebounds and D. J. Augustin powered a crucial second-half run for the top-seeded Longhorns (27-5) in the quarterfinals at Kansas City, Mo. Augustin finished with 24 points, and had eight points and an assist in a 14-0 run at the start of the second half against the Cowboys (17-15). Texas will meet Oklahoma in the semifinals.

No. 5 Kansas 64, Nebraska 54: Brandon Rush scored six points in a 15-4 run and the Jayhawks (29-3) beat the Huskers (19-12) to advance to face Texas A&M in the semifinals. The Jayhawks trailed 27-22 at the break, but Darnell Jackson scored the first basket of the second half, then Mario Chalmers made a long 3-pointer to launch the comeback and Nebraska never recovered.

CONFERENCE USA

No. 2 Memphis 69, Southern Miss. 53: Derrick Rose scored 25 points and the Tigers (32-1) advanced to the Conference USA tournament championship, at Memphis, Tenn., for a fourth straight year with its 41st consecutive league victory. Memphis will play Tulsa, a 64-62 winner over UTEP, today for the title. Sai'Quon Stone led the Golden Eagles (19-14) with 14 points.

MOUNTAIN WEST

No. 24 BYU 63, San Diego State 54: Lee Cummard's 20 points led the Cougars (27-6) past the Aztecs (20-12) at Las Vegas, sending BYU to the Mountain West tourney title game for the second straight year. Trent Plaisted added 19 points for the Cougars, who held Aztecs leading scorer Lorrenzo Wade to 10 points. BYU will face UNLV, a 61-55 winner over Utah, for the conference title tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center.

PAC-10

No. 3 UCLA 57, Southern California 54: Freshman Kevin Love scored 11 points in a 15-2 run to open the second half that propelled the Bruins (30-3) into the Pac-10 finals at Los Angeles. UCLA (30-3) won its ninth in a row will face Stanford in the championship game. Freshman O.J. Mayo led the Trojans (21-11) with 15 points.

PATRIOT LEAGUE

American 52, Colgate 46: Garrison Carr scored 17 points and the Eagles (21-11) earned their first trip to the NCAA tournament since the school joined Division I in 1967 by beating the Raiders (18-14) at Washington. Brian Gilmore scored 11 and wrestled away a key steal in the final 20 seconds for American, whose only previous berth in an NCAA tournament came as a Division II school in 1960. Kyle Roemer scored 17 points for Colgate (18-14).

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Boise State 88, Utah State 78: Reggie Larry and Matt Bauscher led the Broncos (24-8) with 23 points each as the Broncos (24-8) defeated the Aggies (24-10) in a semifinal at Las Cruces, N.M. Jaycee Carroll led Utah State with 20 points.

New Mexico State 83, Nevada 75: Justin Hawkins led all scores with 23 points and Herb Pope added 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Aggies (21-13) beat the Wolf Pack (21-11) to advance to the final against Boise State.

WOMEN

No. 14 Old Dominion 82, UNC-Wilmington 65: Tiffany Green had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Shahida Williams added 16 points and 11 rebounds and the Lady Monarchs (27-4) beat the Seahawks (17-14) in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament at Newark, Del.

WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Fresno State 85, Louisiana Tech 58: Jalessa Ross scored 21 points and the Bulldogs (21-10) beat Louisiana Tech (16-15) in a semifinal at Las Cruces N.M. Fresno State, which snapped the WAC Tournament record with 13 three-pointers, will play New Mexico State for the title.

New Mexico State 72, Boise State 66: Hannah Spanich scored a team-high 18 points as the Aggies (23-8) beat the Broncos (23-7) in the other semifinal. Jenna Galassi led Boise State with 18 points.