Sexton, Tide on serious roll

With Alabama trailing Auburn by 10 at halftime Friday, the Collin Sexton show started.

Sexton scored 31 points and the Crimson Tide used a strong second half to defeat the No. 16 Tigers 81-63 in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in St. Louis.

The Crimson Tide (19-14) started the second half on a 28-3 run keyed by three consecutive 3s by Sexton. Alabama’s surge put the Tigers away early in the half, and the Crimson Tide outscored t op- seeded Auburn 50-22 after the break.

Mustapha Heron led Auburn (25-7) with 18 points, 11 of which came in the first half, as Auburn took a 41-31 lead at the half.

Sexton, the Tide’s super freshman, scored 21 second-half points coming off a 27-point effort Thursday against Texas A&M, which included the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

The Crimson Tide will play Kentucky (22-10) in Saturday’s semifinals. PJ Washington scored 18 points in the Wildcats’ 6249 win over Georgia. Tyree Crump led the Bulldogs (18-15) with 17 points.

Lamonte Turner scored 15 points as No. 13 Tennessee edged Mississippi State 62-59. Mississippi State guard Nick Weatherspoon was taken off the court on a stretcher after being stepped on by the Volunteers’ Kyle Alexander. Xavier shocked: Alpha Diallo hit a go-ahead jumper with 2:22 left in overtime and fifth-seeded Providence rallied from a 17point deficit and stunned top-seeded and No. 3 Xavier 75-72 in the Big East semifinals in New York.

Kyron Cartwright hit a clutch jumper with 55 seconds to go and drew a charge on a layup attempt by J.P. Macura with eight seconds to play as the Friars (21-12) beat the Musketeers (28-5) for the second time in three games this season. Virginia survives: Kyle Guy scored 15 points and No. 1 Virginia advanced to the ACC championship game with a 64-58 win over No. 19 Clemson in Brooklyn.

The top-seeded Cavaliers (30-2) got crucial plays from role player Jack Salt down the stretch and will face Duke or North Carolina for the title.