Top-ranked Houston falls to Iowa State in Big 12 final
Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament for Iowa State with 16 points, and the seventhranked Cyclones blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo., allowing them to roll to a 69-41 win and their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points for the Cyclones (27-7), who turned a 3023 lead at halftime into a blowout with an 18-3 run to start the second half.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half. L.J. Cryer was held to seven points and Emanuel Sharp to five as the Cougars shot 4 of 22 from the 3-point arc and 15 of 56 from the field. WISCONSIN 76, NO. 3 PURDUE 75, OT » Max Klesmit made a runner in the lane with 4.8 seconds to play in overtime and the Badgers beat the Big Ten Tournament top-seeded Boilermakers for a spot in the conference championship game. in Minneapolis.
Klesmit's clutch shot followed his teammate Chucky Hepburn's in regulation, when Hepburn made a layup as time expired to force overtime.
Hepburn had 22 points and AJ Storr scored 20 for fifth-seeded Wisconsin (22-12).
Zach Edey led No. 3 Purdue (29-4) with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
The Badgers, who were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation in late January, lost eight of their last 11 conference games, including a 78-70 defeat at Purdue on March 10.
NO. 13 ILLINOIS 98, NEBRASKA 87 » Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 40 points for a Big Ten Tournament record to lead a second-half surge by the Fighting Ilini in a win over the Cornhuskers in the semifinals.
Marcus Domask added 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Illinois (25-8), which fell behind by 15 points early in the second half before seizing control to move to the conference title game against Wisconsin today.
Brice Williams had 23 points for Nebraska (23-10).
N.C. STATE 84, NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA 76 » DJ Horne scored 29 points, forward DJ Burns Jr. had 20, including the first 3-pointer of his college career, and the Wolfpack upset the Tar Heels in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title game in Washington.
Tenth-seeded N.C. State capped an improbable run, knocking off UNC, which has looked like a national championship contender for much of the season.
Horne played 32 minutes through foul trouble, going shot for shot with the Tar Heels unanimous ACC player of the year RJ Davis, who scored 30 points.
NO. 2 UCONN 73, NO. 10 MARQUETTE 57 » Donovan Clingan scored 22 points and Jaylin Stewart gave the top-seeded Huskies (31-3) an unexpected boost with three second-half 3-pointers during a decisive run as they defeated the thirdseeded Golden Eagles (259) at Madison Square Garden to win the Big East Tournament for the first time since rejoining the league four years ago.
The Huskies' eighth Big East tourney title matched Georgetown for the most in conference history and was their first since 2011.
NO. 12 AUBURN 73, MISSISSIPPI ST. 66 » Dylan Cardwell scored his only points on consecutive dunks in the final minutes as the Tigers held off the Bulldogs to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament title game.
With the SEC's top three seeds losing their openers Friday, that left a wideopen path for Auburn (267) to win the event for the first time since 2019.
Chad Baker-Mazara led the Tigers with 14 points.
Josh Hubbard scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half, trying to rally Mississippi State (21-13).
FLORIDA 95, TEXAS A&M 90 » Denzel Aberdeen scored 20 points to help the Gators rally from an 18-point deficit and beat the Aggies in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
Sixth-seeded Florida (24-10) earned its first trip to the tournament final since 2014. The Gators will play Auburn for the championship today.
Texas A&M (20-14), the No. 7 seed, led 40-22 with 5:20 left in the first half.
Wade Taylor IV paced Texas A&M with a gamehigh 30 points.
NEW MEXICO 68, SAN DIEGO ST. 61 » Jaelen House had 28 points and Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored 21 to propel the sixth-seeded Lobos to a win over the No. 5 seed Aztecs (24-10) in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 78, UTEP 71 » Don McHenry scored 25 points with four steals to help the No. 3 seed Hilltoppers (22-11) beat the fifth-seeded Miners (18-16) and win the Conference USA Tournament.
VERMONT 66, UMASS LOWELL 61 » Shamir Bogues scored 15 points and the top-seeded Catamounts (28-6) beat the No. 2-seeded Riverhawks (22-10) to win their third straight America East Tournament title.
HOWARD 70, DELAWARE ST.67 » Jordan Hairston scored 18 points and the fourth-seeded Bison (1816) beat the sixth-seeded Hornets (15-18) in the MidEastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.