No. 1 Houston tops ECU for 2nd straight 30-victory season
Marcus Sasser scored 30 points and top-ranked Houston got its 30th win of the season with a 60-46 victory over East Carolina in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Cougars (30-2), a sure-bet No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, have back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time since their Phi Slama Jama era.
Jamal Shead added 12 points for Houston, which won despite shooting a season-low 28.1% (16 of 57) from the field.
Freshman forward Ezra Ausar had 18 points and a season-high 19 rebounds for the Pirates (16-17).
SEC TOURNAMENT
No. 4 Alabama 72, Mississippi
State 49: Brandon Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds and Alabama (27-5) never trailed in posting a victory over Mississippi State (21-12) in the SEC quarterfinals in Nashville, Tennessee. Alabama will play No. 25 Missouri in a semifinal today.
No. 25 Missouri 79, No. 17 Tennessee 71: Nick Honor hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 left to put Missouri ahead to stay, and the Tigers (24-8) beat Tennessee (23-10) to reach the SEC semifinals for the first time since joining the league.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
No. 5 Purdue 70, Rutgers 65:
Mason Gillis had 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting and Purdue (27-5) held off Rutgers (19-14) for a rugged victory in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in Chicago. The Boilermakers will face Ohio State in a semifinal today.
Ohio State 68, Michigan State 58: Bruce Thornton had 21 points, freshman Roddy Gayle Jr. scored seven of his season-high 15 points in the final five minutes and short-handed Ohio State beat fourth-seeded Michigan State.
Late Thursday ATLANTIC 10 TOURNAMENT
Dayton 60, Saint Joseph’s 54:
Toumani Camara had 17 points, 18 rebounds and four steals for the second-seeded Flyers (22-11) in their quarterfinal against the Hawks.
Fordham 69, La Salle 61: Darius Quisenberry had 22 points for the third-seeded Rams (25-7) in front of a supportive hometown crowd in a quarterfinal.
PAC-12
No. 8 Arizona 95, Stanford 84: Oumar Ballo scored 24 points and Arizona (26-6) broke away late to reach the Pac-12 semifinals.
BIG 12
No. 22 TCU 80, No. 12 Kansas State 67: Mike Miles and Chuck O’Bannon scored 22 points apiece for the Horned Frogs, who advanced to the semifinals. No. 7 Texas 61, Oklahoma State 47: Sir’Jabari Rice scored 13 points to lead four Texas players in double figures, and the Longhorns shut down Oklahoma State (18-15) once again in a Big 12 quarterfinal.
BIG EAST
No. 15 Xavier 89, DePaul 84:
Jack Nunge had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Colby Jones scored 22 and the Musketeers (24-8) won with a late comeback against the Blue Demons (10-23) in a Big East quarterfinal.