Alabama clinches SEC championship
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Jaden Shackleford scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, and No. 6 Alabama beat Mississippi State 64-59 on Saturday night to clinch its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship since 2002.
The Crimson Tide (19-6, 14-2) led by double digits for much of the game before the Bulldogs (13-12, 7-9) closed to 56-53 on Iverson Molinar’s layup with 4:17 left.
Mississippi State had a chance to draw even closer over the next three minutes, but Alabama came up with a couple big stops and James Rojas drained a 3 from the right corner to make it 59-53 with 43 seconds left.
OKLAHOMA ST. 94
NO. 7 OKLAHOMA 90 (OT)
Freshman star Cade Cunningham scored 10 of his season-high 40 points in overtime and the Cowboys upset the Sooners at Norman, Okla.
Cunningham made 12 of 21 field goals and 13 of 14 free throws. He also had 11 rebounds three steals and two blocks.
Bryce Williams and Avery Anderson III each scored 15 points for Oklahoma State (16-6, 9-6 Big 12).
NO. 1 GONZAGA 86 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 69
Corey Kispert made six 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, and the host Bulldogs remained the only unbeaten in the country.
Gonzaga (24-0, 15-0 WCC) claimed its 51st straight home game to set a school record and finished a perfect regular season. The Bulldogs have won 28 straight games.
NO. 5 ILLINOIS 74 WISCONSIN 69
Kofi Cockburn scored 19 points and the visiting Illini held off the Badgers.
NO. 3 MICHIGAN 73 INDIANA 57
Franz Wagner matched his season high with 21 points and Isaiah Livers added 16 to help the Wolverines win at Indiana.
NORTH CAROLINA 78 NO. 11 FLORIDA ST. 70
Freshman Walker Kessler scored a season-high 20 points to help the Tar Heels rally from 16 points down to upset the Seminoles at Chapel Hill, N.C., giving coach Roy Williams his 900th career victory.
NO. 20 ARKANSAS 83 LSU 75
Justin Smith had 19 points and 10 rebounds, helping the host Razorbacks beat the Tigers.
NO. 10 WEST VIRGINIA 65 KANSAS ST. 43
Sean McNeil scored 16 points and the host Mountaineers beat the Wildcats.
NO. 16 VIRGINIA TECH 84 WAKE FOREST 46
Keve Aluma scored 23 points and the host Hokies had their largest margin of victory for an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
UTAH 71
NO. 19 SOUTHERN CAL 61
Alphonso Plummer scored 19 points, Timmy Allen added 15 points and the Utes upset the Trojans at Salt Lake City.
AUBURN 77
NO. 25 TENNESSEE 72
Allen Flanigan scored 23 points as the host Tigers stunned the Volunteers.
XAVIER 77
NO. 13 CREIGHTON 69
Paul Scruggs scored 23 points and Zach Freemantle added 17 helping the host Musketeers bolster their NCAA hopes with a win over the Bluejays.
NO. 21 LOYOLA-CHICAGO 65 S. ILLINOIS 58 (OT)
Cameron Krutwig had 20 points and the host Ramblers scored the final
eight points of overtime to clinch the Missouri Valley Conference title.
NO. 22 SAN DIEGO ST. 62 BOISE ST. 58
Jordan Schakel made four free throws in the final 8.7 seconds to finish with 17 points for the host Aztecs, which beat the Broncos for their 10th straight victory.
San Diego State (19-4, 13-3 Mountain West) can repeat as regular-season conference champions if it wins at UNLV on Wednesday.
Women
NO. 7 BAYLOR 85 KANSAS ST. 49
Queen Egbo scored 19 points and the host Lady Bears extended the nation’s longest current streak of consecutive regular-season women’s conference titles to 11 with a victory over the Wildcats.
OKLAHOMA 68 TEXAS 63 (OT)
Gabby Gregory scored 19 points to lead the Sooners over the host Longhorns in overtime.
Charli Collier scored 23 points for Texas (16-7, 10-6).
NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 97 BUTLER 68
Aailyah Edwards had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Paige Bueckers added 20 points and 14 assists as the Huskies won on the road.