Seton Hall wins its first Big East title since 1993
Isaiah Whitehead scored 26 points, including the deciding three- point play with 18 seconds left, and Seton Hall won the Big East tournament for the f irst time in 23 years, beating No. 3 Villanova, 69- 67, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
It was Seton Hall’s third tournament title, the others coming in 1991 and 1993.
The third- seeded Pirates ( 25- 8) led for almost the entire game, leading by 14 points in the first half and 11 at halftime before the Wildcats ( 30- 4) f inally started hitting from three- point range.
No. 7 North Carolina 61, No. 4 Virginia 57: The Tar Heels held the Cavaliers without a field goal for more than eight minutes in the second half at Washington, and Joel Berry II scored 19 points, giving North Carolina ( 28- 6) its f irst Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title since 2008.
Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia ( 26- 7) with 15 points, but the conference player of the year was limited to six of 22 on f ield- goal attempts as Carolina held the Cavaliers to 37% shooting.
No. 17 Texas A& M 71, Louisiana State 38: Tonny Trocha- Morelos scored 13 points and the Aggies reached their f irst conference tournament championship game since 1994. The Aggies ( 26- 7) will play Kentucky for the Southeastern Conference tournament title Sunday after sharing the regular- season crown with the No. 16 Wildcats.
Texas A& M hadn’t reached a conference tournament championship since losing to Texas 22 years ago in the Southwest Conference. Now, after its eighth consecutive victory, it is one win away from adding its f irst tournament title since 1987.
The Aggies not only held LSU ( 19- 14) to a season low in points and made f ield goals ( 13) but also the fewest points scored by a team in any major conference this season, according to STATS LLC.
Freshman star Ben Simmons finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers.
No. 16 Kentucky 93, Georgia 80: Jamal Murray scored 26 points, Tyler Ulis added 25 and both keyed a late 11- 3 run that helped the Wildcats ( 25- 8) put away the Bulldogs in the other SEC semifinal.
No. 2 Michigan State 64, No. 18 Maryland 61: Denzel Valentine had 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spartans in a Big Ten tournament semifinal in Indianapolis.
The league’s player of the year sealed it with two free throws with 0.8 of a second to go, and Melo Trimble’s desperation heave from 55 feet away wasn’t close.
Michigan State ( 28- 5) has won 12 of 13 and will face Purdue in Sunday’s title game.
No. 13 Purdue 76, Michigan 59: A. J. Hammons had 27 points and 11 rebounds to help the Boilermakers advance to the Big Ten title game. Hammons made 11 of 17 shots, mostly from inside, for Purdue ( 26- 7), which is seeking its first Big Ten tournament title since 2009.
Connecticut 77, Temple 62: Daniel Hamilton and Shonn Miller scored 19 points apiece and the Huskies shrugged off a slow start to beat the top- seeded Owls in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament in Orlando, Fla.
Connecticut ( 23- 10) will face Memphis, which had five players in double figures and pulled away from Tulane, 74- 54.
St. Joseph’s 82, Dayton 79: Isaiah Miles had 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the fourth- seeded Hawks to the upset of the top- seeded Flyers in the Atlantic 10 tournament semifinals in New York.
St. Joseph’s ( 26- 7) advances to the conference title game for the second time in three years and will face Virginia Commonwealth, which routed Davidson, 7654.
Fresno State 68, San Diego State 63: Julien Lewis made a big three- point shot with 1: 39 to play and Marvelle Harris scored 18 points to lead the Bulldogs ( 25- 9) to the Mountain West championship at Las Vegas. The Aztecs ( 25- 9) led for the f inal time at 62- 61 on Winston Shepard’s tipin, but Lewis’ shot gave Fresno a 64- 62 edge.
Middle Tennessee 55, Old Dominion 53: Reggie Upshaw made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to lift Middle Tennessee ( 24- 9) in the Conference USA championship game in Birmingham, Ala.
Stony Brook 80, Vermont 74: Jameel Warney scored 43 points to help the Seawolves ( 26- 6) reach the NCAA tournament for the first time by coming from behind to win the America East championship game at Stony Brook, N. Y.
Hampton 81, South Carolina State 69: Reginald Johnson Jr. had 21 points and eight assists for the topseeded Pirates ( 20- 10), who won a second consecutive Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.
UC San Diego 71, Cal Baptist 69: Despite 30 points by Gelaun Wheelright, the Lancers were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Division II West Regional.