Fullerton handles top seed Irvine
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. scored 22 points and Tory San Antonio had 17 as Cal State Fullerton built a 10point second-half lead and held on late to beat UC Irvine 83-80 on Friday night in the semifinals of the Big West Conference tournament at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.
Wrightsell, who hit a three-pointer late in a win earlier this season over Irvine, made three free throws in the last minute as the Titans (20-12) held on to eliminate the top-seeded Anteaters (23-11).
Jalen Harris’ two free throws with 10 seconds left gave the Titans some breathing room.
Irvine’s DJ Davis, who scored 20 points, threw up a wild three-pointer at the buzzer that wasn’t close.
Dawson Baker matched Wrightsell and led Irvine with 22 points.
All five of Fullerton’s starters finished in double figures.
UC Santa Barbara 92, UC Riverside 87:
Ajay Mitchell scored 28 points and the Gauchos (26-7) rallied from a 13-2 deficit to beat the Highlanders (22-12) to reach the Big West title game. Santa Barbara lost both regular-season matchups to Riverside.
Top 25
No. 3 Kansas 71, Iowa State 58:
Jalen Wilson had 25 points and 10 rebounds to power the Jayhawks (27-6) over the Cyclones (19-13) and into the Big 12 championship game.
No. 6 Marquette 70, No. 11 Connecticut 68:
Tyler Kolek and David Joplin each scored 17 points, and the Golden Eagles (27-6) defeated the Huskies (25-8) to move into Big East title game for the first time.
No. 7 Texas 66, No. 22 Texas Christian 60:
Dylan Disu and Christian Bishop scored 15 points apiece and the Longhorns (25-8) held on to beat the Horned Frogs (21-12) in the Big 12 semifinals.
No. 21 Duke 85, No. 14 Miami 78:
Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Blue Devils (25-8) beat the Hurricanes (25-7) to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.
No. 20 San Diego State 64, San Jose State 49:
Keshad Johnson and Darrion Trammell each scored 15 points and the Aztecs (26-6) beat the Spartans (20-13) to reach the Mountain West tournament final.
Vanderbilt 80, No. 23 Kentucky 73:
Ezra Manjon scored 25 points and the Commodores (20-14) rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat the Wildcats (21-11) to reach the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
No. 25 Missouri 79, No. 17 Tennessee 71:
Nick Honor hit a three-pointer with 1:45 left to put the Tigers (24-8) ahead to stay in beating the Volunteers (23-10) to reach SEC semifinals.
Women
Vermont 38, Albany 36:
Emma Utterback scored 18 points as the Catamounts (25-6) held off the Great Danes (22-11) in the championship of the America East Conference to earn an NCAA tournament berth.
Notes
St. John’s fired men’s coach Mike Anderson, one day after his fourth season ended with a loss to Marquette in the Big East tournament . ... Josh Pastner was fired as Georgia Tech's coach, two seasons after he guided the Yellow Jackets to a surprising ACC tournament title . ... South Florida fired coach Brian Gregory, one day after the Bulls lost in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.