Davidson to dance, leaving many disappointed
WASHINGTON — Bubble teams all across the land were keeping an eye on the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament final and Davidson, a school still waiting for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since a guy by the name of Stephen Curry was leading the way.
The Wildcats were all too happy to disappoint those other folks whose hopes hinged on their result Sunday.
Freshman Kellan Grady’s go-ahead baseline floater with 74 seconds left ended a nearly 13-minute drought without a field goal for Davidson, and lifted Curry’s alma mater to a 58-57 victory over 25thranked Rhode Island for the A-10 title.
“I would say, ‘I’m sorry,’ but I’m not,” said smiling senior Rusty Reigel, who was a freshman the last time Davidson participated in March Madness.
“We won and we’re going dancin’ and I couldn’t be happier for my guys and for everybody,” said Reigel, fiddling with a piece of the net he’d just helped cut down. “I just can’t wait to get there next week.”
Davidson (21-11) would not have gotten to join in the fun with a loss Sunday.
Top-seeded Rhode Island (25-7), though, will be in the bracket despite coming up short in its try for a second conference tourney title in a row.
KENTUCKY 77, TENNESSEE 72: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points to lead Kentucky to its fourth straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship with a win over No. 13 Tennessee in St. Louis.
The championship is the 31st in tournament history for the fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-10), who have won seven of their past eight games since a four-game losing streak last month. It’s also their first victory in three tries this season against the No. 2 seed Volunteers (25-8).
Gilgeous-Alexander was 10 of 16 from the field and added seven rebounds and a pair of steals, and he hit the clinching free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining. His 29 points were one off his career high of 30. Kevin Knox added 18 points and Quade Green had 10 for the Wildcats.
Admiral Schofield had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Tennessee, which was attempting to win its first tournament championship since 1979.
PENN 68, HARVARD 65: Darnell Foreman scored 19 points, AJ Brodeur had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Penn earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007 with a win over Harvard at the Palestra in the Ivy League Tournament title game. Ryan Betley added 17 points for the Quakers (24-8), who will be making their 24th appearance in the NCAAs.
GEORGIA ST, 74, TEXAS ARLINGTON 61: D’Marcus Simonds scored 27 points and Georgia State defeated Texas Arlington in New Orleans to win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. No. 2 seed Georgia State (24-10) will be making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2015. The Panthers will face second-seeded and eighthranked Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI 56, HOUSTON 55: Mick Cronin doesn’t have a catchy sales pitch for the stingy brand of basketball No. 8 Cincinnati played to claw its way to the top of the American Athletic Conference with a win over No. 21 Houston in Orlando. Stellar defense was a big part of the team’s drive to the league’s regular-season championship. It also served the top-seeded Bearcats well while they were winning three games in three days to capture the American’s conference tournament title. —AP