SMU beats Cincinnati for AAC tourney title

HARTFORD, Conn. - Sterling Brown scored 18 points to help send No. 12 SMU streaking into the NCAA Tournament with a 71-56 victory over No. 15 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Sunday.

Tournament MVP Simi Ojeleye added 14 points, Jarrey Foster had 13 and Ben Moore scored 12 for Mustangs (30-4), who won their 16th straight game and second AAC title in three years.

The Mustangs took the championship in 2015, but missed last year’s postseason under NCAA sanctions.

Jarron Cumberland had 14 points to lead Cincinnati (29-5), which has not won a conference title since capturing the Conference USA championship back in 2004.

SMU started the year 4-3, but has reeled off 25 wins in 26 games.

They went 17-1 to win the league’s regular-season title, with the only loss coming by two points at Cincinnati in January.

No. 8 Kentucky 82, Arkansas 65: De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points, and No. 8 Kentucky won its third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.

The Wildcats (29-5) added their 30th tournament title all-time to their 48 regular season championships in convincing fashion.

Princeton 71, Yale 59: Myles Stephens had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds and Princeton won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament to clinch its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2011.

Princeton (23-6) won its 19th straight game overall and didn’t lose in Ivy play this season. A day earlier, the Tigers overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and topped Penn in overtime at the Palestra, the Quakers’ home court.

Troy 59, Texas St. 53: Jordon Varnado had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Troy defeated Texas State in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

The sixth-seeded Trojans (22-14) advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 after winning their third game in three days and fourth in the tournament.

No. 20 Drake 74, Northern Iowa 69: Caitlin Ingle’s jumper sent the game into overtime where she scored five points and led Drake over Northern Iowa for the Bulldogs’ conference-record 22nd consecutive victory.

Robert Morris 65, Bryant 52: Anna Niki Stamolamprou scored 23 points and had nine rebounds to lead Robert Morris to its third straight NCAA tourney.

Florida Gulf Coast 77, Stetson 70: China Dow came off the bench to score a career-high 31 points and Florida Gulf Coast rallied in the fourth quarter to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in six seasons.

Troy 78, Louisiana-Lafayette 64: ArJae’ Saunders scored 13 points, Claresa Banks added 12 before each fouled out and Troy won back-to-back Sun Belt Conference Tournament championships.