Tatum leads Duke past Notre Dame for ACC title

Jayson Tatum took over in the final three minutes, making key plays on both ends of the floor, and No. 14 Duke became the first team to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with four wins in four days by rallying to beat No. 22 Notre Dame 75-69 on Saturday night.

The freshman forward finished a spectacular week in Brooklyn with 19 points and eight rebounds for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (278). Duke won its first ACC Tournament championship since 2011 and its 20th overall, most in league history.

Bonzie Colson was a beast for third-seeded Notre Dame (25-9), with 29 points and nine rebounds.

AAC

No. 12 SMU 70, UCF 59: Sterling Brown scored 22 points and No. 12 SMU (29-4) beat UCF (21-11) in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Semi Ojeleye added 17 points, and Shake Milton had 14 of his 16 points in the second half for the Mustangs. They are back in the championship game after missing last year’s tournament because of NCAA sanctions. The Mustangs won the title in 2015. SMU has won 15 straight games and 25 of its last 26 after a 4-3 start to their season. B.J. Taylor had 20 points, and Nick Banyard 16 for the Knights. They had won six in a row.

No. 15 CINCINNATI 81, CONNECTICUT 71: Gary Clark scored 25 points to lead Cincinnati (29-4) over UConn in the American Athletic Conference semifinals. Jacob Evans added 21 points and Troy Caupain had 18 for the Bearcats (29-4), who will be seeking their first AAC title today against SMU. The Huskies finish their season 16-17, their first losing campaign in 30 years.

BIG EAST

No. 2 VILLANOVA 74, CREIGHTON 60: Josh Hart scored 29 points and No. 2 Villanova (31-3) beat Creighton (25-9) to win the Big East Tournament and probably lock up the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Hart, the conference player of the year, became just the third player to win the tournament MVP award twice, joining Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Peyton Siva of Louisville.

MOUNTAIN WEST

NEVADA 79, COLORADO STATE 71: Jordan Caroline had 23 points and 10 rebounds as Nevada (28-6) beat Colorado State (23-11) in the Mountain West Conference championship game to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 years. The top-seeded Wolf Pack claimed the league’s automatic bid for their first trip to the NCAAs since winning the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

AMERICA EAST

VERMONT 56, ALBANY 53: Vermont (29-5) capped off a perfect America East season with the conference tournament championship. Junior forward Payton Henson converted a three-point play with 39 seconds remaining to propel the Catamounts over Albany (21-13) in the America East men’s basketball championship game. The top-seeded Catamounts secured a berth in the NCAA Tournament with their 21st consecutive victory.

MEAC

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL 67, NORFOLK STATE 59: Patrick Cole scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Dajuan Graf added 17 points, and North Carolina Central (25-8) beat Norfolk State (17-16) in the championship game for the Eagles’ second NCAA Tournament spot in four years. After a back-and-forth first half, NCCU used a 19-0 run in the second half to pull away as the Spartans missed 14 straight shots and committed five turnovers during an 11-minute stretch. Bryan Gellineau hit a foul-line jumper with 3:20 left to finally end the drought at 62-48 with 3:29 to go.

SWAC

TEXAS SOUTHERN 53, ALCORN STATE 50: Kevin Scott had 15 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Texas Southern (2411) beat Alcorn State (18-14) to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament title. Marvin Jones added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Demontrae Jefferson had 13 points for Texas Southern. The Tigers won the title for the third time in the last four years.

BIG SKY

NORTH DAKOTA 93, WEBER STATE 89, OT: Quinton Hooker scored 28 points and North Dakota (2210) beat Weber State (19-13) in overtime and earn its first NCAA Tournament bid. Top-seeded North Dakota rallied with a 20-9 run to force overtime after falling behind 72-61 with 7:26 left.

CONFERENCE USA

Middle Tennessee 83, Marshall 72: Giddy Potts matched his season high with 30 points to lead Middle Tennessee (30-4) its second straight Conference USA Tournament championship, beating Marshall (20-15).