No. 13 Vols hold off No. 14 Arkansas
No. 13 Tennessee 78, No. 14 Arkansas 74: Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler, whose family was left homeless by a fire in New York City last weekend, made two key free throws in the final seconds to help host Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 SEC) hold off Arkansas (24-7, 13-5) on Saturday.
The Volunteers, who led by 24 points in the first half, wrapped up the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament.
Zeigler finished with 13 points. His foul shot with 14 seconds left made it 7774. After Arkansas’ JD Notae had an open 3-pointer rim out with 10 seconds to go, Zeigler made a free throw to clinch it.
Several members of Zeigler’s family lived in an apartment that was destroyed by the fire. The university did a Gofundme project for the family and raised well over $350,000.
Kennedy Chandler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 and Josiah-jordan James added 12 for Tennessee.
No. 5 Auburn 82, South Carolina 71: Jabari Smith scored 21 points, K.D. Johnson had 18 and Auburn (27-4, 15-3 SEC) won the SEC title with a victory over South Carolina (18-12, 9-9).
The Tigers secured the No. 1 seed for next week’s league tournament in Tampa, Florida. No tiebreakers needed, though the Gameocks did rally after trailing by 19 early in the second half.
Auburn players celebrated on the court amid a flurry of orange and blue confetti. The team held at least a share of the SEC lead all season.
Smith made 3 of 3 3-pointers and is 21 of 37 over the last six games, when he’s averaging 25 points. Kessler scored 11 and Wendell Green 10 for the Tigers. Kessler played his second straight game with a brace on his left shoulder from an injury sustained last weekend against Tennessee.
All four are in their first season with the Tigers.
No. 7 Kentucky 71, Florida 63: Oscar Tshiebwe had 27 points and 15 rebounds for his 25th double-double of the season, and host Kentucky (25-6, 14-4) beat Florida (19-12, 9-9) to secure the No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC tournament.
The Wildcats ended a two-game road skid in league play and won their fourth straight in Gainesville. They never trailed in this one, and Tshiebwe was a big reason why.
The 6-foot-9, 255-pound forward and national player of the year candidate scored 17 of Kentucky’s 19 points over a 71⁄2-minute span that included both halves. He responded with a dunk in the first half after Florida cut a 16-point lead to six and was at his best after the break.
The junior scored the team’s first 11 points of the second half – all in the paint while almost single-handily building a double-digit lead for the Wildcats.
And when the Gators made another run late, Tshiebwe answered with a layup to make it a 10-point game with about 3 minutes to play.
No. 8 Purdue 69, Indiana 67: Eric Hunter Jr. scored 17 points and Sasha Stefanovic added 15 to help host Purdue (25-6, 14-6 Big Ten) rally past archrival Indiana (18-12, 9-11).
Zach Edey added 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Boilermakers snapped a season-high two-game losing streak.
Xavier Johnson led the Hoosiers with 18 points and a career-high 12 assists, but his half-court heave to win it with 0.3 seconds left was an air ball. Trayce Jackson-davis had 15 points and six rebounds while Miller Kopp scored 14 points for Indiana.
The Hoosiers have lost seven of nine and four straight at Mackey Arena dating to February 2016.
It looked like this lopsided series might add a new twist when Indiana took a 56-52 lead with 6:52 to go.
No. 11 Villanova 78, Butler 59: Justin Moore scored 16 points, Jermaine Samuels added 15 and Villanova (23-7, 16-4 Big East) broke away early to beat host Butler (13-18, 6-14) in their regular-season finale.
The Wildcats will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
The Bulldogs take a five-game losing streak into the tourney.
Villanova scored 11 straight points during a 20-1 run that made it 23-4. The Wildcats were up by 28 midway through the second half.
LSU 80, No. 25 Alabama 77 (OT): Tari Eason scored 20 points and had a key block that led to his go-ahead dunk with 38 seconds left in overtime, and host LSU (21-10, 9-9 SEC) scored the final six points to beat Alabama (19-12, 9-9).
Darius Days had 24 points and Brandon Murray finished with 17 for LSU, which came in having lost three of four.
Keon Ellis scored 19 points for Alabama and Jahvon Quinerly added 16, including a 3-pointer in OT that gave the Crimson Tide a 75-74 lead. Ellis extended the advantage to three points on his layup with 1:31 remaining, but Alabama didn’t score again.
Eason made two free throws with 1:11 left. Then he blocked a field-goal attempt by Ellis. Murray retrieved the loose ball and fed Eason, who slammed it home.