Purdue opens Big Ten tourney with victory

MINNEAPOLIS – Zach Edey had 29 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, as No. 3 Purdue recovered from a blown 12point lead to beat the Spartans 67-62 in a hard-nosed quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.

Lance Jones added 10 points for the Boilermakers (29-3), who advanced to play Wisconsin in the semifinals on Saturday.

Tyson Walker had 15 points, Malik Hall pitched in 12 points and Tre Holloman scored 10 points for the Spartans (19-14), who had an 18-0 edge in fastbreak points and made a spirited rally to tie the game late before falling short in head coach Tom Izzo’s 1,000th game on the bench.

No. 1 Houston 82, No. 25 Texas Tech 59

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – L.J. Cryer hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points as topranked Houston, playing most of the way without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, used a big second half to rout No. 25 Texas Tech in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

Roberts played only a few minutes in each half after hurting his right leg, but the rest of the short-handed Cougars covered for him. Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points and conference player of the year Jamal Shead had 12, helping Houston (30-3) outscore its old Southwest Conference rival 50-30 in the second half to reach the title game in its first year in its new conference.

The Cougars will play seventhranked Iowa State for the Big 12 Tournament championship Saturday night.

Chance McMillian scored 15 points and Joe Toussaint had 10 for Texas Tech (23-10).

No. 2 UConn 95, St John’s 90

NEW YORK – Tristen Newton had 25 points and nine assists as UConn advanced to the Big East championship game with a victory over the St. John.

Cam Spencer added 20 points and nine assists for the top-seeded Huskies (30-3), who will face 10th-ranked Marquette on Saturday night.

It’s the 11th appearance in the Big East final for Connecticut and first since Kemba Walker carried the team to its most recent title in 2011. UConn had been 0-3 in conference semifinals since rejoining the league for the 2020-21 season.

Fifth-seeded St. John’s (20-13) fell behind by 14 with 12:28 left and couldn’t climb all the way back. The Johnnies stayed in the game for much of the way against the reigning national champions, but they couldn’t quite keep up.

No. 4 North Carolina 72, Pitt 65

WASHINGTON – RJ Davis took over the game with 25 points, Armando Bacot scored 19 while grabbing 11 rebounds and No. 4 North Carolina beat Pittsburgh 72-65 to advance to the ACC Tournament final.

The Tar Heels’ eighth consecutive victory coupled with other results around the country put them in the driver’s seat for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That path cleared earlier in the day when fifth-ranked Tennessee lost 73-56 to Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

UNC (27-6, 17-3) still had to take care of business against Pitt (22-11, 12-8), an opponent firmly on the NCAA bubble playing to shore up its spot in the field. The Panthers led by as many as nine in the first half and kept punching back until late, tying it at 62 with about four minutes left until Davis hit just his second 3-pointer to put the Tar Heels ahead.

Mississippi St. 73, No. 5 Tennessee 56

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points as the Bulldogs dominated the Volunteers in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

This victory should push the Bulldogs (21-12) firmly off the NCAA Tournament bubble with their second win over No. 1 seed Tennessee this season. They will play No. 12 Auburn in the semifinals Saturday, their first semifinal since winning this event in 2009.

Mississippi State, which ended the regular season on a four-game skid, never trailed against the SEC’s top seed with the Vols managing one tie at 2-2. The Bulldogs also held Dalton Knecht, the AP SEC Player of the Year who averaged 25.5 points in league play, to 14 points.

Tennessee (24-8) hurt its hopes for the first No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament in program history with a second straight loss.

Oregon 67, No. 6 Arizona 59

LAS VEGAS – Jackson Shelstad scored 21 points, Jermaine Couisnard had 20 and Oregon shut down No. 6 Arizona for a victory in the Pac-12 Tournaments semifinals.

The fourth-seeded Ducks (22-11) will play No. 22 Washington State or Colorado in Saturday’s championship game.

Arizona (25-8) will learn its seed and destination in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. The Wildcats, who were 111⁄2-point favorites according to FanDuel Sportsbook, were attempting to become the first team to three-peat as Pac-12 champions since they won four straight in 1988-90 and 2002. There were no conference tournaments between 19912001.

No. 7 Iowa St. 76, No. 14 Baylor 62

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Keshon Gilbert had 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and No. 7 Iowa State used a big second-half run to beat No. 14 Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.

Curtis Jones added 13 points and Tamin Lipsey and Hason Ward had 10 apiece for the Cyclones (26-7), who advanced to play top-ranked Houston on

Saturday night for their fifth championship in the last 10 completed tournaments.

Iowa State went on a 17-3 run to start the second half and led by as many as 22 points before keeping the Bears at distance the rest of the way. It was the second straight year that the Cyclones knocked Baylor out of a tournament it has never won.

Jalen Bridges had 20 points and 12 rebounds while Yves Missi had 14 points and 11 boards for the Bears (23-10), who had won seven of their last 10 against the Cyclones.

Texas A&M 97, No. 9 Kentucky 87

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wade Taylor IV scored 32 points as Texas A&M upset ninth-ranked Kentucky for the second biggest upset of the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Aggies won their fifth straight to reach Saturday’s semifinals for the third time since joining the SEC and second in three seasons. The Aggies, who lost the final in 2016 and 2022, will play Florida.

Texas A&M lost the 2022 title game to Tennessee, the regular season champs who were ousted in Friday’s first game by Mississippi State.

Tyrece Radford added 23 points, Manny Obaseki had 17 and Solomon Washington 11 for Texas A&M (20-13). The Aggies beat Kentucky (23-9) for the second time after needing overtime on Jan. 13.

No. 10 Marquette 79, Providence 68

NEW YORK – Kam Jones scored 23 points and Oso Ighodaro had 20 as No. 10 Marquette beat seventh-seeded Providence withstanding a second-half surge by Devin Carter and advancing to the Big East Tournament championship game for the second straight year.

The third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-8) will face top seed and defending national champion UConn – and no doubt a Huskies heavy crowd – on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Marquette is looking to win back-toback conference tournament championships after going more than two decades without one.

The school’s only league tournament title before last year came in 1997 in Conference USA.

Carter, the Big East coaches’ pick for conference player of the year, scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half for Providence (21-13).

No. 12 Auburn 86, No. 15 South Carolina 55

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Johni Broome had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Auburn to romp over South Carolina at the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

Auburn (25-7) routed South Carolina by 40 when these teams met in the regular season. The Tigers led by as much as 32 on Friday.

South Carolina (26-7) trimmed the lead to 10 points twice. Auburn answered and continued to build its offensive momentum to lead 46-26 at the half. The second half was much of the same with Auburn dominating offensively and defensively.

No. 13 Illinois 77, Ohio St. 74

MINNEAPOLIS – Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 28 points to help No. 13 Illinois overcome a 10-point second-half deficit and beat Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

The game was tied at 71 when Jamison Battle sank a 3-pointer to put Ohio State on top with 1:44 to play. But Shannon and Coleman Hawkins each hit a pair of free throws to put Illinois up 7574 entering the final minute.

Battle led Ohio State (20-13) with 21 points. Bruce Thornton had 20 points and 10 assists.

San Diego St. 86, No. 18 Utah St. 70

LAS VEGAS – Jaedon LeDee scored 22 points and San Diego State beat No. 18 Utah State to reach the final of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Lamont Butler added 16 points and Micah Parrish had 15 points for the Aztecs (24-9).

Great Osobor led the top-seeded Aggies (27-6) with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Ian Martinez scored 16 points and Isaac Johnson added 11.

Florida 102, No. 19 Alabama 88

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Walter Clayton Jr. scored 23 points and led five Gators in double figures as sixth-seeded Florida routed Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

With losses by regular season champ Tennessee and No. 2 seed Kentucky earlier Friday, this marked the first time the SEC’s top three seeds all lost their tournament openers since 1983. That tournament was played in Birmingham, Alabama, and Georgia won the title and wound up reaching the Final Four.

Zyon Pullin added 19 points, Tyrese Samuel had 18, Alex Condon 12 and Will Richard had 10 for Florida (23-10). The Gators will face No. 7 seed Texas A&M, a 97-87 winner over ninth-ranked Kentucky, in the semifinals Saturday.

Colorado 58, No. 22 Washington St. 52

LAS VEGAS – KJ Simpson scored 16 points and Colorado held Washington State to a season low in points, defeating the Cougars in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.

Tristan Da Silva had 13 points and J’Vonne Hadley added 12 for the thirdseeded Buffaloes (24-9), who extended their winning streak to eight games and will play fourth-seeded Oregon (22-11) in Saturday’s championship game.

Washington State (24-9) will wait to see on Sunday where it is headed in the NCAA Tournament.