SMU beats Cincinnati 71-56 for AAC championship
No. 12 SMU 71
No. 15 Cincinnati 56
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 crown 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.
Michigan 71
No. 24 Wisconsin 56
WASHINGTON — Michigan completed a magical run to its first Big Ten Tournament title, using a swarming defense and accurate shooting to beat No. 24 Wisconsin 71-56 on Sunday for its fourth victory in four days.
The eighth-seeded Wolverines (2411) began their journey with a scary skid off the airport runway in Michigan and ended it by overwhelming the second-seeded Badgers, who had won three straight — including the regular season finale against Minnesota — by a total of 55 points.
Between the aborted flight and their final unexpected victory, the Wolverines beat Illinois, eliminated top-seed Purdue and sent home No. 4 seed Minnesota.
And so, the first Big Ten Tournament in the nation’s capital ended with a surprise champion cutting down the nets at Verizon Center. Michigan won the title in 1998 but had it vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
Derrick Walton Jr. scored 22 points, D.J. Wilson added 17 and Zak Irvin had
15 for Michigan, which had lost 17 of its previous 20 games against Wisconsin. The Wolverines shot 56 percent and were 10 for 23 from beyond the arc.
Bronson Koenig scored 15 points, and Nigel Hayes and Ethan Happ had
14 apiece for Wisconsin (25-9), which shot 39 percent from the field and scored only 24 points after halftime.
Princeton 71, Yale 59
PHILADELPHIA — Myles Stephens had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds and Princeton won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, beating Yale 71-59 Sunday 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.
The Tigers have proved to be a dangerous opponent at times come the NCAAs. In their last appearance, they lost to Kentucky 59-57 — in 1996, they upended defending national champion UCLA.
Steven Cook scored 15 points, Devin Cannady added 13 and Ivy League Player of the Year Spencer Weisz finished with eight assists for the top-seeded Tigers, who pulled away in the second half.
Alex Copeland had 14 points and Sam Downey had 12 for third-seeded Yale (18-11), the Ivy champs last season.
Rhode Island 70, VCU 63
PITTSBURGH — Jared Terrell finished with 20 points and E.C. Matthews added 19, including a decisive runner with 55 seconds to go as Rhode Island earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999 with a 70-63 victory over Virginia Commonwealth in the Atlantic-10 title game on Sunday.
The third-seeded Rams (24-9) never trailed and withstood a serious late push by second-seeded VCU (26-8) to capture their first conference tournament title since Lamar Odom led them to the A-10 crown 18 years ago. It’s the ninth time in Rhode Island history the program is going to the NCAAs.
JeQuan Lewis led VCU with 15 points and Justin Tillman had 10 points and 17 rebounds but VCU struggled to get anything going against Rhode Island. VCU shot just 31 percent (21 of 67) from the field and forced just six Rhode Island turnovers.
Troy 59, Texas St. 53
NEW ORLEANS — Jordon Varnado had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Troy defeated Texas State 59-53 in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Sunday at Lakefront Arena.
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.
The fourth-seeded Bobcats (20-13) defeated top-seeded UTA 83-62 in the semifinals.
Troy never trailed in the game after pulling even at 9-9, though the score was tied twice in the second half.
Varnado scored 10 straight points for the Trojans as they took control with a 57-50 lead with 14 seconds remaining.
Wesley Person, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament, scored 16 points and Jeremy Hollimon had 15 for Troy.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury led Texas State with 19 points, scoring 16 in the second half.