The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
No. 1 Kansas wraps up outright Big 12 title with win over Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, TEXAS » No. 1 Kansas wrapped up its outright Big 12 regular-season title Saturday, beating Texas Tech 66-62 behind Udoka Azubuike’s 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Devon Dotson had 17 points and Ochai Agbaji had 12 for the Jayhawks (28-3, 17-1), the Big 12’s first champion in decade with only one loss in league play. Kansas was 15-1 in 2009-10, two seasons before the Big 12 expanded to an 18-game schedule.
Texas Tech (18-13, 9-9 Big 12), last year’s national runner-up after sharing the Big 12 title with Kansas State, had a chance to tie the game with 2.8 seconds left. But Davide Moretti, who made a 3-pointer only seconds earlier, missed another one from long range. The Red Raiders guard fell to floor after contact with Marcus Garrett, but was no foul called.
Moretti had 18 points, while TJ Hoyfield had 11 points for Texas Tech, which lost its fourth game in a row when trying to get back into the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas had already clinched at least a share of its 19th Big 12 title, the 5th in 16 seasons, with a win Wednesday night over TCU. The Jayhawks were outright champions by halftime Saturday, when second-place and No. 4 Baylor (26-4, 15-3) lost 76-64 at West Virginia.
Azubuike put Kansas ahead to stay with his putback dunk with 1:41 left that made it 59-57.
Holyfield’s 3-pointer with 2:11 left tied the game, and came during a stretch of just more than two minutes when he and Azubuike were trading points. Both had a free throw, then both had layups before Holyfield’s 3 and Azubuike’s go-ahead putback.
WEST VIRGINIA 76, NO. 4 BAYLOR 64 » Emmitt Matthews scored a season-high 18 points, freshman Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and West Virginia used a big second-half run to beat No. 4 Baylor 7664 on Saturday, denying the Bears the chance to earn a tie for the Big 12 regularseason
Texas Tech’s TJ Holyfield (22) defends against Kansas’ Udoka Azubuike (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 7, 2020, in Lubbock, Texas.
championship.
Baylor (26-4, 15-3 Big 12) went more than eight minutes without a field goal midway through the second half to take themselves out of contention and hand the championship to top-ranked Kansas, which played at Texas Tech later Saturday.
Instead, it was West Virginia (21-10, 9-9) celebrating. The sellout crowd stormed the court after the Mountaineers’ second straight win and just the third in nine games.
West Virginia looked as if it were headed for more disappointment against a ranked team when Matthews’ dunk attempt was blocked and Baylor’s Devonte Bandoo made a basket at the other end to put the Bears ahead 37-30 with 13:40 remaining. But Matthews kept going to the rim,dunking twice to ignite the crowd and his teammates.
Tshiebwe and Jermaine Haley scored six points apiece during the decisive 21-5 burst that put West Virginia ahead 57-46 lead with 3:02 remaining.
Baylor got 3-pointers from Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell to give Baylor some hope. But West Virginia, the league’s worst free throw shooting team, made 16 of 19 from the line over the final two minutes to seal it.
Miles McBride added 12 points for West Virginia and Sean McNeal scored 11. Butler
led Baylor with 21 points and Mitchell added 15.
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 70» Nick Richards scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and No. 6 Kentucky rallied from 18 points down to stun Florida 71-70 on Saturday.
The shorthanded Wildcats (25-6, 15-3 Southeastern Conference) needed the comeback to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time in nearly three months.
Richards, Keion Brooks Jr. and EJ Montgomery led the shocker in Gainesville. Brooks hit a floater in the lane with 59 second remaining to cut the lead to 70-69. Florida followed with a shot-clock violation on the other end, giving the Wildcats a chance to take their first lead of the game.
Brooks missed a driving layup, and Montgomery’s tip-in was initially waived off as a cylinder violation. Officials reviewed it and gave Montgomery the basket for a 71-70 lead.
Richards missed the front end of a one-andone, giving Florida a final chance to win it. But Andrew Nembhard’s 3-pointer bounced twice off the rim before missing, setting off Kentucky’s raucous celebration.
Scottie Lewis scored a career-high 19 for Florida (1912, 11-7). Noah Locke added 14, and Keyontae Johnson 12. Florida led by 18 points with 11:48 left in the game.
Kentucky played without point guard Ashton Hagans, who didn’t make the trip three days after arguing with coach John Calipari on the bench during a home loss to Tennessee. The Cats also played the final nine minutes without guard Immanuel Quickley, who fouled out with 12 points.
Calipari announce Hagans’ absence a little more than an hour before tipoff.
“He and I met a couple days ago and he asked to step away for a couple days for personal reasons,” Calipari posted on Twitter. “I support his decision. We are going to need him at 100% for the postseason.”
NO. 17 AUBURN 85, TENNESSEE 63 » Samir Doughty made 8 of 13 3-pointers and finished with 32 points as No. 17 Auburn beat Tennessee 85-63 Saturday, snapping a two-game skid in the regular-season finale.
Auburn (25-6, 12-6) now heads to Nashville to defend its Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in winning fashion after the Tigers had lost four of their previous six. Auburn already had earned a double-bye to the quarterfinals after winning four games in four days last year to win the league tournament.
Doughty gave Auburn the opening lead with a 3 a minute into the game, and the Tigers never trailed on their way to a second straight victory over the Volunteers in Knoxville for the first time in program history.
J’Von McCormick scored 13 points for Auburn, and Isaac Okoro finished with 11.
Tennessee (17-14, 9-9) showed off the inconsistency that has marked this season.
John Fulkerson led the Vols with 19 points before fouling out late. Jordan Bowden added 17 on Senior Day, and Santiago Vescovi had 13.
After rallying from 17 down to upset No. 6 Kentucky in Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, the Vols struggled to score for long stretches and were beaten on the boards. Auburn had a 20-9 edge in rebounding in a first half that featured a 7-minute, 10-second stretch by the Vols without a field goal and the Tigers up 4231 at halftime.
Doughty put Auburn up 54-37 for the Tigers’ biggest lead of the game with 13:52 remaining — the same 17-point deficit Tennessee faced against Kentucky. The Vols went on a 16-4 run with Fulkerson’s dunk pulling them to within 5853 with 11:15 left.
But Doughty hit his sixth 3 of the game with 11:01 to go, starting a 10-3 spurt to push the lead back to double digits. Tennessee didn’t hit another field goal after Fulkerson’s dunk until a 3 by Vescovi with 4:54 to go pulled Tennessee to within 72-62.
NO. 24 WISCONSIN 60, INDIANA 56 » Nate Reuvers scored 17 points and No. 24 Wisconsin held Indiana to just one basket over the final 10 minutes, rallying for a 60-56 victory Saturday and clinching at least a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Micah Potter added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin (21-10, 146), which has won eight straight. Now the Badgers must wait until Sunday to see if No. 9 Maryland and No. 15 Michigan State remain tied atop the conference standings.
Devonte Green scored all 16 of his points in the first half to lead Indiana (19-12, 9-11), which has lost three of four.
Indiana appeared to be in control when it went on a 13-5 run to take a 47-39 lead with 8:52 left in the game.
But Wisconsin fought back, scoring 12 straight points. The Badgers tied the score on Potter’s threepoint play before taking the lead for good on Brad Davison’s 3-pointer with 4:05 to go.
The Badgers never trailed again, forcing 12 straight missed shots during the final stretch.