Aggies, ‘Dogs post SEC stunners

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Wade Taylor IV scored 32 points as Texas A&M upset ninth-ranked Kentucky 97-87 Friday night for the second biggest upset of the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Aggies won their fifth in a row to reach today’s semifinals for the third time since joining the SEC and second in three seasons.

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 for the second time after needing overtime on Jan. 13.

Not Friday night.

The loss snapped Kentucky’s five-game winning streak that had been the SEC’s longest coming into this tournament. Now the Wildcats (239), whose 31 titles have set such a standard this event is often called the Kentucky Invitational, are going home still looking for their first tournament championship since 2018.

Antonio Reeves, Kentucky’s leading scorer averaging 22.2 points, was limited to 18 minutes before fouling out and finishing with 13 points. Rob Dillingham led Kentucky with 27 points, and Reed Sheppard added 14.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 73, NO. 5 TENNESSEE 56

Cameron Matthews and Josh Hubbard each scored 18 points and ninth-seeded Mississippi State dominated fifth-ranked Tennessee.

This victory should push the Bulldogs (21-12) firmly off the NCAA Tournament bubble with their second win over No. 1 seed Tennessee (24-8) this season. They will play No. 12 Auburn in today’s semifinals, 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.

Zakai Zeigler had a game-high 20 points, and Jahmai Mashack added 10 for Tennessee.

NO. 12 AUBURN 86,

NO. 15 SOUTH CAROLINA 55

Johni Broome had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 12 Auburn to a romp over 15th-ranked South Carolina.

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.

Chaney Johnson scored 11 points and K.D. Johnson added 10 for Auburn.

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.

B.J. Mack’s 14 points paced South Carolina with Zachary Davis adding 10 points.

BIG 12 NO. 1 HOUSTON 82, NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 59

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — L.J. Cryer hit six three-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.

Chance McMillian scored 15 points and Joe Toussaint had 10 for Texas Tech (2310), which closed to 40-38 with 16 1/2 minutes to go before Houston ripped off a 17-0 run over the next five minutes to turn a close game into a laugher.

BIG EAST NO. 2 UCONN 95, ST. JOHN’S 90

NEW YORK — Tristen Newton had 25 points and nine assists as No. 2 UConn advanced to the Big East championship game with a rollicking victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

Cam Spencer added 20 points and nine assists for the top-seeded Huskies (30-3).

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.

St. John’s point guard Daniss Jenkins poured in 27 points before a split crowd inside a rocking Garden for this matchup between original Big East members.

NO. 10 MARQUETTE 79, PROVIDENCE 68

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.

The third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-8) will face top seed and defending national champion UConn tonight.

Marquette is looking to win back-to-back 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.

BIG TEN NO. 3 PURDUE 67, MICHIGAN STATE 62

MINNEAPOLIS — Zach Edey had 29 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks, as Purdue recovered from a blown 12-point lead to beat Michigan State in a hard-nosed quarterfinal game in the Big Ten Tournament.

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

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 fast-break points and made a spirited rally to tie the game late before falling short in Coach Tom Izzo’s 1,000th game on the bench.

NO. 13 ILLINOIS 77, OHIO STATE 74

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 28 points to help No. 13 Illinois overcome a 10-point second-half deficit and beat Ohio State.

The game was tied at 71 when Jamison Battle sank a three-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 75-74 entering the final minute.

Shannon made two more free throws with 11.3 second left to go up 77-74. Battle had a chance to tie the game on a three-pointer when Illinois (24-8) neglected to foul and prevent a shot, but the ball bounced off the rim.

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

NEBRASKA 93, INDIANA 66

Keisei Tominaga and Brice Williams each buried four three-pointers and scored 23 points each to power third-seeded Nebraska past Indiana.

Nebraska (23-9) was 30 of 60 shooting from the floor and hit 14 of 32 shots from beyond the arc.

WISCONSIN 70, NORTHWESTERN 61

AJ Storr scored a career-high 30 points, Steven Crowl added 19 and No. 5 seed Wisconsin beat No. 4 seed Northwestern.

Wisconsin (21-12) advances to play top seed Purdue today.

Storr gave Wisconsin its first double-digit lead with 6:57 left in the second half when he sank a three-pointer for a 62-52 lead.

Northwestern star Boo Buie led Northwestern (21-11) with 29 points.

ACC

NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA 72 PITTSBURGH 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 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.

UNC (27-6) 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 three-pointer to put the Tar Heels ahead.

PAC 12

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.

Arizona (25-8) will learn its seed and destination in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. N’Faly Dante had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Oregon (22-11). Oumar Ballo had 14 points and 12 rebounds for top-seeded Arizona.