Illini roll over Wolverines
Michigan has 7-game winning streak halted
Andre Curbelo scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half, and No. 4 Illinois dismantled No. 2 Michigan with a smothering defensive performance, routing the Wolverines 76-53 on Tuesday night.
Playing again without injured star Ayo Dosunmu, the Illini (19-6, 15-4) kept Michigan from clinching the Big Ten title and boosted their own chances at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Trent Frazier led Illinois with 22 points, and Kofi Cockburn added 12.
Eli Brooks scored 11 points and was the only player in double figures for Michigan. The Wolverines (18-2, 13-2) looked physically overwhelmed for much of the night, unable to create good shots against the Illinois defense and unable to keep the Illini off the boards. It was an eye-opening blowout — especially since Michigan has rolled to similar margins of victory against other good teams this season.
Illinois outscored Michigan 22-5 in second-chance points and held the Wolverines to 35% shooting from the field.
No. 3 Baylor 94, No. 6 West Virginia 89 — Jared Butler scored 25 points before fouling out, Davion Mitchell hit the go-ahead basket in overtime and No. 3 Baylor beat No. 6 West Virginia to clinch the Bears’ first Big 12 regular season championship.
Baylor (19-1, 11-1) bounced back in a big way from its only loss of the season at No. 13 Kansas on Saturday. Baylor struggled in its two previous games coming off a nearly three-week layoff because of COVID-19 issues in the program.
After managing just 58 points against the Jayhawks, the Bears maintained their energy and scoring touch until the very end against the Mountaineers (17-7, 10-5).
Baylor coach Scott Drew jumped on Mark Vital’s back and pointed a finger in the air after the title was secure. Butler ran onto the court to hug every teammate in sight.
Mitchell scored four of Baylor’s 13 points in overtime and finished with 20. Matthew Mayer had a seasonhigh 18 points for the Bears.
Taz Sherman came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points for the Mountaineers. Miles McBride added 19 points and Sean McNeil scored 18, including 15 after halftime.
West Virginia managed just one field goal in overtime.
No. 8 Alabama 70, Auburn 58 — Jaden Shackelford scored 23 points, made five 3-pointers and helped No. 8 Alabama quash a second-half threat in a victory over rival Auburn.
Shackelford helped the Crimson Tide (20-6, 15-2) score 10 straight points after the Tigers (12-14, 6-11) pulled to within five late.
Alabama had just secured its first SEC title in 19 years at Mississippi State over the weekend and followed that by completing its first season sweep of Auburn since 201415.
Herbert Jones had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Tide, including a coast-to-coast dunk in the first half. John Petty and Jahvon Quinerly each scored 11 points.
No. 12 Arkansas 101, South Carolina 73 — Moses Moody tied his career high with 28 points and No. 12 Arkansas won its 10th straight in the Southeastern Conference with a victory over South Carolina.
The Razorbacks (20-5, 12-4) did it with the long ball, hitting 15 3-pointers to continue its longest league win streak to match the 1994 national champions who won their last 10 SEC regular-season games that year.
Justin Smith had had 22 points, JD Notae 21 and Desi Sills 15, tying his career high with five 3-pointers.
AJ Lawson led the Gamecocks with 18 points.
No. 15 Texas 81, Iowa St. 67 — Kai Jones came off the bench to score a season-high 17 points and lead four Texas players in double figures, and the 15th-ranked Longhorns pulled away from Iowa State early.
Texas led for all but 22 seconds, beating the Cyclones for the eighth time in 10 meetings. Iowa State was led by Jalen Coleman-Lands, who scored 22 points.
Courtney Ramey added 14 points for the Longhorns, and Greg Brown and Matt Coleman III each had 12.
No. 18 Texas Tech 68, TCU 49 — Kyler Edwards scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half to help No. 18 Texas Tech take control, and the Red Raiders rolled to a victory over TCU.
R.J. Nembhard scored 10 points on a rough shooting night (4 of 12) for the leading scorer for the Horned Frogs.
Wagner 74, Merrimack 67 — Will Martinez and Alex Morales scored 21 points apiece as Wagner topped Merrimack.
Mykel Derring had 14 points for the Warriors and Jordan Minor added 13 points.
Elsewhere in college baseketball... Conference tournaments are supposed to give every team a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament.
Holy Cross will not have that chance, however, following a positive COVID-19 test among its Tier 1 personnel, the school announced Tuesday morning.
The eighth-seeded Crusaders were supposed to host Loyola tonight in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.
Instead, the ninth-seeded Greyhounds advance to the quarterfinals against topseeded Navy on Saturday.
“With this unfortunate news, we are disappointed that our season has been cut short,” Holy Cross head coach Brett Nelson said in a statement released by the school. “I am extremely proud of and grateful for our players, staff and everyone associated with our program. Our team has grown tremendously this season in many ways. The future of Holy Cross basketball is very bright, and we have laid a great foundation moving forward.”
The Crusaders finished the season with a 5-11 record.