Loyola rolls into Valley title game
Braden Norris had 19 points as Loyola routed Northern Iowa 66-43 in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinals on Saturday in St. Louis.
Norris went 4-for-6 on threepointers. Marquise Kennedy had 13 points and six rebounds for the Ramblers (24-7). Ryan Schwieger added 12 points. Lucas Williamson had six rebounds.
Loyola will meet Drake (24-9) in the championship game Sunday after the Bulldogs’ Tucker DeVries made the winning free throw with one second remaining in overtime in a 79-78 victory over Missouri State (23-10).
Northern Iowa scored 23 firsthalf points, a season low.
AJ Green had 13 points and six rebounds for the Panthers (19-11). Trae Berhow added eight rebounds.
Noah Carter, whose 15 points per game entering the matchup ranked second on the Panthers, was held to seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.
UConn 75, DePaul 68
The Blue Demons will be the No. 10 seed in the Big East tournament after a road loss in their regular-season finale to the No. 18 Huskies, who secured the No. 3 seek.
UConn (18-12, 9-11) outrebounded DePaul (15-15, 6-14) 49-31 in winning for the sixth time in its last seven games.
“Any time you get beat on the boards by 18, that’s not a formula for success,” DePaul coach Tony Stubblefield said.
Javon Freeman-Liberty led the Blue Demons with 22 points, while Brandon Johnson had 14. DePaul had won three consecutive games, with Freeman-Liberty averaging 30 points per game over that span.
Adama Sanogo scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season, for UConn. Tyrese Martin added 19 points and 16 rebounds.
Notre Dame 78, Pittsburgh 54
Nate Laszewski had 17 points and nine rebounds, Cormac Ryan added 15 points, all on threes, and the host Fighting Irish (22-9, 15-5 ACC) blitzed the Panthers (11-20, 6-14).
With the victory, the Irish secured the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, marking their best seeding since the 2011-12 season in the Big East. Their ACC record is a program best for conference wins in a season. This is their fourth top-four finish in nine seasons in the ACC.
Ryan made three threes in the first five minutes of the second half as Notre Dame took a 49-27 lead. The Irish made six of their first seven from long distance and nine of their first 12 shots overall after halftime.
Purdue 69, Indiana 67
Eric Hunter Jr. had 17 points, Trevion Williams made the tying basket with less than six minutes left and Sasha Stefanovic hit the go-ahead three-pointer as the eighth-ranked Boilermakers (25-6, 14-6 Big Ten) rallied past the visiting Hoosiers (18-12, 9-11).
Stefanovic finished with 15 points, including three from beyond the arc. Hunter added five points and five rebounds and made three threes. Williams had eight points and eight rebounds.
All three have announced they will not return next season, and they went out in style. The Boilermakers gave coach Matt Painter a victory in his 600th career game.
Murray St. 71, Morehead St. 67
Tevin Brown scored 23 points to lead the No. 22 Racers over the Eagles, giving Murray State its 20th consecutive victory and the Ohio Valley tournament title. Tournament MVP Justice Hill added 21 points for the Racers (30-2), who are the first team to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Johni Broome shook off an injury to finish with 32 points for the Eagles (23-11, 13-5).