Iowa State pummels Houston in Big 12 final
Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament for Iowa State with 16 points, and the seventh-ranked Cyclones blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half Saturday night in Kansas City, Missouri, allowing them to roll to a 69-41 victory and their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points and Hason Ward scored 13 for the Cyclones (27-7), who have beaten five programs to raise the trophy, including Oklahoma, which at the time was led by current Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson.
He probably felt even worse than he did in 2000. Iowa State turned a 30-23 lead at halftime into the kind of blowout Sampson has rarely experienced with an 18-3 spurt to start the second half. That gave the thousands of Cyclones fans that paint Kansas City red and yellow every March plenty of reasons to stand on their feet and roar their approval.
Doesn’t seem to matter who is coaching them, either. T.J. Otzelberger is the fourth to win the tournament for Iowa State.
“I give our guys all the credit,” Otzelberger said after cutting down the nets. “You hear it all the time, you want to be playing your best this time of year. I don’t think there’s any question that’s what we’re doing.”
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half. L.J. Cryer was held to seven points and Emanuel Sharp to five as the Cougars shot 4-for-22 from the three-point arc and 15-for-56 from the field.
Iowa State built its halftime lead by playing the role of Houston better than Houston.
The poised Cyclones never wavered when they fell into an early hole. They exhibited some exquisite interior ball movement for easy layups when the Cougars’ guards tried to lock down the perimeter. And when they got those buckets to go, it freed up Momcilovic and the rest of the sharpshooters to drain threes.
UConn 73, Marquette 57
Donovan Clingan scored 22 points and Jaylin Stewart gave the No. 2 Huskies (31-3) an unexpected boost with three second-half three-pointers during a decisive surge as the top seeds roared over the No. 10 Golden Eagles (25-9) at Madison Square Garden in New York to win the Big East Tournament for the first time since rejoining the league four years ago.
Stewart, a freshman who averaged 2.4 points off the bench, scored nine in about a four-minute span as UConn pulled away from Marquette, playing without injured star Tyler Kolek (oblique) for a sixth consecutive game.
N.C. State 84, North Carolina 76
DJ Horne scored 29 points, DJ Burns Jr. had 20, including the first three of his college career, and the Wolfpack (22-14) won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final in a stunner over the fourth-ranked Tar Heels (27-7) in Washington.
NC State became the second team to win any conference tournament as a double-digit seed, 10th out of 15 teams, and the first to win the ACC’s with five victories in as many days.
Oregon 75, Colorado 68
N’Faly Dante, playing with a bruised tailbone, made all 12 of his shots and scored 25 points, and the Ducks (23-11) took down the Buffaloes (23-10) in Las Vegas in the conference tournament title game to end the Pac-12 basketball era.
Akron 62, Kent State 61
Greg Tribble made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left after he was inexplicably fouled by Julius Rollins, giving the Zips (2410) a victory over their bitter rival, the Golden Flashes (17-17), in the Mid-American Conference championship in Cleveland.
Western Kentucky 78, UTEP 71
Don McHenry scored 25 on 9-for-16 shooting with four steals to help the Hilltoppers (22-11) defeat the Miners (18-16) in Huntsville, Alabama, and win the C-USA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63
Corey Washington scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half as the Peacocks (19-13) upset the Stags (22-12) in the championship game of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament in Atlantic City.
New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61
Jaelen House had 28 points and Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored 21 to propel the Lobos (26-9) over the Aztecs (24-10) in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas.