Oregon victory douses USC’s Pac-12 title hopes
USC will have to wait another year to break its drought of regular-season conference titles.
With visiting Oregon’s 80-67 win over Oregon State on Sunday night, the Ducks clinched the Pac-12 championship, denying the Trojans their first outright regular-season league title since 1961.
Oregon (14-4 in Pac-12) and USC (15-5) finished even in the Pac-12 standings. Despite the Trojans’ win in the lone head-tohead matchup between the teams, Oregon won the title due to a .778 winning percentage, compared to USC’s .750.
The Trojans got themselves in position for a potential title when Tahj Eaddy’s last-second 3-pointer gave USC a stunning win over UCLA on Saturady.
But USC didn’t get that extra help it needed from Oregon State on Sunday.Instead, USC finishes second in the Pac-12, and will open the conference tournament on Thursday by playing the winner of Wednesday’s Utah-Washington game.
“We were picked sixth in the Pac-12 by the media,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said after the win over UCLA. “We had a few tough games last week on the road but we bounced back.”
Will Richardson scored 22 points and Oregon (195) made a season-high 15 3-pointers in beating Oregon State to win the the Pac-12 regular-season title for the second straight year.
Oregon has won five straight in just a span of 11 days and is 10-2 since Feb. 4.
Ethan Thompson scored 16 points for Oregon State (14-12, 10-10).
—Adam Grosbard
MICHIGAN STATE 70, NO. 2 MICHIGAN 64 » Rocket Watts scored 21 points and Aaron Henry had 18 to lead the host Spartans to a win that should seal coach Tom Izzo’s 23rd consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
Michigan State (15-11, 9-11 Big Ten) has won five of its last seven, beating No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Illinois and its second-ranked rival during the surge. The Wolverines (19-3, 14-3) closed the regular season getting routed at home by the Fighting Illini, beating Michigan State handily to seal the Big Ten title and losing the rematch three days later.
NO. 3 BAYLOR 88, NO.18 TEXAS TECH 73 » MaCio Teague scored 35 points while matching a school record with 10 made 3-pointers and the Bears finished undefeated (10-0) at home for the first time in 73 years.
Big 12 champion Baylor (21-1, 13-1 Big 12) never trailed, but didn’t take control for good until a 16-3 run in the second half when Teague had three 3s while scoring 12 of those points. He finished 10-of12 from long range.
Jared Butler scored 18 points and Davion Mitchell 17 for Baylor.
Kyler Edwards had 18 points for Texas Tech (179, 9-8).
73 » Luka Garza had 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead the host Hawkeyes.
It was the 12th doubledouble of the season for Garza, who leads the Big Ten in scoring and is third in the nation.
Iowa (20-7, 14-6 Big Ten) has won seven of eight.
Micah Potter scored 23 points for Wisconsin (16-11, 10-10), which has lost five of six. 64» Tramon Mark hit a long 3-pointer off the backboard as time expired to give the Cougars the win.
DeJon Jarreau had 19 points and eight rebounds, Quentin Grimes added 17 points and eight rebounds and Justin Gorham had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Houston (21-3, 14-3 American), which won its fourth straight game. Landers Nolley II scored 14 points for the Tigers (15-7, 11-4).
NO. 15 TEXAS 76, TCU 64 » Andrew Jones scored 16 points while making all four of his 3-pointers, and the Longhorns (17-7, 11-6 Big 12) finished the regular season with a third consecutive road victory.
Matt Coleman III added 14 points for Texas.
RJ Nembhard scored 13 points for the Horned Frogs (12-13, 5-11).
WINTHROP 80, CAMPBELL 53 » D.J. Burns Jr. scored 22 points on 11-for-12 shooting, and the Eagles (231) advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a victory in the Big South Conference tournament final.
Winthrop beat the Fighting Camels (17-10) for the third time this season.
Women
Raina Perez hit a jumper from near the left elbow with 2.1 seconds left to help No. 3 North Carolina State beat fifth-ranked Louisville 58-56 in the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Perez’s shot secured the second-seeded Wolfpack’s first back-to-back titles in program history.
Tournament MVP Elissa Cunane led N.C. State (202) with 20 points.
Dana Evans had 15 points for the top-seeded Cardinals (23-3).
NO. 7 SOUTH CAROLINA 67, NO. 16 GEORGIA 62 » Aliyah Boston had 27 points and 10 rebounds as the Gamecocks (22-4) won their second straight SEC Tournament title — and sixth in the past seven years.
It was a historic matchup that featured two Black head coaches in the title game for the first time in SEC history with South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and the Bulldogs’ Joni Taylor.
Que Morrison had 20 points for Georgia (20-6). NO. 1 UCONN 84, VILLANOVA 39» Christyn Williams had 26 points and the Huskies cruised in the Big East Tournament semifinals.
Paige Bueckers added 18 points and eight assists for UConn (23-1), which will play Marquette for its 19th Big East title in its first year back in the league after spending seven seasons dominating the American Athletic Conference.