VCU tops Saint Louis to reach Atlantic 10 championship game
Jayden Nunn scored 18 points in VCU’s 90-78 win over Saint Louis on Saturday in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament semifinals in Brooklyn, New York.
Nunn added three blocks for the top-seeded Rams (26-7), who will play Dayton for the title at 1 p.m. today on CBS (WTKR in Hampton Roads). VCU likely must win the title for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Brandon Johns Jr. scored 16 points and added nine rebounds and four steals for the Rams, who led by as many as 25 points.
Dayton 79, Fordham 68: Toumani Camara had 28 points and Daron Holmes scored 20 as Dayton (22-11) defeated Fordham in second Atlantic 10 semifinal.
AMERICA EAST FINAL
Vermont 72, UMass Lowell 59:
Dylan Penn scored 21 points and Matt Veretto scored 15 and ignited the host Catamounts’ game-breaking run for the America East championship. Vermont (23-10) will be making its ninth NCAA appearance.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC TOURNEY
No. 1 Houston 69, Cincinnati 48:
Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists as Houston (31-2) advanced to its fifth American Athletic Conference championship game in a row with a win over Cincinnati (21-12), even after losing star guard Marcus Sasser to an injury.
Sasser, the AAC Player of the Year, crumpled with an apparent groin injury with about 6 minutes left in the first half and didn’t return.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
No. 5 Purdue 80, Ohio State 66:
Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds for the top-seeded Boilermakers (28-5), who took control late in the first half and cruised into the final for the second straight year.
Penn State 77, No. 19 Indiana 73:
Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State (22-12) beat Indiana (22-11) to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
SEC TOURNAMENT
No. 4 Alabama 72, No. 25 Missouri 61:
Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the regular-season SEC champion Crimson Tide (28-5) advanced to the championship game in Nashville, Tennessee, against No. 18 Texas A&M.
No. 18 Texas A&M 87, Vanderbilt 75:
Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as Texas A&M (25-8) dominated from the opening tip in routing Vanderbilt (20-14).
Late Friday
ACC TOURNAMENT
No. 21 Duke 85, No. 14 Miami 78:
Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Jeremy Roach hit a huge 3-pointer at the 1:32 mark and Duke held off Miami in the first ACC Tournament semifinal at Greensboro Coliseum.
Roach’s 3 from the left wing over Isaiah Wong with the shot clock going down proved to be the biggest shot, giving Duke a 78-71 lead. Wong had 22 points to lead the top-seeded Hurricanes (25-7), who lost starting forward Norchad Omier to an early ankle injury.
First-year coach Jon Scheyer has the Blue Devils back in the championship game for the 17th time in 25 ACC tournaments.
SEC
Vanderbilt 80, No. 23 Kentucky 73:
Ezra Manjon scored 25 points for the Commodores, who rallied from a 10-point deficit. Vanderbilt (20-13) followed its first win at Rupp Arena since January 2007 last week by beating Kentucky (21-11) to advance to Saturday’s semifinal.
BIG EAST
No. 6 Marquette 70, No. 11 Connecticut 68:
Tyler Kolek and David Joplin each scored 17 points as Marquette (27-6) moved into the Big East championship game for the first time.
No. 15 Xavier 82, No. 24 Creighton 60:
Souley Boum scored 23 points, Jack Nunge added 17 and Xavier (25-8) cruised into the championship game.
BIG TEN
No. 19 Indiana 70, Maryland 60:
Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 24 points, Jalen Hood-Schifino added 19 and Indiana (22-10) went on a 20-2 run in the second half to wipe out a seven-point deficit and got payback for a loss at Maryland on Jan. 31.
BIG 12
No. 3 Kansas 71, Iowa State 58:
Jalen Wilson had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Gradey Dick added 15 points and Kansas (27-6) reached the Big 12 title game in Kansas City, Missouri.
No. 7 Texas 66, No. 22 TCU 60:
Dylan Disu and Christian Bishop scored 15 points apiece for the second-seeded Longhorns (25-8). They played their second straight game without Timmy Allen, who is dealing with a leg injury.
PAC-12
No. 2 UCLA 75, Oregon 56:
Tyger Campbell scored a careerhigh 28 points and the Bruins (29-4) advanced to the Pac-12 final. The Bruins will play No. 8 Arizona in Saturday’s title game.
No. 8 Arizona 78, Arizona State 59: Azuolas Tubelis scored 17 points as the Wildcats (27-6) earned a championship rematch with UCLA on Saturday night.
MOUNTAIN WEST
No. 20 San Diego State 64, San Jose State 49:
Keshad Johnson and Darrion Trammell each scored 15 points as the Aztecs (26-6) won a Mountain West semifinal.
NCAA DIVISION III
Oswego State Randolph-Macon 63:
74, The Lakers (28-2), from New York state, came to Ashland and knocked off the top-ranked and defending champion Yellow Jackets (29-2).
Virginia Beach’s Josh Talbert led R-MC with 21 points on 10-of15 shooting, and the Kellam High graduate added four assists and three rebounds.
The loss before a sellout crowd of 1,280 at Crenshaw Gym ended R-MC’s all-time Division III record home winning streak at 64 games.