Iowa State routs No. 1 Houston
No. 7 Cyclones start second half on 18-3 run
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points and Keshon Gilbert scored 16, and seventh-ranked Iowa State used a big second half to rout top-ranked Houston 69-41 in the Big 12 Tournament final Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Cyclones won their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game. Iowa State came out of the locker room on an 18-3 run to turn a seven-point lead at halftime into a blowout.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting to lead Houston.
Big East final No. 2 Connecticut 73, No. 10 Marquette 57:
Donovan Clingan had 22 points and a careerbest 16 rebounds, Jaylin Stewart gave UConn an unexpected boost with three second-half 3-pointers during a decisive surge, and the Huskies won the Big East championship at Madison Square Garden.
Tournament MVP Tristen Newton added 13 points and 10 assists as the top-seeded Huskies won their eighth title, matching Georgetown for the most in conference history. Kam Jones led the third-seeded Golden Eagles with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Pac-12 final Oregon 75, Colorado 68:
N’Faly Dante, playing with a bruised tailbone, made all 12 of his shots and scored 25 points, and Oregon secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by ending the Pac-12 Conference era with a championship.
The fourth-seeded Ducks weren’t projected to receive an at-large invitation to the NCAA field. This was the Ducks’ sixth Pac-12 Tournament championship and first since 2019. The third-seeded Buffaloes’ eightgame winning streak ended.
Mountain West final New Mexico 68, San Diego State 61:
Jaelen House had 28 points, Jamal Mashburn Jr. scored 21 and sixth-seeded New Mexico beat No. 5 seed San Diego State in the championship game of the Mountain West tourney in Las Vegas.
Coach Richard Pitino’s Lobos (26-9) won all three games by double digits and trailed for a total of 42 seconds. They were behind for just 6:38 against the Aztecs.
Conference USA final Western Kentucky 78, Texas El Paso 71:
Don McHenry scored 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting with four steals in Huntsville, Alabama, to help No. 3 seed WKU win the Conference USA Tournament for the first time.
WKU, which joined CUSA in 2014, won its first conference tournament since 2013, the Hilltoppers’ last season in the Sun Belt. Zid Powell scored 21 points to lead No. 5 seed UTEP.
Mid-American final Akron 62, Kent State 61: Greg
Tribble made two free throws with 4.8 seconds left after he was inexplicably fouled by Kent State’s Julius Rollins, giving Akron a win over its bitter rival in Cleveland for the Mid-American Conference championship.
The second-seeded Zips won their fifth MAC title overall and second in three years. Making it sweeter is that they did it against the Golden Flashes (17-17), who took the lead on Cli’Ron Hornbeak’s tip-in with 6.2 seconds to go. The Zips quickly inbounded the ball to Tribble, but he was fouled by Rollins, who apparently didn’t realize the Flashes had taken the lead.
Ali Ali scored 18 points for Akron. VonCameron Davis scored 21 to lead Kent State.
Big West final Long Beach State 74, UC Davis 70:
Former VCU guard Marcus Tsohonis scored 25 points and hit two clutch free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining to help No. 4 seed Long Beach State beat second-seeded UC Davis in Henderson, Nevada, sending coach Dan Monson to the NCAA Tournament in his final season with the Beach.
It was an improbable run for the Beach after the school announced last Monday it would part ways with Monson after 17 seasons.
Lassina Traore had a careerhigh 25 points for the 49ers.
Metro Atlantic final Saint Peter’s 68, Fairfield 63:
Corey Washington scored 20 points in the second half to rally fifth-seeded Saint Peter’s (19-13) over No. 2 seed Fairfield (22-12) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
SWAC final Grambling 75, Texas Southern 66:
Jourdan Smith scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half as Grambling won its first Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament title in Birmingham, Alabama.
Top-seeded Grambling (20-14) built a double-digit lead midway through the first half and led by as many as 18 points in the second. Jonathan Cisse scored 21 for No. 3 seed Texas Southern (16-16), which entered seeking its fourth consecutive NCAA automatic berth.
WAC final Grand Canyon 89, UT Arlington 74:
Tyon Grant-Foster scored 22 points, Ray Harrison added 15 of his 19 in the second half in Las Vegas, and top-seeded Grand Canyon won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Lopes have appeared five of the last six WAC Tournament title games, winning three of the past four.
Lok Wur scored 16 points for Grand Canyon, which was 37 of 50 at the free-throw line. Phillip Russell led UT Arlington with 22 points.