Iowa State rips No. 1 Houston to win Big 12
Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament for Iowa State with 16 points, and the seventhranked Cyclones blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half Saturday night, allowing them to roll to a 6941 win and their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game in Kansas City.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points and Hason Ward scored 13 for the Cyclones (27-7), who have beaten five different 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 run 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.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half.
WISCONSIN BATTLES FOR OT WIN OVER NO. 3 PURDUE >> Max Klesmit made a runner in the lane with 4.8 seconds to play in overtime and Wisconsin beat Big Ten Tournament top-seed Purdue 76-75 for a spot in the conference championship game in Minneapolis.
Klesmit's clutch shot followed his teammate Chucky Hepburn's in regulation, when Hepburn made a layup as time expired to force overtime.
Hepburn finished with 22 points. AJ Storr had 20 points and Klesmit had 12 points, five assists and five rebounds for fifth-seeded Wisconsin (22-12).
Zach Edey led No. 3 Purdue (294) with 28 points and 11 rebounds. NO. 13 ILLINOIS BEATS NEBRASKA IN SEMIS >> Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career-high 40 points for a Big Ten Tournament record to lead a secondhalf surge by 13th-ranked Illinois in a 98-87 victory over Nebraska in the semifinals.
UCONN RIPS MARQUETTE FOR BIG EAST TITLE >> Donovan Clingan had 22 points and a career-best 16 rebounds, Jaylin Stewart gave No. 2 UConn (313) an unexpected boost with three second-half 3-pointers during a decisive surge and the Huskies beat No. 10 Marquette 73-57 in New York to win the Big East Tournament.
Golf
SCHAUFFELE GRABS LEAD AT THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP >> Xander Schauffele erased a four-shot deficit with another bogey-free round on a course where trouble is around every corner, capping off a 7-under 65 with a superb chip to save par and take a one-shot lead into the final round of The Players Championship.
U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who had a four-shot lead at the start and stretched it to five with a birdie on the opening hole, shot a 70 to make sure the deficit wasn't greater.
Schauffele was at 17-under 199. British Open champion Brian Harman was slowed briefly by a bogey on the par-5 ninth that required him attempting a right-handed shot, and then the little lefty birdied four of his next five holes and finished with a 64. He was two shots behind.
Maverick McNealy and Matt Fitzpatrick each had a 68 and were four shots behind.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world coping with a neck pain this week, is five shots back after a 68 kept alive his chances of becoming the first back-to-back winner in 50 years of the PGA Tour's premier championship.
NHL
PANARIN COLLECTS FIVE POINTS IN RANGERS WIN >> Artemi Panarin had two goals and three assists, and the New York Rangers zoomed past the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 7-4 road win.
TKACHUK'S HAT TRICK LIFTS SENATORS >> Brady Tkachuk scored on the power play in overtime to complete a hat trick and Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves to help the Ottawa Senators beat the Islanders 4-3 in New York. RED WINGS END 7-GAME LOSING STREAK >> Patrick Kane scored a tiebreaking goal late in the second period and James Reimer stopped 25 shots, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Boxing
LEGEND DURAN RECEIVING CARE FOR HEART PROBLEM >> Boxing great Roberto Duran was receiving medical care for a heart problem, the family of the 72-year-old Panamanian said.
JC men's basketball
WEST VALLEY ADVANCES TO STATE TITLE GAME >> West Valley College (320) defeated Yuba College 55-45 in the State Junior College men's basketball Final Four in Walnut. West Valley advances to the title game today.