Connecticut cruises past Xavier 87-60

NEW YORK (AP) — Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan each had 13 points and seven rebounds and No. 2 UConn blitzed Xavier in the second half Thursday, opening the postseason with an 87-60 blowout in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer both scored 12 in a balanced performance by the top-seeded Huskies (293), who have won five straight games and 19 of 20. The defending national champions will play fourth-seeded Seton Hall or No. 5 seed St. John's in the first semifinal Friday evening at Madison Square Garden.

Seton Hall handed the Huskies one of their two conference losses this season back in December.

Samson Johnson also had 12 points off the bench, and Big East Freshman of the Year Stephon Castle added 10 points and eight rebounds to round out six scorers in double figures for Connecticut, seeking its first Big East Tournament title since 2011.

Quincy Olivari scored 17 points and Desmond Claude had 13 for ninth-seeded Xavier (16-17).

NO. 4 N. CAROLINA 92, FLORIDA STATE 67

WASHINGTON (AP) — Armando Bacot scored 14 points and grabbed 10 of his team's 48 rebounds to Seminoles' 22, and fourth-ranked Tarheels rolled into the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals with a victory.

Bacot got the double-double with a rebound on his final play before being pulled midway through the second half, and unanimous ACC player of the year RJ Davis scored a game-high 18 points.

Winning their sixth in a row, the Tar Heels flexed their muscles on the boards, at one point grabbing four offensive rebounds on the same possession late in the first half. By halftime, the Seminoles had just six.

A combination of rebounding domination and some timely shooting — as Florida State went ice cold from the floor — helped UNC (26-6, 18-3 ACC) pull away. Shooting for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the ACC's regular-season champions face Wake Forest or Pitt on Friday night with a spot in the final on the line.

NO. 25 TEXAS TECH 81, NO. 20 BYU 67

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pop Isaacs scored 22 points, Chance McMillian added 17 points and eight rebounds and the Red Raiders withstood a furious second-half rally by the Cougars for a victory in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

Kerwin Walton added 12 points and Robert Jennings and Joe Toussaint had 10 apiece for No. 4 seed Red Raiders (23-9), who led by as many as 23 in the first half before the Cougars (23-10) embarked on a 15-0 second-half run to make it interesting.

Jaxson Robinson hit a pair of 3-pointers before two free throws from Richie Saunders got the Big 12 newcomers within 62-55 with 5:04 to go. But unperturbed, Toussaint answered with a 3 for Texas Tech, and when Trevin Knell's answering 3 rimmed out, Darrion Williams added another to give coach Grant McCasland's team some breathing room.

The Red Raiders advanced from there into a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Houston or TCU on Friday night.

Robinson finished with 22 points to lead the Cougars, who shot 14 of 30 from the 3-point arc in a second-round win over UCF but were just 7 of 35 against Texas Tech. Fousseyni Traore finished with 13 points and Saunders had 12.

NO. 6 ARIZONA 70, SOUTHERN CAL 49

LAS VEGAS (AP) — KJ Lewis led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as the Wildcats avenged an end of the regular season loss by rolling past the Trojans 70-49 Thursday in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.

The top-seeded Wildcats (25-7) play the winner of the Oregon-UCLA game on Friday night. Arizona is two victories from becoming the first three-peat Pac12 champion since the Wildcats won four straight in 1988-90 and 2002. There were no conference tournaments between 1991-2001.

Ninth-seeded USC ended its season at 15-18. The Trojans' four-game winning streak also came to a halt.

Jaden Bradley scored 12 points for Arizona. Pac-12 player of the year Caleb Love, who scored two points in the previous meeting with USC, finished with 11, Oumar Ballo posted his 17th double-double this season with 10 points and 13 rebounds and Pelle Larson had 10 points.

Kobe Johnson led USC with 14 points, Isaiah Collier scored 13 and the Trojans shot just 35.7%.

NO. 1 HOUSTON 60, TCU 45

KANSAS CITY, MO. (AP) — Emanuel Sharp had 14 points and Jamal Shead scored 12, as the Cougars rolled to a 60-45 victory over the Horned Frogs on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament.

J'Wan Roberts added eight points and 10 rebounds for Houston (29-3), which held TCU without a point for nearly 10 minutes to start the game and was never threatened the rest of the way in winning its 10th consecutive game.

Micah Peavy had 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Horned Frogs (21-12). Leading scorer Emanuel Miller followed up his 26-point performance in a second-round win over Oklahoma by scoring just three points on 1-for-10 shooting.

TCU wound up going 17 of 73 from the field (23.3%) and 2 of 20 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Longtime rivals in the old Southwest Conference, the Cougars and Horned Frogs were meeting for the first time in the Big 12 Tournament — otherwise known as a neutral floor, where Houston had never lost in eight other games with TCU.

NO. 18 UTAH ST. 87, FRESNO ST. 75, OT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Great Osobor had 29 points and 17 rebounds as the Aggies defeated the Bulldogs in a quarterfinal round game of the Mountain West Conference tournament on Thursday.

Darius Brown had 17 points and 11 assists and Javon Jackson scored 16 points for the Aggies (27-5), the tournament's top seed.

Jalen Weaver scored 19 points, Isaiah Hill added 17 and Isaiah Pope 12 for the Bulldogs (12-21).

Osobor, the conference's player of the year, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 before Fresno State's Hill dropped in a layup to tie the game at 70 with 1:20 remaining. Both teams missed 3-point attempts in the final minute.

In the overtime, Jackson hit a 3-pointer and Osobor scored in the paint to put Utah State up by five. Osobor hit one of two free throws and extended the lead to 76-70 with 2:29 left in the extra session. Brown hit a 15-footer to stretch the lead to 78-70 with 1:43 left. Fresno State turned the ball over and couldn't get any closer.