A&M women begin tourney with win
One game into the SEC tournament, Texas A&M has won half as many league games as it did during the regular season.
The 13th-seeded Aggies defeated 12th-seeded Vanderbilt 77-70 on Wednesday in the opening game of the league tournament in Greenville, S.C. A&M will face fifth seed Mississippi State at 1 p.m. Thursday in another bid to keep its season alive.
The Aggies (8-19) were 2-14 in the SEC regular season under first-year coach Joni Taylor, hired from Georgia a year ago to replace the retired Gary Blair, with home victories over Georgia and Kentucky. A&M, which held a big lead for much of the second half Wednesday, survived a late 14-0 run by the Commodores, who exit Greenville at 12-19.
“It’s a lot of fun and they’re like babies — our babies,” Taylor said of coaching a roster that leans heavily on six freshmen and sophomores. “It’s a lot of teaching, a lot of education and, ‘Listen, this is how it’s going to go, and if this happens this is where we want to be.’ A lot of our players were on the team last year but they were not on the floor.
“We always say there is a difference in riding in a car and driving the car, and they’re driving the car now. When you’ve never done that, this has been a year of learning from nonconference to conference play.”
Brent Zwerneman
NO. 16 OKLAHOMA 90 KANSAS STATE 86 (OT)
Skylar Vann scored a career-high 23 points and Madi Williams added 19 as the host Sooners toppled the Wildcats in overtime to move into a tie with Texas for first place in the Big 12.
NO. 19 UCLA 81 ARIZONA STATE 70 (OT)
Emily Bessoir scored 17 points, including two critical 3-pointers in overtime, as the fifth-seeded Bruins, who had a 19point lead midway through the third quarter, turned back the 12thseeded Sun Devils in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
KANSAS 98
NO. 23 IOWA STATE 93
Zakiyah Franklin scored a career-high 31 points and Wyvette Mayberry added 22 as the host Jayhawks ended a 16-game losing streak to the Cyclones.
NO. 25 SOUTH FLORIDA 85 CINCINNATI 55
Elena Tsineke scored 28 points and Sammie Puisis added 21 as the visiting Bulls closed out the regular season with a rout of the Bearcats.
MEN
NO. 2 ALABAMA 90 AUBURN 85 (OT)
Brandon Miller made the clinching free throws with six seconds left as the host Crimson Tide rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the archrival Tigers in overtime.
NO. 10 GONZAGA 104 CHICAGO STATE 65
Drew Timme scored 17 points as all five starters scored in double digits for the Bulldogs in a home win over the Cougars.
NO. 11 KANSAS STATE 85 OKLAHOMA 69
Desi Sills flirted with a triple-double in his Bramlage Coliseum farewell as the host Wildcats beat the Sooners.
NO. 14 CONNECTICUT 88 DEPAUL 59
Adama Sanogo scored 26 points as the Huskies closed out their home schedule in emphatic style with a win over the skidding Blue Demons.
NO. 19 XAVIER 94 NO. 20 PROVIDENCE 89
Souley Boum scored a season-high 33 points and Colby Jones added 29 to help the Musketeers top host Friars and clinch the second seed in the Big East Tournament.
OHIO STATE 73 NO. 21 MARYLAND 62
Felix Okpara had 12 points and 12 rebounds to help the Buckeyes finish their home schedule with a victory over the Terrapins.
VANDERBILT 68 NO. 23 KENTUCKY 66
Jordan Wright hit a go-ahead, fall-away jumper in the lane with 2.6 seconds remaining to finish with 23 points as the visiting Commodores topped the Wildcats.
NOTRE DAME 88 NO. 25 PITTSBURGH 81
Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan each scored 20 points as the host Fighting Irish won longtime coach Mike Brey’s final home game with an upset of the Panthers.