Lehigh earns bid to NCAA
C.J. Mccollum scored 29 points and Lehigh defeated Bucknell, 82-77, in the Patriot League championship Wednesday at Lewisburg, Pa., to advance to the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons.
Mccollum, the three-time league player of the year, added five assists, three rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Mountain Hawks (26-7), who never trailed en route to their school-record 26th win. Lehigh will make its fifth NCAA tournament appearance.
Gabe Knutson added 23 points and held his own against Bucknell’s Mike Muscala, who finished with a season-high 30 points and 14 rebounds — his 15th double-double of the season. The Bison fell to 24-9.
Elsewhere:
Long Island Brooklyn 90, Robert Morris 73: C.J. Garner scored 21 points, Julian Boyd and Jason Brickman each added 18, and the Blackbirds (25-8) made it two straight Northeast Conference championships with awin over the Colonials (24-10) in New York.
Velton Jones, Robert Morris’ leading scorer, was knocked hard to the court in the opening minutes and appeared to come away with sore ribs. He played most of the game and scored 10 points, though he shot three for 12.
Montana 85, Weber State 66: Kareem Jamar and Mathias Ward scored 23 points each and the host Grizzlies (25-6) won the Big Sky Conference tournament and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Montana set a school record with its 14th consecutive win. Damian Lillard, the nation’s secondleading scorer, scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (24-6).
Jamar, a sophomore guard selected most valuable player of the tournament, made nine of 12 shots, including five of eight from three-point range.
Derek Selvig scored 16 points and Will Cherry added 13 for the Grizzlies. Art Steward scored 10.
Connecticut 71, West Virginia 67 (OT): Shabazz Napier scored 26 points and Jeremy Lamb added 22 to lead the Huskies (20-12) to their 13th straight postseason win, an overtime victory against the Mountaineers (19-13) in the second round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Kevin Jones had 25 points for West Virginia, which will join the Big 12 next season.
Connecticut plays top-seeded and second-ranked Syracuse in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Louisville 61, Seton Hall 55: Peyton Siva had 14 points and six steals, and the Cardinals (23-9) held off the Pirates (19-13) in the Big East tournament.
Kyle Kuric added 13 points and Gorgui Dieng had six blocks and 10 rebounds for Louisville.
Georgetown 64, Pittsburgh 52: Senior Henry Sims and freshman Otto Porter each scored 20 points to lead Hoyas (23-7) in to the Big East quarterfinals.
Ashton Gibbs had 14 points for the Panthers (17-16), who went through two eight-minute scoring droughts during the game and couldn’t recover from Georgetown’s 16-2 run to close the first half that gave the Hoyas a 31-23 lead.