Hart leads Villanova to Big East title
Josh Hart scored 29 points and No. 2 Villanova beat Creighton, 74-60. on Saturday at New York to win the Big East tournament and probably lock up the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Hart, the conference player of the year, became only the third player to win the tournament MVP award twice, joining Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Peyton Siva of Louisville.
Villanova (31-3) played Villanova basketball, just as the Wildcats did last season in winning the national championship. Good defense, sharing the ball and making three-pointers is the formula that has led them to four consecutive Big East regular-season titles.
This was their third Big East Tournament crown, the others coming in 1995 and 2015.
The Wildcats forced 17 turnovers that led to 21 points. And with Hart leading the way, they made every big shot they needed.
Jalen Brunson added 17 points for Villanova. Kris Jenkins, whose three-pointer won the national championship game last year, had 14. Cole Huff and Marcus Foster each scored 13 points to lead Creighton (25-9).
No. 23 Iowa State 80, No. 11 West Virginia 74: Monte Morris scored 17 points, Deonte Burton and Matt Thomas helped him deal with West Virginia's attacking defense, and the Cyclones won their third Big 12 tournament title in four years at Kansas City, Mo.
Burton had 16 points and Thomas finished with 12 for the fourth-seeded Cyclones (23-10), who will enter the NCAA tournament as one of the nation's hottest teams. They've won nine of their last 10 games, with their only loss during that stretch coming a week ago in Morgantown.
Iowa State has never lost in four appearances in the Big 12 title game, while the Mountaineers (26-8) remain without a conference tournament title of any kind since winning the Big East in 2010.
Jevon Carter had 18 points for West Virginia, which will no doubt rue its eight-for-17 shooting from the foul line. No. 14 Duke 75, No. 22 Notre Dame 69: the first team to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament with four wins in four days by rallying to beat the Fighting Irish at the Barclays Center.
Tatum, a freshman forward, finished a spectacular week in Brooklyn with 19 points and eight rebounds for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils, who won their first ACC tournament championship since 2011 and their 20th overall, most in league history.
Bonzie Colson was a beast for third-seeded Notre Dame with 29 points and nine rebounds. NCAA tournament berth in 11 years.
Vermont 56, Albany 53: The Catamounts (29-5) capped a perfect America East season with the conference tournament championship, as junior forward Payton Henson converted a three-point play with 39 seconds remaining to propel Vermont to its 21st consecutive victory after going 16-0 in the regular season.
North Carolina Central 57, Norfolk State 59: Patrick Cole scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Dajuan Graf added 17 points, and the Eagles (25-8) used a 19-0 second-half run to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship game for their second NCAA tournament spot in four years.
Big Ten semifinals: Wisconsin revved up the defense against weary Northwestern and got the desired result, a 76-48 victory that earned the No. 24 Badgers a berth in the Big Ten tournament championship game for the third time in five years.
Nigel Hayes scored 18 points and Ethan Happ added 16 for the second-seeded Badgers. They never trailed in their third straight victory — second in the tournament — after a run of five losses in six games.
Wisconsin (25-8) will vie for its fourth Big Ten title Sunday against No. 8 seed Michigan, which will be playing its fourth game in four days after defeating Minnesota, 84-77. It will be the seventh championship game appearance for the Badgers, trailing only the eight by Ohio State.