Walton carries Michigan to final
Senior delivers to oust Gophers
Seconds after his coach told Michigan players to quit bickering, Derrick Walton Jr. had his own message to deliver.
The senior point guard huddled his teammates at midcourt and told them they couldn’t let the game get away. Then Walton backed up those words by having a hand in 18 consecutive points — scoring 14 of those himself and assisting on the others — down the stretch as eighth-seeded Michigan beat Minnesota, 84-77, in Washington on Saturday to earn a spot in the Big Ten Tournament final.
Walton finished with 29 points, nine assists, five rebounds, two steals and just one turnover and took over the game for the Wolverines (23-11), who have defeated Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota since their plane skidded off the runway earlier in the week and delayed their arrival in D.C. They’ll face Wisconsin in the title game Sunday and have Walton to thank for getting them to their first conference championship game 2014.
“The game presented me opportunities to make plays,” said Walton, who was 8 of 15 from the floor and made all 10 of his free throws. “I just take what the game gives me. … My job is easy: just make sure to get the ball in the right spot.” BIG EAST FINAL
Villanova 74, Creighton 60: Josh Hart scored 29 points and No. 2 Villanova beat Creighton to win the Big East Tournament in New York and probably lock up the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Hart, the conference player of the year, became just the third player to win the tournament MVP award twice, joining Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Peyton Siva of Louisville.
“We wanted to set the tone,” the senior guard said, wearing a net around his neck. “We wanted to play 40 minutes of Villanova basketball.”
Villanova (31-3) has won four consecutive Big East regular-season titles. This was its third Tournament title, the others coming in 1995 and 2015.
Jalen Brunson added 17 points for Villanova. Kris Jenkins, whose three-pointer won the national championship game last year, had 14. CONFERENCE FINALS
Vermont 56, Albany 53: Payton Henson scored 17 points, Anthony Lamb had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Vermont won its sixth America East Conference tournament in Burlington, Vt.
(14) Duke 75, (16) Notre Dame 69: Jayson Tatum had 19 points as the Blue Devils (27-8) rallied from as many as eight points down to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
North Dakota 93, Weber State 89 (OT): Quinton Hooker scored six points in overtime and 28 overall to seal a Big Sky Conference tournament title for the Fighting Hawks (22-9).
(24) Iowa State 80, (11) West Virginia 74: Monte Morris scored 17 points and Iowa State beat the Mountaineers in Kansas City, Mo., for the Cyclones’ third Big 12 Tournament title in four years.
Middle Tennessee 83, Marshall 72: Giddy Potts scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Blue Raiders (30-4) won the Conference USA tournament in Birmingham, Ala.
Nevada 79, Colorado State 71: Jordan Caroline had 23 points and 10 rebounds as Nevada won the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth in 11 years.
Texas Southern 53, Alcorn State 50: Kevin Scott had 15 points and 12 rebounds and top-seeded Texas Southern beat Alcorn State to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament in Houston.
Kent State 70, Akron 65: Jaylin Walker scored 30 points, Jimmy Hall added 19 and sixth-seeded Kent State earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2008 by beating rival Akron in the Mid-American Conference championship game in Cleveland.
North Carolina Central 67, Norfolk State 56: Patrick Cole scored 18 points as North Carolina Central (25-8) won the Mid-Eastern Athletic tournament. CONFERENCE SEMIS American Athletic
(15) SMU 70, Central Florida 59: Sterling Brown scored 22 points as SMU beat UCF in Hartford, Conn.
(18) Cincinnati 81, UConn 71: Gary Clark scored 24 points to lead Cincinnati. Jacob Evans added 21 points and Troy Caupain had 19 for the Bearcats, who will be seeking their first AAC title on Sunday. Atlantic 10
Rhode Island 84, Davidson 60: E.C. Matthews scored 19 points, hitting all four of his three-point attempts, and fourthseeded Rhode Island cruised in Pittsburgh.
VCU 87, Richmond 77, OT: JeQuan Lewis scored 18 points, including a three-pointer with 25 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and VCU advanced to the championship game. Southeastern
Kentucky 79, Alabama 74: De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 28 points, including seven straight down the stretch, and Malik Monk added 20 to lift No. 8 Kentucky in Nashville, Tenn.
Arkansas 76, Vanderbilt 62: Moses Kingsley had 12 points and 13 rebounds as third-seeded Arkansas (25-8) won in Nashville. Sun Belt
Texas State 83, Texas-Arlington 62: Bobby Conley scored 16 points and Immanuel King scored 11 of his 13 in the first half when Texas State built a nine-point lead in New Orleans.
Troy 74, Georgia State 63: Wesley Person scored 16 points, Jordon Varnado had 15 points and nine rebounds, and sixth-seeded Troy upset No. 2 seed Georgia State. Ivy League
Princeton 72, Penn 64, OT: Myles Stephens scored 21 points, including the tying tip-in in regulation and the first four points of overtime, to help send top seed Princeton past No. 4 seed Penn in the opener of the inaugural Ivy League Tournament in Philadelphia.
Yale 73, Harvard 71: Miye Oni scored 18 points and Yale (18-10) never trailed Harvard (18-10). NCAA DIVISION II
Bellarmine 72, UW-Parkside 61: Rusty Troutman scored 27 points to lead Bellarmine (29-3) to an opening round victory over UW-Parkside (22-8) in the Midwest Regional in Louisville, Ky.
Kendale McCullum led Parkside with 18 points.
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