Princeton tops Yale in first Ivy tourney
PHILADELPHIA — As Steven Cook boasted about accomplishing the rare feat of going 14-0 in the Ivy League, Mitch Henderson stopped him mid-sentence.
“Sixteen-and-0,” the Princeton head coach corrected. Yup, that’s even better. Myles Stephens had a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds and Princeton won the inaugural Ivy League Tournament, beating Yale 71-59 Sunday to clinch its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2011. The Tigers drew Notre Dame in the opening round.
“I’m so proud of the team,” Henderson said. “I’m so happy to be their coach. And we’re thrilled to be representing the league in the NCAA Tournament.”
Princeton (23-6) won its 19th straight game and didn’t lose in Ivy play this season — which, in any other year, would have been more than enough to secure the “Ancient-8 “league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But the Tigers’ path was much more difficult this season with the addition of a fourteam conference tournament. A day earlier, Princeton overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and topped Penn in overtime at the Palestra, the Quakers’ home court.
Until this year, the Ivy had been the last Division I conference not to hold a tourney, sending its regular-season winner to the NCAA Tournament since the league was formed in 1956.
“This experience this weekend made us a lot better team,” Henderson said. “I’m really fired up about the opportunity we have. It can end really quickly and the guys know that. But they’re playing with a fearlessness I think you need going into the tournament.”
The Tigers have proved a dangerous opponent at times come the NCAAs. In their last appearance, they lost to Kentucky 59-57 — in 1996, they upended defending national champion UCLA when Henderson played for Princeton.
And the Ivy League has been successful in the Big Dance in recent years, too, with Yale, Harvard and Cornell all winning games since 2010.
“The way we’re playing right now, I think it’s hard to stop us,” Cook said. “If we keep playing consistent on the offensive and the defensive end, I think wherever we end up in the tournament, we can be trouble.”
Cook, a senior, made sure his college career would not end without a trip to the NCAA Tournament. He scored 15 points and classmate Spencer Weisz, the Ivy League Player of the Year, finished with eight assists.
MICHIGAN 71, WISCONSIN 56: Michigan completed a magical run to its first Big Ten Tournament title, using a swarming defense and accurate shooting to beat No. 24 Wisconsin 71-56 on Sunday for its fourth victory in four days.
The eighth-seeded Wolverines (24-11) began their journey with a scary skid off the airport runway in Michigan and ended it by overwhelming the second-seeded Badgers, who had won three straight — including the regular season finale against Minnesota — by a total of 55 points. Between the aborted flight and their final unexpected victory, the Wolverines beat Illinois, eliminated top-seed Purdue and sent home No. 4 seed Minnesota.
And so, the first Big Ten Tournament in the nation’s capital ended with a surprise champion cutting down the nets at Verizon Center. Michigan won the title in 1998 but had it vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
SMU 71, CINCINNATI 56: Sterling Brown scored 18 points to help send No. 12 SMU streaking into the NCAA Tournament with a victory over No. 15 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference championship game in Hartford.
Tournament MVP Simi Ojeleye added 14 points, Jarrey Foster had 13 and Ben Moore scored 12 for Mustangs (30-4), who won their 16th straight game and second AAC title in three years. The Mustangs took the championship in 2015, but missed last year’s postseason under NCAA sanctions.
TROY 59, TEXAS ST. 53: Jordon Varnado had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Troy defeated Texas State in the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
KENTUCKY 82, ARKANSAS 65: De’Aaron Fox scored 18 points, and No. 8 Kentucky won its third straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating Arkansas in Nashville. The Wildcats (29-5) added their 30th tournament title all-time to their 48 regular season championships in convincing fashion.
RHODE ISLAND 70, VCU 63: Jared Terrell finished with 20 points and E.C. Matthews added 19, including a decisive runner with 55 seconds to go as Rhode Island earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999 with a victory over Virginia Commonwealth in the Atlantic-10 title game in Pittsburgh. The third-seeded Rams never trailed and withstood a serious late push by second-seeded VCU. —AP