Davidson wins A-10, steals tourney spot

Bubble teams all across the land were keeping an eye on the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament final and Davidson, a school still waiting for its first victory in the NCAA Tournament since a guy by the name of Stephen Curry was leading the way.

The Wildcats were all too happy to disappoint those other folks whose hopes hinged on their result Sunday.

Freshman Kellan Grady’s go-ahead baseline floater with 74 seconds left ended a nearly 13-minute drought without a field goal for Davidson, and lifted Curry’s alma mater to a 58-57 victory over 25th-ranked Rhode Island for the A-10 title in Washington.

“I would say, ‘ I’m sorry,’ but I’m not,” said smiling senior Rusty Reigel, who was a freshman the last time Davidson participated in March Madness.

“We won and we’re going dancin’ and I couldn’t be happier for my guys and for everybody,” said Reigel, fiddling with a piece of the net he’d just helped cut down. “I just can’t wait to get there next week.”

Kentucky 77, Tennessee 72

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points to lead Kentucky to its fourth straight SEC Tournament championship in St. Louis.

The championship is the 31st in tournament history for the fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-10), who have won seven of their past eight games since a four-game losing streak last month. It was also their first victory in three tries this season against the No. 2 seed Volunteers (25-8).

Penn 68, Harvard 65

Darnell Foreman scored 19 points, AJ Brodeur had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Penn earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2007 with a win over Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament title game in Philadelphia.

Ryan Betley added 17 points for the Quakers (24-8), who will be making their 24th appearance in the NCAAs.

Cincinnati 56, Houston 55

Gary Clark put Cincinnati ahead for good with a free throw with 4.3 seconds remaining and the eighth-ranked Bearcats held on for a victory over No. 21 Houston in the American Athletic Conference championship in Orlando, Fla.

Georgia St. 74, UT Arlington 61

D’Marcus Simonds scored 27 points and Georgia State defeated Texas Arlington to win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship in New Orleans.