Villanova edges Seton Hall for 3rd Big East title in a row
No. 25 Villanova became the first team to win three consecutive Big East Tournaments, beating Seton Hall, 74-72, Saturday night in New York behind seniors Eric Paschall and Phil Booth and key contributions from freshman Saddiq Bey.
Seton Hall star Myles Powell, guarded closely by Booth, missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds that could have won it. Booth was called for traveling as he tried to corral the rebound, however, and the Pirates (20-13) got one more chance with 0.4 seconds left. Anthony Nelson’s long inbounds pass bounced off the backboard and was slapped away by the Wildcats (25-9), who got to party on the Madison Square Garden floor yet again.
“This one is special, very special. This team has taught me so much,” Booth said during the post-game ceremonies at center court.
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America East: Anthony Lamb scored 28 points, and Vermont (27-6) beat Maryland-Baltimore County (2113), 66-49, in Burlington, Vt.
Big Sky: Sayeed Pridgett scored 18 points and Montana (26-8) overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Eastern Washington (16-18), 68-62, in Boise, Idaho.
Big 12: Iowa State (23-11) raced to a big early lead and beat No. 17 Kansas (25-9), 78-66, in Kansas City to remain unbeaten in five championship game appearances.
Conference USA: Xavier Green had 16 points, and top-seeded Old Dominion (268) beat Western Kentucky (20-14), 62-56, in Frisco, Texas.
Mid-American: Jeremy Harris scored 31 points, and No. 18 Buffalo (31-3) further stamped itself as a team to fear in the NCAA tournament by beating Bowling Green (2212), 87-73, in Cleveland.
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Zacarry Douglas scored all 10 of his points during a 25-6 second-half run and North Carolina Central (1815) beat top-seeded Norfolk State (21-13), 50-47, in Norfolk, Va.
Mountain West: Sam Merrill scored 24 points, and Utah State (28-6) won its first Mountain West championship with a 64-57 victory over San Diego State (21-13).
Southwestern Athletic: Gary Blackston and Dennis Jones scored 17 points apiece to lead six players in double figures and Prairie View A&M (22-12) beat Texas Southern (21-13), 9286, in Birmingham, Ala.
Women
Big West: Morgan Bertsch scored 24 points, and UC Davis (25-6) rallied from a 17point, third-quarter deficit to defeat Hawaii (15-16), 58-50.
Colonial Athletic: Nukiya Mayo scored 20 points and drained a clutch jumper in the final minute as Towson (2012) rallied late to defeat Drexel (24-8), 53-49, in Newark, Del.
Conference USA: Nancy Mulkey scored 24 points and No. 24 Rice (28-3) rallied in the second half to defeat Middle Tennessee (22-10), 6954, in Frisco, Texas, for the Owls’ third NCAA tournament berth and school-record 21st consecutive win.
Mid-American: Summer Hemphill scored 16 points and grabbed a tournamentrecord 21 rebounds as No. 4 seed Buffalo (23-9) beat Ohio (27-5), 77-61, in Cleveland.
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Angel Golden scored 18 points and Bethune-Cookman (2110) took control in the fourth quarter to beat Norfolk State (17-15), 57-45, in Norfolk, Va.
Southwestern Athletic: Alyric Scott scored 12 of her 14 points after halftime and hauled down 15 rebounds as top-seeded Southern (20-12) fended off third seed Jackson State (18-14), 45-41, in Birmingham, Ala.
Sun Belt: Kyra Collier scored 21 points, including the game-winning layup with 1:09 to play, and Little Rock (21-10) defeated South Alabama (24-10), 57-56, in New Orleans.
Western Athletic: Gia Pack scored seven of her 22 points in the second overtime to lead New Mexico State (26-6) to a 76-73 double-overtime victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley (18-14) in Las Vegas.