No. 5 Auburn secures outright SEC crown

AUBURN, Ala. — The Auburn Tigers got to celebrate a solo Southeastern Conference title with a flood of orange and blue confetti and no thoughts of tiebreakers.

A team led by newcomers is hoping for more March celebrations.

Freshman Jabari Smith scored 21 points, transfer K.D. Johnson had 18 and No. 5 Auburn won the championship outright with an 8271 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Tigers (27-4, 15-3 SEC) secured the No. 1 seed for next week's league tournament in Tampa, Fla., after entering the day one game up on No. 7 Kentucky, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 14 Arkansas.

No tiebreakers needed, though the Gamecocks (18-12, 9-9) did rally after trailing by 19 early in the second half

“To be 15-3 in this league says they came to play every night,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “They really did. Now that is virtually impossible to do when you're dealing with 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids. Our kids came in to play every single night. They took no team for granted.”

Smith made 3 of 3 3-pointers and is 21 of 37 over the last six games. The highest rated recruit in program history and potential NBA lottery pick is averaging 25 points during that span.

“That's why I came here, was to win,” Smith said. “I felt like this school was going to put me in the best position to win a national championship, win the SEC, win all these accolades that we're trying to get.”

Jermaine Couisnard led South Carolina with 22 points. It's the Tigers' fourth regular season SEC title, joining Pearl's 2018 team and the 1960 and 1999 teams.

OKLAHOMA ST. 52 NO. 12 TEXAS TECH 51

Bryce Thompson made a goahead 3-pointer with 19.4 seconds left and the host Cowboys Oklahoma eliminated the Red Raiders from the Big 12 title race.

Terrence Shannon missed a contested jumper just before the buzzer for Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State (15-15, 8-10) celebrated a win in its season finale. Oklahoma State is banned from postseason play because of NCAA rules violations, so the Cowboys can't play in the Big 12 tournament next week.

The Red Raiders (23-8, 12-6) needed a victory and losses by Baylor and Kansas to finished tied for the Big 12 lead.

Kevin Obanor led Texas Tech with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

NO. 7 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 63

Oscar Tshiebwe had 27 points and 15 rebounds for his 25th double-double of the season, and the Wildcats won at Gainesville, Fla., secure the No. 3 seed in next week's Southeastern Conference Tournament

The Wildcats (25-6, 14-4 SEC) won their fourth straight in Gainesville.

NO. 13 TENNESSEE 78 NO. 14 ARKANSAS 74

Freshman guard Zakai Zeigler, whose family was left homeless by a fire in New York City last weekend, made two key free throws in the final seconds to help the Vols hold on against the Razorbacks at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee (23-7, 14-4 Southeastern Conference) wrapped up the No. 2 seed for the SEC Tournament.

Zeigler finished with 13 points. His foul shot with 14 seconds left made it 77-74.

After Arkansas' JD Notae had an open 3-pointer rim out with 10 seconds to go, Zeigler made a free throw to clinch it.

Kennedy Chandler and Santiago Vescovi each scored 15 and Josiah-Jordan James added 12 for Tennessee.

Notae scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half for the Razorbacks (24-7, 13-5).

NO. 8 PURDUE 69, INDIANA 67

Eric Hunter Jr. scored 17 points and Sasha Stefanovic added 15 to help the host Boilermakers rally past the Hoosiers.

Zach Edey added 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Boilermakers (25-6, 14-6 Big Ten) snapped a season-high two-game losing streak.

Xavier Johnson led the Hoosiers (18-12, 9-11) with 18 points and a career-high 12 assists.

LSU 80, NO. 25 ALABAMA 77 (OT)

Tari Eason scored 20 points and had a key block that led to his goahead dunk with 38 seconds left in overtime as the Tigers escaped with a win at Baton Rouge, La.

Darius Days had 24 points and Brandon Murray finished with 17 for LSU (21-10, 9-9 Southeastern Conference). Keon Ellis scored 19 points for Alabama (19-12, 9-9).

NO. 11 VILLANOVA 78, BUTLER 59

Justin Moore scored 16 points and Jermaine Samuels added 15 as the Wildcats won at Indianapolis.

The Wildcats (23-7, 16-4 Big East) will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Butch Dill / Associated Press Auburn players celebrate winning the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship on Saturday.