Alabama in SEC semifinals after rout of Mississippi St.
Brandon Miller had 18 points and nine rebounds and No. 4 Alabama never trailed in posting a 72-49 victory over Mississippi State in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament Friday. The top-seeded Crimson Tide (27-5) set the pace in the first half hitting 8-of-20 shots from long range. Charles Bediako and Noah Gurley added 11 points apiece for Alabama, and Jahvon Quinerly scored 10. … Nick Honor hit a 3-pointer with 1:45 left to put Missouri ahead to stay, and the 25th-ranked Tigers beat No. 17 Tennessee 79-71 to reach the semifinals for the first time since joining the league. … During play Thursday, Anthony Black scored 19 points and Arkansas held off Auburn for a 76-73 victory in the second round. … Tyrin Lawrence had 22 points, Jordan Wright scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Vanderbilt rolled to a 77-68 victory over LSU.
BIG TEN
Mason Gillis had 20 points on 7-for-8 shooting, and No. 5 Purdue held off Rutgers for a rugged 70-65 victory in the league tournament quarterfinals Friday. … Bruce Thornton had 21 points and six assists, freshman Roddy Gayle Jr. scored seven of his season-high 15 points in the final five minutes and short-handed Ohio State beat fourth-seeded Michigan State 68-58. … In earlier action Thursday, Andrew Funk hit five of his six 3-pointers and scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half as Penn State defeated Illinois 79-76 in the second round. … Donta Scott scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, Jahmir Young scored 14 of his 15 in the second and Maryland defeated Minnesota 70-54 in the second round.
CONFERENCE USA
Johnell Davis had 18 points in Florida Atlantic’s 68-65 victory over Middle Tennessee on Friday in the conference tournament. … Jordan Walker’s game-high 32 points powered UAB past North Texas 76-69 and into the Conference USA tournament title game.
BIG 12
Mike Miles and Chuck O’bannon scored 22 points apiece, and No. 22 TCU rode the hot shooting of its two guards to an 80-67 victory over No. 12 Kansas State on Thursday night to reach the semifinals of the conference tournament.
ACC
Jayden Gardner had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 13 Virginia dealt a damaging blow to North Carolina’s already shaky NCAA Tournament hopes, beating the Tar Heels 68-59 in the conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night. … Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall each scored 15 points and Clemson pulled away from North Carolina State in the second half to earn an 80-54 victory in a quarterfinal game.
BIG EAST
Jack Nunge had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Colby Jones scored 22 and No. 15 Xavier needed a late comeback to beat Depaul 89-84 in the league tournament quarterfinals Thursday night. … Ryan Kalkbrenner scored 21 points, Ryan Nembhard added 17 and No. 24 Creighton defeated Villanova 87-74 in a rematch of last season’s championship game.
PAC-12
Oumar Ballo scored 24 points and No. 8 Arizona broke away late, beating Stanford 95-84 Thursday night to reach the conference tournament semifinals. … Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit six of Arizona State’s 14 3-pointers and scored 27 points as the sixth-seeded Sun Devils upset USC, the No. 3 seed, 77-72 in a quarterfinal Thursday night.
PASTNER OUSTED AT GEORGIA TECH
Josh Pastner was fired Friday as Georgia Tech’s basketball coach, two seasons after he guided the Yellow Jackets to a surprising Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title.
Pastner was dumped after seven seasons as coach of the Atlanta school, his fate sealed by a second straight losing season and few signs of progress in a program that was once a national powerhouse.
ANDERSON’S TIME AT ST. JOHN’S OVER
St. John’s fired men’s basketball coach Mike Anderson on Friday, one day after his fourth season in charge ended with an overtime loss to No. 6 Marquette in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.
The decision comes just two years after Anderson was the Big East coach of the year, earning him a contract extension.