USC snaps UCLA’S streak; No. 4 Baylor, No. 5 SDSU upset
Jonah Mathews envisioned the possibilities in his head the night before: becoming USC’S career 3-point shooting leader, beating UCLA in his final home game as a senior, hitting the winning shot. Then he went out and did it. Mathews hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1 second remaining on senior day, helping USC edge UCLA 54-52 on Saturday and end the Bruins’ sevengame winning streak.
“I knew it was going in before I let it go,” Mathews said of his step-back 3. “This is a dagger to their heart. I know it’s going to stick with them forever; it’s going to stick with me forever.”
The Bruins (19-12, 12-6 Pac-12) came into the game tied for first with Oregon, who played Stanford late Saturday. A victory would give the Ducks the title outright; a loss would allow UCLA to claim a share of its first league title since 2013.
Mathews scored 19 points to lead the Trojans (22-9, 11-7), who tied for third in the league standings.
OREGON STATE 74, CAL 56 >> Paris Austin scored 18 points, but Cal (13-18, 7-11 Pac12) ended the regular season with a frustrating road loss.
The Bears’ Matt Bradley fouled out with 2:30 remaining after taunting OSU’S Gianni Hunt after blocking his shot and picking up a technical foul. Bradley, who scored 23 points in the Bears’ 69-67 win over Oregon State on Feb. 1, finished with eight points going 2 of 10 from the field. Bradley didn’t get in the scoring column until he connected on a 3 with less than three minutes remaining in the first half.
For the Beavers (16-13, 7-11 Pac-12), seniors Tres Tinkle and Kylor Kelley went out in style in their final home games. Tinkle and Kelley, who were honored in a pregame ceremony at Gill Coliseum, combined for 43 points and 14 rebounds. NO. 1 KANSAS 66, TEXAS TECH 62 >> The topranked Jayhawks wrapped up their outright Big 12 regular-season title behind Udoka Azubuike’s 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Devon Dotson had 17 points and Ochai Agbaji had 12 for the Jayhawks (28-3, 171), the Big 12’s first champion in a decade with only one loss in league play. Kansas was 15-1 in 2009-10, two seasons before the Big 12 expanded to an 18-game schedule.
Texas Tech (18-13, 9-9 Big 12), last year’s national runner-up after sharing the Big 12 title with Kansas State, had a chance to tie the game with 2.8 seconds left. But Davide Moretti, who made a 3-pointer only seconds earlier, missed from long range. The Red Raiders guard fell to floor after contact with Marcus Garrett but was no foul called.
WEST VIRGINIA 76, NO. 4 BAYLOR 64 >> Emmitt Matthews scored a season-high 18 points and freshman Oscar Tshiebwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Mountaineers used a big second-half run to deny the Bears the chance to earn a tie for the Big 12 regular-season championship.
Baylor (26-4, 15-3 Big 12) went more than eight minutes without a field goal midway through the second half to take themselves out of contention and hand the championship to top-ranked Kansas. Instead, it was West Virginia (21-10, 9-9) celebrating. The sellout crowd stormed the court after the Mountaineers’ second straight win and just the third in nine games.
UTAH STATE 59, NO. 5 SAN DIEGO STATE 56 >> Sam Merrill scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half, including a contested 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left to lift the Aggies in the Mountain West Tournament championship game.
The Aggies (26-8) rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to win their second straight Mountain West Tournament title and earn the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State’s Malachi Flynn, the MW’S Player of the Year, had a chance to send the game into overtime but his 3-point shot from just beyond half court rattled in and out at the buzzer. It was just the second loss of the season for the Aztecs (302), and the second straight year they fell to Utah State in the tournament championship game.
NO. 6 KENTUCKY 71, FLORIDA 70 >> Nick Richards scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half as No. 6 Kentucky (25-6, 15-3 Southeastern Conference) rallied from 18 points down.
NO. 7 FLORIDA STATE 80, BOSTON COLLEGE 62 >> Balsa Koprivica scored 15 points, and No. 7 Florida State won its first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title in school history.
NO. 11 CREIGHTON 77, NO. 8 SETON HALL 60 >> Marcus Zegarowski made all five of his 3-pointers and finished with 23 points as No. 11 Creighton earned a share of the Big East Conference regular-season title. Creighton, Seton Hall and Villanova all went 13-5 in the conference. The Bluejays won 11 of their last 13 games and, because they swept the season series against the Pirates, will be the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament in New York this week.
Seton Hall (21-9, 13-5) lost its last two games and will be the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
NO. 22 VIRGINIA 57, NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 54 >> Kihei Clark scored 18 points, including a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, and No. 22 Virginia recovered after blowing a 14-point, second-half lead. The Cavaliers (23-7, 15-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for the 10th time in 11 games and moved into a tie with the Cardinals for second place in the league standings.
NO. 14 VILLANOVA 70, GEORGETOWN 69 >> Jermaine Samuels had a three-point play with 5.6 seconds left as No. 14 Villanova survived a late scare to clinch a share of the Big East regular-season title. The Hoyas (15-16, 5-13) lost their sixth straight game and fell under .500 for the first time in coach Patrick Ewing’s three season in charge.
Women
NO. 3 OREGON 88, NO. 13 ARIZONA 70 >> Miramonte High product Sabrina Ionescu had 31 points and nine rebounds to lead Ducks in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. The Ducks return to the title game for the third straight season and are looking for their second championship in that span.
They will face the winner of Saturday night’s late Stanford-ucla game. Please go to mercurynews.com for a game report. NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 90, NO. 25 ARKANSAS 64 >> Destanni Henderson had a careerhigh 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers, to lift the No. 1 Gamecocks (31-1) to their 25th straight victory and into the SEC Tournament championship game. Arkansas (248) had rallied from 17-points down on Friday to eliminate No. 15 Texas A&M in the quarterfinals, 67-66. This time, the Razorbacks’ could not finish and lost their third straight this season to the Gamecocks. NO. 22 FLORIDA STATE 62, NO. 4 LOUISVILLE 60 >> Nausia Woolfolk scored 16 points, Kiah Gillespie had 15 points and 16 rebounds and the Seminoles (24-7) advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game for only the second time in school history.
Of 28-4 Louisville’s losses this season, two have come at the hands of Florida State.
NO. 5 UCONN 94, TEMPLE 61 >> Crystal Dangerfield scored 22 points to lead six Uconn players in double-figures and the Huskies (27-3) began their run at a seventh consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament. The Huskies are 19-0 in AAC tournament play after finishing 118-0 during the conference’s seven regular seasons. Uconn is leaving the conference after this postseason to return to the Big East.