Iowa State wins Big 12 tourney over Kansas
KANSAS CITY, MO. >> Something about the Big 12 Tournament brings out the best in Iowa State.
The fifth-seeded Cyclones raced to a big early lead against No. 17 Kansas, then leaned on some balanced scoring and enough stops down the stretch to beat the Jayhawks 78-66 on Saturday night and remain unbeaten in five championship game appearances.
Lindell Wigginton had 17 points, Marial Shayok had 15 and Michael Jacobson 14 for the Cyclones (2311). They became the lowest-seeded team ever to win the conference tournament and improved to 2-0 against Kansas (25-9) in the finals.
Dedric Lawson had 18 points and Devon Dotson added 17 for the thirdseeded Jayhawks, whose last chance to win some hardware will be the NCAA Tournament. Their run of 14 consecutive regularseason crowns ended last weekend, and they failed to defend their Big 12 Tournament title.
Meanwhile, the Cyclones made a tremendous aboutface during their stay in Kansas City. NO. 22 AUBURN 65, FLORIDA 62 >> Jared Harper hit a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left as No. 22 Auburn held off Florida 65-62 Saturday to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship for the first time since 2000.
Auburn (25-9) came in as the fifth-seeded team after sharing the SEC regular-season title a year ago, and now the Tigers will play either No. 4 Kentucky or No. 8 Tennessee on Sunday, looking for their second tournament championship and first since 1985. The title game also will give them a chance to burnish their NCAA Tournament seeding.
Florida (19-15) may have needed one more upset after knocking off regularseason champ LSU in the quarterfinals to earn their at-large NCAA berth.
This game felt much more like a consolation prize and warm-up to the other semifinal, with some of the biggest cheers coming on a reminder that Kentucky-Tennessee was up next.
Auburn and Florida did their best to put on a good show with lots of shooting, and the Gators putting on a clinic in precision to keep pace with the Tigers’ offense. The Gators turned in their best shooting performance of the season (60.5 percent) on their fewest shot attempts of the year (38). NO. 2 TENNESSEE 82, NO. 4 KENTUCKY 78 >> Lamonte’ Turner ended a shooting slump by sinking a goahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left as No. 8 Tennessee rallied to beat No. 4 Kentucky 82-78 in a Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal thriller Saturday.
Tennessee (29-4) trailed by eight with less than three minutes left before rallying to move a step closer to its first SEC Tournament title since 1979. The thirdseeded Volunteers face No. 22 Auburn (25-9) in Sunday’s championship game.
Auburn, the fifth seed in this tournament, beat Florida 65-62 in the other semifinal. The Tigers are seeking their first SEC Tournament crown since 1985.
Tennessee went on an 11-2 run to take a 75-74 lead on a Grant Williams 3-pointer from in front of the Vols’ bench with 1:31 left. Kentucky (27-6) went back ahead with 1:06 left when PJ Washington delivered a putback of his own miss.
Admiral Schofield missed a 3-pointer on Tennessee’s next possession, but Williams got the rebound and called timeout with 38.5 seconds left. The Vols worked the ball to Turner, who buried a 3-point attempt from behind the top of the key. NO. 10 MICHIGAN 76, MINNESOTA 49 >> Isaiah Livers scored a career-high 21 points, and No. 10 Michigan closed in on a record third straight Big Ten Tournament championship with a 76-49 romp over Minnesota in the semifinals on Saturday.
The third-seeded Wolverines (28-5) took control with a big run in the first half and put the game away in the second. They will try to become the first team to win the conference tournament three years in a row when they face No. 6 Michigan State — a 67-55 winner over Wisconsin — on Sunday.
Livers matched a personal best by nailing four 3-pointers. Zavier Simpson added 15 points and nine assists, helping Michigan win its 10th straight Big Ten Tournament game — the conference’s longest such streak.
Amir Coffey led Minnesota (21-13) with 14 points. But after squeezing out tight victories over Penn State and No. 13 Purdue to reach the semifinals for the second time in three years, the Gophers were simply overmatched. NO. 6 MICHIGAN STATE 67, NO. 19 WISCONSIN 55 >> Once Cassius Winston and Kenny Goins powered Michigan State to a fast start, Wisconsin was in deep trouble.
Tough to chase down the Spartans in March.
Winston scored 21 points and Goins had 13 points and 12 rebounds, helping No. 6 Michigan State beat No. 19 Wisconsin 67-55 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
Goins, Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman led a dominant rebounding effort as the Spartans earned their seventh consecutive win in their series against the Badgers. Tillman finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Henry grabbed a career-high 11 boards to power Michigan State to a 44-30 advantage on the glass. NO. 11 HOUSTON 61, MEMPHIS 58>> Corey Davis Jr. scored 17 points and No. 11 Houston weathered a late Memphis rally to defeat the Tigers 61-58 in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday.
Jeremiah Martin led Memphis with 23 points, most of them from the free throw line, as he made only 5 of 24 shots, including going 1 of 7 from outside the arc.
Memphis (21-13), which struggled offensively throughout the contest, crafted a 10-1 run to pull within 61-58 with a minute left. During that stretch, Houston (31-2), the tournament’s top seed, missed 10 straight shots and failed to score for more than four minutes. That included missing five of six free throws down the stretch. NO. 24 CINCINNATI 66, WICHITA STATE 63 >> Nysier Brooks scored 13 points and Cane Broome hit the go-ahead layup with 23.5 seconds left to give No. 24 Cincinnati a 66-63 victory over Wichita State in Saturday’s semifinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament.
Tre Scott had 12 points and eight rebounds, Jarron Cumberland, the conference player of the year was limited to 11 points going 3 of 16 from the field.
Markis McDuffie had 18 for the Shockers (19-14), the tournament’s No. 6 seed, while Samajae HaynesJones had 17, despite missing six of his seven 3-point attempts.
Cincinnati (27-6), the tournament’s No. 2 seed, will face No. 11 Houston in Sunday’s championship game. The Cougars defeated Memphis 61-58 in the first semifinal game on Saturday UTAH STATE 64, SAN DIEGO STATE 57 >> Sam Merrill scored 24 points, Neemias Queta had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Utah State won its first Mountain West Conference championship with a 64-57 victory over San Diego State on Saturday.
Utah State (28-6) scored the first 13 points of the second half to pull away after leading 34-32 at halftime. The Aggies, who joined the conference in 2013-14, were the No. 2 seeds after sharing the regular-season title with No. 14 Nevada.
Merrill, who went 11 of 12 from the free throw line, was the tournament’s MVP. Abel Porter had 10 points for the Aggies, who have won 10 straight and 17 of their last 18 games.
Fourth-seeded San Diego State got no closer than five points on two occasions after Utah State’s run, cutting it to 60-55 in the final minute. But Merrill responded by hitting two free throws with 43 seconds left to seal it. VERMONT 66, UMBC 49 >> Vermont learned from its loss last year on its home floor to Maryland-Baltimore County in the America East Tournament title game — a result that paved the way for an even bigger win by UMBC.
Anthony Lamb scored 28 points, and Vermont beat UMBC 66-49 on Saturday to win the America East championship and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
It was the seventh conference title overall and second in three years for the Catamounts (27-6), who got their revenge on the anniversary of 16th-seeded UMBC’s shocking upset of top-seeded Virginia in last year’s NCAA Tournament. HARVARD 66, PENN 58 >> Bryce Aiken had 19 points as Harvard beat Penn 6658 in the Ivy League tournament semifinals on Saturday.
Noah Kirkwood had 12 points for Harvard (18-10). Kale Catchings added nine rebounds.
AJ Brodeur had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Quakers (19-12). Devon Goodman added 11 points. YALE 83, PRINCETON 77 >> Miye Oni had 23 points as Yale topped Princeton 83-77 in the semifinals of the Ivy League Conference tourney on Saturday.
Alex Copeland had 16 points for Yale (21-7). Blake Reynolds added 16 points. Jordan Bruner had 10 points and seven rebounds for the hosts.
Richmond Aririguzoh scored a career-high 24 points for the Tigers (16-12). Jaelin Llewellyn added 17 points. Myles Stephens had 13 points.