The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
‘Nova routs struggling Butler in Big East finale
NO. 11 VILLANOVA 78, BUTLER 59 » Justin Moore scored 16 points and Jermaine Samuels added 15 as Villanova built a big early lead and handed Butler its fifth straight loss.
Caleb Daniels and Collin Gillespie each scored 11 points and Jordan Longino had 10 for Villanova.
The Wildcats (23-7, 16-4 Big East) will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
Chuck Harris had 19 points to lead Butler (13-18, 6-14) and Bo Hodges had 12 points and six rebounds.
Villanova scored 11 straight points during a 20-1 run that made it 23-4 at the outset and the Wildcats were up by 28 midway through the second half. AUBURN 82, SOUTH CAROLINA 71 » Jabari Smith scored 21 points, K.D. Johnson had 18 and No. 5 Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title with an 8271 victory over South Carolina on Saturday.
It’s the fourth regular season SEC title for the Tigers (27-4, 15-3 SEC). Auburn
players celebrated on the court amid a flurry of orange and blue confetti. The team held at least a share of the SEC lead all season.
Smith made 3 of 3 3-pointers and is 21 of 37 over the last six games, when he’s averaging 25 points. Kessler scored 11 and Wendell Green 10 for the Tigers. Kessler played his second straight game with a brace on his left shoulder from an injury sustained last weekend against Tennessee.
Jermaine Couisnard led South Carolina with 22 points, 16 in the second half. James Reese V scored 18 and Erik Stevenson added 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Gameocks (18-12, 9-9) rallied after trailing by 19 early in the second half. 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.
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). Stanley Ummude and Chris Lykes both had 15.
Several members of Zeigler’s family lived in an apartment that was destroyed by the fire. The university did a GoFundMe project for the family and raised well over $350,000. LSU 80, NO. 25 ALABAMA 77, OT » Tari Eason scored 20 points and had a key block that led to his go-ahead dunk with 38 seconds left in overtime as LSU scored the final six points to escape.
Darius Days had 24 points and Brandon Murray finished with 17 for LSU (21-10, 9-9 Southeastern Conference), which had lost three of four.
Keon Ellis scored 19 points for Alabama (1912, 9-9) and Jahvon Quinerly
added 16, including a 3-pointer in OT that gave the Crimson Tide a 75-74 lead. Ellis extended the advantage to three points on his layup with 1:31 remaining, but Alabama didn’t score again.