Texas takes Big 12 championship over Kansas
Dylan Disu overcame early foul trouble to score 18 points, Marcus Carr and Sir’jabari Rice added 17 apiece, and seventhranked Texas silenced a heavily pro-kansas crowd with a 76-56 romp over the third-ranked Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament title game Saturday night.
After going more than two decades without a Big 12 tourney championship, the Longhorns (26-8) have won two of the past three.
With interim coach Rodney Terry leading the way, the Longhorns built a 39-33 lead by halftime, extended it to 20 down the stretch and coasted toward a shower of confetti during a net-cutting celebration.
Jalen Wilson scored 24 points and Joseph Yesufu, pressed into the starting lineup due to injuries, finished with 11 for the Jayhawks (27-7), who had won 13 of their previous 16 trips to the Big 12 finals.
Kansas was once again without Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, who went to the emergency room on the eve of its quarterfinal for an undisclosed medical procedure. Self’s longtime assistant and acting coach, Norm Roberts, called the shots. NO. 1 HOUSTON 69, CINCINNATI 48
Jamal Shead had 16 points and nine assists as Houston advanced to its fifth straight American Athletic Conference championship game, even after losing star guard Marcus Sasser to an injury.
The Cougars (31-2) led throughout, getting two second-chance layups from J’wan Roberts in the opening minute. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Sasser, the AAC player of the year, went down with an apparent groin injury with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half and did not return.
Landers Nolley II had 14 points for Cincinnati (21-12), which shot 25.5% from the field. NO. 4 ALABAMA 72, NO. 25 MISSOURI 61
Freshman Brandon Miller scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as fourth-ranked Alabama advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship by beating No. 25 Missouri 72-61 on Saturday.
D’moi Hodge led the Tigers with 21 points. Deandre Gholston added 17 and Nick Carter had 10. Leading scorer Kobe Brown, who had been averaging 16.2 points, was held to six. NO. 5 PURDUE 80, OHIO STATE 66
Zach Edey had 32 points and 14 rebounds in Purdue’s win over Ohio State in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Boilermakers (28-5) started to take control late in the first half and cruised into the conference final for the second straight year. They will meet Penn State on Sunday.
Brandon Newman scored 15 points for the Boilermakers, who won their fourth in a row.
Roddy Gayle Jr. led Ohio State (16-19) with a careerhigh 20 points, 16 in the first half, and Justice Sueing added 15 points. Leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh missed his second game in a row because of a sore knee. NO. 6 MARQUETTE 65, NO. 15 XAVIER 51
Tyler Kolek and Marquette raced out to a hefty lead and never looked back, beating Xavier to win the Big East Tournament
for the first time.
Kolek, the Big East Player of the Year and tournament MVP, had 20 points and eight rebounds as the top-seeded Golden Eagles (28-6) dominated a Big East final that brought a Midwestern flavor to Madison Square Garden. David Joplin finished with 12 points.
Adam Kunkel scored 12 points to lead the Musketeers (25-9), who had a five-game winning streak snapped. NO. 18 TEXAS A&M 87, VANDERBILT 75
Wade Taylor IV scored 25 points as Texas A&M dominated from the opening tip in routing Vanderbilt to reach its second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game and third overall.
Vanderbilt (20-14) reached the SEC semifinals for the first time since 2017. Tyrin Lawrence led Vanderbilt with 18 points, while Jordan Wright had 17 and Ezra Manjon 16.
Texas A&M faces No. 4 Alabama on Sunday; the Aggies beat Alabama 6761 to wrap the regular season. PENN STATE 77, NO. 19 INDIANA 73
Jalen Pickett scored 28 points, Seth Lundy had 16 and Penn State beat Indiana to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship against No. 5 Purdue.
Andrew Funk added nine points for Penn State.
Trayce Jackson-davis had 24 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Indiana (22-11), and Tamar Bates had 14 points. The third-seeded Hoosiers shot 56% in the second half, but they ran out of time after making a frantic comeback in the final minutes.