KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Milos Uzan poured in 25 points, Emanuel Sharpe added 17 and second-ranked Houston turned up its trademark defense in the final minute to hold on for a 72-64 victory over Arizona in the Big 12 Tournament championship game Saturday night.
Playing without injured big man J’Wan Roberts, the Cougars (30-4) took a 64-62 lead on Uzan’s 3-pointer with 5 minutes to go, then suffocated the Wildcats (22-12) down the stretch to avenge a loss to Iowa State in last year’s title game.
Houston romped to the regular-season Big 12 title, winning 19 of 20 games in the expanded league. And it was just as dominant in three game in Kansas City, easily beating Colorado and No. 17 BYU before turning back red-hot Arizona for the trophy.
Caleb Love scored 19 points for the Wildcats. Jaden Bradley had 14 points and KJ Lewis finished with 11.
Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd had bristled after their quarterfinal win over No. 9 Texas Tech when it was suggested that the title tilt amounted to a showdown of styles: Arizona’s high-flying, high-scoring offense against Houston’s dominant defense.
“We’re not that bad on defense,” Lloyd said succinctly.
Turns out the Wildcats are quite good.
They harried and harrassed Houston’s guards wherever they went on the floor, twice holding the Cougars without a point for 5-minute stretches in the first half. The result was a 33-28 lead in the locker room that felt just a little bit bigger.
Yet there is a reason that Houston is No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency.
The Cougars were still trailing 40-37 when they clamped down on the Wildcats, turning defense into offense and outscoring them 19-6 over the next five minutes. By the time Uzan curled in a bucket with 11:40 to go, Houston had taken a 56-46 lead — the largest of the game for either team at that point.
Arizona gamely fought back to take a 62-61 lead, only for the relentless Cougars to regain the lead seconds later, when Uzan dropped his 3-pointer. He scored again on their ensuing possession, and Houston maintained its lead from there.
The result was its third conference tourney title in five years after the pair it won in the American Athletic Conference.
Roberts, who sprained his right ankle in the quarterfinals, went through pregame warmups without the walking boot he wore a day earlier. But he had the boot back on as he watched from the bench in the hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Houston almost certainly locked up a No. 1 seed on Selection Sunday and will probably begin its NCAA Tournament in Wichita, Kansas. Most expect the Wildcats to land a No. 4 seed after their run to the conference championship game.
NO. 1 DUKE 74, NORTH CAROLINA 71
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.
Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sion James had 12 points for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg.
Duke (30-3) will play No. 13 Louisville in the title game.
After North Carolina cut a 24-point, second-half deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to potentially give the Tar Heels (22-13) the lead. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waved off after teammate Jae-Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.
Knueppel made two free throws with 2.8 seconds left and Lubin missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
NO. 3 AUBURN 62, MISSISSIPPI 57
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Johni Broome scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as regular-season champion Auburn opened its bid to repeat at the Southeastern Conference Tournament by holding off eighth-seeded Mississippi.
The third-ranked Tigers (28-4) will play eighth-ranked Tennessee in the semifinals Saturday.
Denver Jones also had 13 points as Auburn snapped a two-game skid.
NO. 4 FLORIDA 95,
NO. 21 MISSOURI 81
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Walter Clayton Jr scored 18 points, Will Richard and Alijah Martin added 17 apiece and the No. 4 Florida Gators defeated the No. 21 Missouri Tigers in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The second-seeded Gators (28-4) never trailed and advance to the semifinals on Saturday against Alabama. Florida shot 62% from the floor, including 38% from 3-point range.
Tamar Bates scored 16 points to lead the seventh-seeded Tigers (22-11). Bates was Missouri’s high scorer in both of its SEC Tournament games. Anthony Robinson II and Tony Perkins each scored 13.
Florida began the game with a 10-0 run and held a 50-37 lead at the half.
NO. 5 ALABAMA 99, NO. 15 KENTUCKY 70
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Labaron Philon scored 21 points and fifth-ranked Alabama never trailed in routing No. 15 Kentucky to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Crimson Tide (25-7), the No. 3 seed, will play fourth-ranked Florida on Saturday looking to play for their second tournament title in three seasons. The Gators beat No. 21 Missouri 95-81 earlier Friday night as the SEC’s top four seeds all advanced.
Jarin Stevenson added 16 points. Mark Sears, Mouhamed Dioubate and Aden Holloway each had 13 as Alabama beat the Wildcats again after sweeping them during the regular season.
Kentucky (22-11) managed just one tie at 14 and trailed 45-38 at halftime.
Andrew Carr led Kentucky with 18 points. Amari Williams had 16, and Travis Perry 11.
NO. 6 ST. JOHN’S 79, NO. 25 MARQUETTE 63
NEW YORK — Zuby Ejiofor scored a career-high 33 points, a St. John’s record in the Big East Tournament, and the sixth-ranked Red Storm pulled away from No. 25 Marquette to reach the conference championship game for the first time in 25 years.
Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. added 13 points and Ejiofor grabbed nine rebounds as the top-seeded Red Storm (29-4) wiped out an early 15-point deficit. They advanced to play second-seeded Creighton on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Kadary Richmond had 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for St. John’s, which has won eight straight — and 18 of 19 since the new year. In the program’s second season under 72-year-old Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, the Johnnies are one win from their fourth Big East Tournament title and first since 2000.
Kam Jones had 24 points for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-10), who lost all three matchups with the Red Storm this season and fell to 1-6 against them at the Big East Tournament.
NO. 7 MICHIGAN ST. 74, NO. 23 OREGON 64
INDIANAPOLIS — Jase Richardson scored 17 points and Jeremy Fears Jr. added 11 points and five assists to lead No. 7 Michigan State past No. 23 Oregon in the first of four Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal games.
The Spartans (27-5) have now won eight straight, matching a season best. The league’s regular-season champion will face No. 18 Wisconsin in Saturday’s first semifinal game.
Jaden Akins had 12 points for the Spartans while Coen Carr had 10 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 8 TENNESSEE 83, TEXAS 72
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Chaz Lanier scored 17 of No. 8 Tennessee’s first 21 points, and the Volunteers never trailed beating Texas in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The fourth-seeded Volunteers (26-6) also gave coach Rick Barnes the 832nd victory of his career, moving him into sole possession of 10th all-time after being tied with Cliff Ellis. The Vols will play regular season champ and third-ranked Auburn, a 62-57 winner over Ole Miss, in the semifinals Saturday.
Lanier finished with 23 points. Zakai Zeigler scored all of his 19 points in the second half after playing nine minutes with two fouls in the first half. Jahmai Mashack added 13 and Igor Milicic Jr. 12.
Texas (19-15) came to its first SEC Tournament as the 13th seed after winning the Big 12 Tournament two of the last four seasons.
Kadin Shedrick and Jordan Pope each had 14 apiece for Texas. Tre Johnson had 11.
ARIZONA 86, NO. 9 TEXAS TECH 80
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Caleb Love scored 27 points and Arizona took advantage of injuries that left Texas Tech short-handed for a victory over the No. 9 Red Raiders in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals.
KJ Lewis added 15 points and Henri Veesaar scored eight of his 10 in the closing minutes for the Wildcats (22-11), who advanced to the championship game against No. 2 Houston on Saturday night in their first season in their new league.
Kevin Overton had 20 points and Christian Anderson scored 19 for the Red Raiders (25-8), who played without Chance McMillian and Darrion Williams because of injuries, and then watched star forward JT Toppin throw up in the arena tunnel.
Toppin made it through the game, but the All-Big 12 forward managed just 11 points in 25 minutes.
Compounding problems short-handed Texas Tech, point guard Elijah Hawkins picked up his fourth foul with 14:56 to go, leaving coach Grant McCasland with precious few options on his bench in the second half.
The Red Raiders trailed by as much as 14 before nevertheless mounting a comeback, closing to 78-74 on two free throws by Anderson with 2:40 to go. Veesaar answered with back-to-back baskets and Arizona held on from there.
NO. 13 LOUISVILLE 76, NO. 10 CLEMSON 73
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terrence Edwards scored 21 points, J’Vonne Hadley added 20 points and nine rebounds and No. 13 Louisville beat No. 10 Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals.
Chucky Hepburn, the hero of Louisville’s dramatic 75-73 quarterfinal win over Stanford, added 12 points for the Cardinals (27-6).
Chase Hunter had 23 points for Clemson (27-6), while Ian Schieffelin had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Louisville is seeking its first ACC title on Saturday night, but No. 1 Duke, which held on to beat North Carolina 74-71 in the other semifinal, stands in its way.
The Cardinals held Clemson without a field goal for more than six minutes in the second half to built a 67-52 lead with 3:50 left.
But the Tigers cut their deficit to two with 54 seconds remaining on a layup from Hunter, who had 19 second-half points. After Louisville was called for a shot-clock violation, Clemson had the ball and chance to tie or take the lead.
But James Scott blocked Hunter’s drive after switching off his man.
Hepburn made 1 of 2 free throws with 6 seconds left to make a three-point game and Hunter’s leaning 3-point shot from 25 feet at the buzzer missed.
NO. 11 MARYLAND 88, NO. 24 ILLINOIS 65
INDIANAPOLIS — Rodney Rice scored 26 points, Derik Queen had 19 points and 10 rebounds and No. 11 Maryland routed No. 24 Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
The Terrapins (25-7) will face Michigan in the semifinals.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 12 points and nine assists for Maryland. Jordan Geronimo scored 11 points and Julian Reese had 10.
Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley each had 15 points for the Illini (21-12). Kylan Boswell had 14.
Geronimo hit a 3-pointer to cap a 13-0 run that made it 29-10. Maryland scored the final eight points of the half to take a 57-31 lead.
Maryland’s largest lead was 36 points at 84-48 with 9:41 remaining.
NO. 16 MEMPHIS 83, WICHITA ST. 80
FORT WORTH, Texas — PJ Haggerty scored a career-high 42 points and led the go-ahead run for 16th-ranked Memphis in a win over Wichita State in a quarterfinal game at the American Athletic Conference tournament.
The Tigers (27-5) went ahead to stay with a 12-0 run over a 2 1/2-minute span after halftime in which Haggerty scored nine of those points. Two of his baskets in that spurt came off turnovers by Wichita State (19-14), which knocked the Tigers out of last year’s AAC tournament and is responsible for their only loss in 15 games since Jan. 16.
NO. 18 WISCONSIN 86, UCLA 70
INDIANAPOLIS — John Tonje matched his career high with six 3-pointers on his way to 26 points, and No. 18 Wisconsin tied the Big Ten Tournament single-game record by making 19 3s in a victory over fourth-seeded UCLA.
Tonje also had nine rebounds and four assists. He was 9 of 10 from the field and a perfect 6 for 6 on 3s as the Badgers (25-8) advanced to Saturday’s first semifinal game against No. 7 Michigan State.
John Blackwell added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists while making four 3s. Six Badgers made at least one shot from beyond the arc. Iowa also made 19 3s against Northwestern three years ago.
Sebastian Mack scored 18 points for the Bruins (22-10), who head into the NCAA Tournament with a 4-4 mark in their last eight games. Kobe Johnson had 14 points.
Wisconsin seized control by closing the first half with a flurry of 3s to build a 48-29 cushion.
NO. 22 MICHIGAN 86, NO. 20 PURDUE 68
INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Wolf had 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and No. 22 Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over No. 20 Purdue Friday in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
The second-seeded Wolverines (23-9) allowed the game’s initial six points, then led for the final 37 minutes in an impressive bounce-back win to advance to a semifinal against No. 11 Maryland (25-7) on Saturday.
Eight Michigan players scored at least six points. Vladislav Goldin added 15 points and eight rebounds. Tre Donaldson had 13 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. scored 11.
Trey Kaufman-Renn led sixth-seeded Purdue (22-11) with 24 points and nine rebounds. Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith, who averaged 24 points and 8.5 assists in two regular-season meetings vs. Michigan, finished with 12 points on 5-of-18 shooting, 2 of 10 from 3-point range. He had six assists.
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