Category: NCAA Basketball

UIC Flames (14-16, 11-10 MVC) vs. Missouri State Bears (24-7, 16-4 MVC) Evansville, Indiana; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Missouri State and UIC play in the MVC Tournament. The Bears are 16-4 against MVC opponents and 8-3 in non-conference play.

The Redbirds' record in MVC play is 15-6. Illinois State is 2-2 in games decided by 3 points or fewer. Drake scores 78.0 points, 10.5 more per game than the 67.5 Illinois State gives up.

Alcorn State Braves (12-17, 11-8 SWAC) vs. Texas Southern Tigers (16-14, 15-4 SWAC) College Park, Georgia; Friday, 11 a.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: Texas Southern and Alcorn State play in the SWAC Tournament. The Tigers have gone 15-4 against SWAC teams, with a 1-10 record in non-conference play.

Middle Tennessee has a 22-6 record in games decided by 10 or more points. The Hilltoppers' record in CUSA play is 14-5. Western Kentucky ranks fourth in the CUSA scoring 30.6 points per game in the paint led by Acacia Hayes averaging 10.0.

Owen Koonce scored 20 points, and Cayden Ward added a double-double off the bench as Cal Poly breezed to a 96-83 upset victory over UC Riverside in a Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday night. The seventh-seeded Mustangs (16-18) will play No. seed UC Irvine in a Friday semifinal.

Otega Oweh made a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left after No. 15 Kentucky had blown a late lead in the final minutes, and the Wildcats beat Oklahoma 85-84 on Thursday night to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals. Oweh finished with 27 points. Koby Brea added 22 and Andrew Carr 11.

Alex Karaban scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help Connecticut rally for a 73-56 victory over Villanova in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

Alex Karaban scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help Connecticut rally for a 73-56 victory over Villanova in a Big East Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The third-seeded Huskies (23-9) move on to play No. 2 seed Creighton in a Friday semifinal. The Blue Demons were aiming for the school's first semifinal appearance in the tournament.

Henri Veesaar and KJ Lewis scored 19 points apiece and Arizona pulled away late to beat Kansas 88-77 in a Big 12 Conference Tournament quarterfinal at T-Mobile Center on Thursday night. Veesaar came off the bench to sink 7 of 11 shots with two 3-pointers for the third-seeded Wildcats (21-11), who move on to play second-seeded and ninth-ranked Texas Tech in a Friday semifinal. Veesaar scored 10, leading Arizona to a 45-37 advantage at halftime.

Chase Hunter scored 21 points, Jaeden Zackery added 11 points and No. 10 Clemson battled back to beat SMU 57-54 on Thursday night for its ninth straight win to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals. Ian Schieffelin chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (27-5), who are seeking their first ACC Tournament title. Matt Cross led SMU (23-10) with 13 points, while Boopie Miller had 10.

Ryan Kalkbrenner had 32 points and scored the go-ahead basket in the second overtime after Creighton scored the final 11 points in regulation, and the Bluejays held on for an 85-81 victory over DePaul in a Big East Tournament quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. Kalkbrenner scored in the paint to give No. 2 seed Creighton a 77-76 lead and the Bluejays (23-9) never trailed over the final 2:12 against the 10th-seeded Blue Demons (14-19). Creighton advances to play in a Friday semifinal against the winner of the final quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 seed Connecticut and No. 6 Villanova.

JT Toppin had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lift No. 9 Texas Tech to a 76-74 victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night. Darrion Williams scored 14 points and Elijah Hawkins and Kerwin Walton had 12 each for Texas Tech (25-7), which will face either Kansas or Arizona in Friday's semifinals.

Chucky Hepburn’s putback jumper at the buzzer helped No. 13 Louisville overcome a 15-point second-half deficit to beat Stanford 75-73 on Thursday night and advance to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Terrence Edwards scored 25 points and Hepburn added 20 for the Cardinals (26-6), who’ve won 10 straight. Noah Waterman and James Scott each had 12.

Wade Taylor IV is leaving Music City his earliest yet with No. 14 Texas A&M. The 6-foot guard played and lost his 11th tournament game Thursday in double overtime to Texas, but not for lack of effort. Taylor finished with 29 points and was 17 of 18 at the free-throw line.

Fairleigh Dickinson earned the first NCAA Tournament bid in school history after beating Chicago State 90-61 in the Northeastern Conference Tournament semifinals on Thursday night. The Knights (28-3) received the automatic bid because the other semifinal between Stonehill and Le Moyne, which Stonehill won 60-41, featured teams ineligible for the NCAA Tournament because they are still in the process of transitioning to Division I. “We all said treat this game like its a final,” FDU star Teneisia Brown said.