KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brayden Burries scored 21 points, including a pair of free throws with 8.3 seconds left, and second-ranked Arizona held off No. 5 Houston 79-74 on Saturday night in a rematch of last year’s Big 12 Tournament title game won by the Cougars.
Koa Peat also had 21 points and Jaden Bradley followed his semifinal game-winner against Iowa State with 13 for the No. 1 seed Wildcats (32-2), who head into the NCAA Tournament having won nine straight games — six against ranked opponents.
Joseph Tugler had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Cougars (28-6). Mercy Miller added 13 points.
Houston, which beat the Wildcats 72-64 in its title game debut a year ago, trailed 75-66 with just over a minute to go before Miller and Milos Uzan hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions.
But when Peat missed a jumper with 22 seconds to go, Arizona big man Motiejus Krivas gathered the rebound and was fouled under the bucket. The 7-foot-2 junior from Lithuania calmly made both free throws to extend the Wildcats’ lead.
Kingston Flemings and Miller missed layups at the other end for Houston, and by the time Miller was fouled and made two free throws, there was just 13.2 seconds to go. Burries was fouled on the inbound pass and put away the game.
NO. 1 DUKE 74, NO. 10 VIRGINIA 70
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Isaiah Evans scored 20 points, Cameron Boozer made two free throws with 3.9 seconds to seal the game and Duke defeated Virginia for its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship under coach Jon Scheyer and its third title in the past four years.
Cayden Boozer had 16 points, and Cameron Boozer finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Blue Devils (32-2) extended their winning streak to 11 games heading into the NCAA Tournament as the likely No. 1 overall seed.
Malik Thomas had 18 points and Sam Lewis had 17 for Virginia (29-5) in a game in which neither team led by more than seven points and featured 16 lead changes.
Ugonna Onyenso had nine blocks and finished with an ACC Tournament record with 20 over three games. Tim Duncan had the previous record of 14 in 1995.
The Cavaliers came into the game 1-32 all-time against No. 1-ranked opponents — and 0-17 against top-ranked Duke teams — and were blown out by the Blue Devils 77-51 two weeks ago at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
NO. 3 MICHIGAN 68, NO. 23 WISCONSIN 65
CHICAGO (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, and Michigan beat Nick Boyd and Wisconsin to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
Aday Mara scored 16 points and Elliot Cadeau had 15 as top-seeded Michigan (31-2) avenged its only conference loss from the regular season, a 91-88 setback against Wisconsin on Jan. 10. Mara also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five shots.
Michigan is going for its second straight Big Ten Tournament title and fifth overall. It will play No. 18 Purdue on Sunday after the Boilermakers eliminated UCLA with a 73-66 win.
Lendeborg got off to another slow start after he had just six points in Friday’s quarterfinal victory over Ohio State. But the Big Ten player of the year began to assert himself right before halftime, and he connected on the biggest shot of the game.
Lendeborg grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Cadeau for a 3 with 45 seconds left, giving Michigan a 65-62 lead. But Boyd responded with a tying 3 for Wisconsin.
With the United Center crowd standing in anticipation, Michigan tried to find Lendeborg inside on its last possession. But Lendeborg ended up coming back outside before getting a pass from Cadeau and drilling the winning 3.
NO. 22 VANDERBILT 91, NO. 4 FLORIDA 74
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 20 points as Vanderbilt beat Florida, ending the defending national champion’s bid to win a second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title and possibly hurt the Gators’ bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The fourth-seeded Commodores won their fourth straight game. Vanderbilt (26-7) will play No. 17 Arkansas on Sunday as it goes for its first tournament title since 2012.
Four other Vanderbilt players scored in double figures, with Jalen Washington adding 17, Duke Miles 15, Devin McGlockton 12 and AK Okereke 11. Six different Commodores made at least one 3-pointer, and everyone who played scored at least a bucket.
The Gators (26-7) saw their 12-game winning streak end. Thomas Haugh led them with 19 points, Boogie Fland had 15, Alex Condon 13 and Rueben Chinyelu 12.
Florida had been dominant during its streak, winning by an average of 21.7 points to end the regular season. On Saturday, it never led by more than 2 early on. The nation’s top rebounding team dominated the boards (38-23) again, but the Gators struggled to find the basket, missing 12 of 13 shots in the first half.
NO. 13 ST. JOHN'S 72, NO. 6 UCONN 52
NEW YORK (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor had seven blocks, nine rebounds and three steals to anchor a tenacious defensive performance that carried St. John’s to its second straight Big East Tournament championship with a blowout of UConn at Madison Square Garden.
Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins each scored 18 points for the top-seeded Red Storm (28-6), who became the first team to win consecutive Big East Tournament titles since Villanova took three in a row from 2017-19.
Adding to their resurgent rise under Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, the Johnnies joined UConn in 1998 and ’99 as the only Big East programs to win both the regular-season and tournament crowns in back-to-back years.
Oziyah Sellers scored 14 points for St. John’s, which never trailed in the tournament and has won all six of its games in this event by double digits the past two years. The Johnnies opened a 17-point cushion in the first half and took two of three meetings this season between the conference powerhouses.
The second-seeded Huskies (29-5) were held nine points below their previous season low.
Tarris Reed Jr. scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half for UConn. Point guard Silas Demary Jr. was helped off the floor late with an apparent left ankle injury, which could be costly heading into the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 17 ARKANSAS 93, MISSISSIPPI 90, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. scored five of his 24 points in overtime and Arkansas held off Mississippi to reach the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game for the first time since 2017.
The third-seeded Razorbacks (25-8) will play No. 22 Vanderbilt, which routed No. 4 Florida earlier Saturday.
Acuff, the SEC’s scoring leader and league’s player and freshman of the year, also had seven assists. Meleek Thomas led Arkansas with 29 points, Trevon Brazile had 16 points with 10 rebounds along with the final free throw and Malique Ewin added 14.
Ole Miss (15-20) ends its improbable run after the 15th-seeded Rebels became the second double-digit seed to win three games at this event, joining Auburn in 2015.
The Rebels, who held off a furious rally in stunning No. 15 Alabama on Friday night, forced overtime by outscoring the Razorbacks 8-1 with AJ Storr’s layup tying it at 79 with 1.1 seconds left.
Ewin put Arkansas ahead to stay with a dunk 10 seconds into overtime. Ole Miss had a chance to take the lead with 3 seconds left, but Storr’s 3 clanked off the front rim.
NO. 18 PURDUE 73, UCLA 66
CHICAGO (AP) — Oscar Cluff had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Purdue beat short-handed UCLA to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game.
Cluff scored eight points as Purdue (26-8) outscored UCLA (23-11) 11-4 over the final 3:41. Fletcher Loyer scored 14. Braden Smith contributed nine more assists, giving him 1,064 in his career. He needs 13 to break Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record of 1,076 for Duke from 1989-93.
Trey Kaufman-Ren added 12 points and 10 rebounds, helping Purdue advance to the conference final for the first time since winning the tournament in Chicago in 2023. The Boilermakers will meet No. 3 Michigan. The Wolverines, seeking a championship repeat, beat No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 when Yaxel Lendeborg made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining.
Already missing star Tyler Bilodeau after he exited Friday’s win over No. 8 Michigan State with a right leg injury, UCLA had to get by in the second half without guard Donovan Dent. He tweaked something in his lower leg and was limited to two points in 10 minutes after scoring 23 and dishing out 12 assists against the Spartans.
Trent Perry led UCLA with 15 points. Xavier Booker scored 12, and Eric Dailey Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
