Umass Bounces Temple To Join Tournament List
Eighth-ranked Massachusetts beat Temple 63-44 Thursday night in the championship game of the Atlantic 10 tournament in Amherst, Mass., its fourth consecutive postseason title to go along with four straight regular-season crowns.
The win makes the Minutemen (26-4) the 15th qualifier for the NCAA tournament.
(14) Purdue 72, Minnesota 59
Cuonzo Martin scored 26 points and keyed a second-half surge in Minneapolis as the Boilermakers (14-3, 23-6) defeated the Golden Gophers (10-7, 19-10) and clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title.
Conference tournaments
SEC at Atlanta: Jamal Faulkner had 15 points and No. 20 Alabama (21-8) led all the way in downing Tennessee (11-16) 55-43. In other first-round games, Auburn defeated South Carolina 81-66, Florida beat Mississippi 63-59 and Vanderbilt destroyed LSU 85-61.
WAC at Albuquerque: San Diego State, ranked eighth in the tournament, was thinking upset and assembled a serious threat midway through the second half, but it was top-seeded Utah, ranked 22nd nationally, that came away with a 72-63 win.
In other quarterfinal games, seventh seeded Colorado State upset second-seeded BYU 75-73. The Rams’ Delmonte Madison rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Robbie Reid, raced downcourt and hit an 18-footer at the buzzer.
In another quarterfinal game, Hawaii defeated Texas-El Paso 66-65. In the nightcap, New Mexico beat Wyoming 63-56 on the Lobos’ home court.
ACC at Greensboro, Cherokee Parks scored nine points in a key second-half run as No. 9 Duke downed No. 8 North Carolina State 83-70 in a first round game. The entire league begins play today. Duke will face Wake Forest in the quarterfinal round.
Big East at New York: Pittsburgh eliminated St. John’s 74-71 behind Andre Aldridge, who hit four free throws in the final 1:17 and finished with 19 points. In another firstround game Boston College beat Seton Hall 89-87 in overtime. Pitt continues play this afternoon against Connecticut while BC faces Villanova.
Big West at Las Vegas: In firstround games, UC Irvine downed Cal St-Fullerton 76-69 and UNLV beat San Jose State 77-66.
Great Midwest at Milwaukee: Cincinnati beat DePaul 96-95 in overtime, Marquette got by UAB 55-46 and St. Louis beat Dayton 78-62 in first-round games.