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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Butler did it

WVU guard hits winner for Big East title

Associated Press

Da’Sean Butler’s second winner in three days gave West Virginia its first Big East championship, 60-58 over Georgetown in New York on Saturday.

The senior guard, who banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give West Virginia a quarterfinal win, scored in the lane with 4.2 seconds left.

Butler, who had 20 points for the Mountaineers (27-6), was selected the tournament MVP.

Chris Wright had 20 points for the Hoyas (23-10). His length-of-the-court drive to tie the game came up short.

Big 12

(1) Kansas 72, (9) Kansas State 64: At Kansas City, Mo., Marcus Morris had 18 points, Tyrel Reed added 15 and Kansas held off Kansas State (26-7) down the stretch for its seventh Big 12 tournament title.

The Jayhawks (32-2) used a small spurt midway through the second half to beat its in-state rivals for the third time this season.

Southeastern Conference

(2) Kentucky 74, (15) Tennessee 45: DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and the Wildcats returned to their accustomed spot in the SED tournament championship game at Nashville, Tenn., with a win over the Volunteers (25-8).

Kentucky (31-2) will look to win its 26th tournament title.

Mississippi State 62, (20) Vanderbilt 52: Barry Stewart scored 14 points and the Bulldogs (23-10) advanced to their second consecutive SEC tournament title game by beating the Commodores (24-8).

ACC

(4) Duke 77, Miami 74: Kyle Singler scored 27 points to help the Blue Devils (28-5) push ahead of the Hurricanes (20-13) in the second half of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals in Greensboro, N.C.

Georgia Tech 57, North Carolina State 54: Derrick Favors had 17 points and eight rebounds, and the Yellow Jackets (22-11) held off the Wolfpack (19-15) to reach the ACC tournament title game.

Big 10

(5) Ohio State 88, Illinois 81 (2OT): Evan Turner scored 12 of his 31 points after regulation and added 10 rebounds to lead the Buckeyes (26-7) past the Illini (19-14) into the conference title game in Indianapolis.

Minnesota 69, (6) Purdue 42: The Golden Gophers (21-12) held Purdue (27-5) to its worst first half in the record books and rolled to victory in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

Atlantic 10

(17) Temple 57, Rhode Island 44: Ryan Brooks scored 16 points and the Owls (28-5) held the Rams (23-9) to their lowest point total in five years in an Atlantic 10 tournament semifinal in Atlantic City, N.J.

Richmond 89, (24) Xavier 85 (OT): Kevin Anderson scored 27 points and David Gonzalvez added 26 as the Spiders (26-7) defeated the Muskateers (24-7) in the other semifinal.

Conference USA

Houston 81, (25) UTEP 73: Kelvin Lewis scored 28 points and the Cougars (19-15) surged past the Miners (26-6) down the stretch to claim their first NCAA tournament berth in 18 years with a victory in the Conference USA tournament title game in Tulsa, Okla.

Mid-American

Ohio 71, Akron 75 (OT): Freshman D.J. Cooper scored 23 points and made three big plays in overtime as Ohio capped a run through the Mid-American Conference tournament by beating defending champion Akron in Cleveland to earn an NCAA tourney bid.

American East

Vermont 83, Boston 70: At Burlington, Vt., Marqus Blakely scored 24 points to lead Vermont to a victory over Boston University for the America East championship and an automatic NCAA tournament bid.

Big West

UCSB 69, Long Beach St. 64: Orlando Johnson had 20 points and five rebounds to lead UC Santa Barbara to a win over Long Beach State for the Big West Conference tournament title in Anaheim, Calif.

Mid-Eastern Athletic

Morgan State 68, South Carolina State 61: Kevin Thompson had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Morgan State claimed its second consecutive NCAA tournament berth by beating South Carolina State in Winston-Salem, N.C., in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game.

Southwestern Athletic

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 50, Texas Southern 38: Arkansas-Pine Bluff earned its first NCAA tournament berth by beating Texas Southern in the SWAC championship game in Bossier City, La.

Southland

Sam Houston State 64, Stephen F. Austin 48: Gilberto Clavell scored 21 points to lead Sam Houston State to an easy win over Stephen F. Austin for the Southland Conference tournament title in Katy, Texas.