Roundup: Kansas defeats Texas for Big 12 tourney title
Tyshawn Taylor and Marcus Morris sparked a quick start Saturday and the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks (32-2) raced past the No. 10 Texas Longhorns (27-7) 85-73 in the Big 12 title game at Kansas City, Mo.
Jordan Hamilton had 21 points for second-seeded Texas (27-7), which beat Kansas 74-63 and snapped the Jayhawks’ team-record 69-game home-court winning streak in January.
Morris had 17 points. Taylor had a season-high 20 points and five assists.
Texas dropped to 0-6 in Big 12 championship games.
Big East
(21) Connecticut 69, (14) Louisville 66: Kemba Walker capped the best five days an individual and team may have had in college basketball, scoring 19 points to lead the Huskies (26-9) to a victory over the Cardinals (25-8) in the Big East championship at New York.
Walker took home the MVP award after leading ninth-seeded UConn to five wins in as many days – the last four over teams ranked in the Top 25.Preston Knowles had 18 points for Louisville and missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
Big Ten
(1) Ohio St. 68, Michigan 61: Jared Sullinger had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and the Buckeyes (31-2) boosted their bid for the NCAA tournament’s top overall seed with a victory over the Wolverines (20-13) in the Big Ten semifinals at Indianapolis.
Penn State 61, Michigan St. 48: Talor Battle scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half to help the Nittany Lions (19-13) defeat the Spartans (19-14) in the Big Ten tournament semifinals at Indianapolis and advance to the final for the first time.
Atlantic Coast Conference
(5) Duke 77, Virginia Tech 63: Nolan Smith scored 27 points and the Blue Devils (29-4) claimed a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game by beating the Hokies (21-11) in the semifinals at Greensboro, N.C.
Kyle Singler added 13 points. (6) UNC 92, Clemson 87 (OT): Freshman phenom Harrison Barnes had a season-high 40 points as the Tar Heels (26-6) escaped again at the ACC tournament, rallying past the Tigers (21-11) in overtime at Greensboro, N.C.
Mountain West
(7) San Diego St. 72, (8) BYU 54: Billy White put on an offensive display, scoring 21 points, and bedeviled national scoring leader Jimmer Fredette in leading the Aztecs (32-2) past the Cougars (30-4) for the Mountain West Conference title at Las Vegas.
Fredette had 30 points.
Southeastern
(12) Florida 77, Vanderbilt 66: Kenny Boynton scored 24 points, Erving Walker added 17 and the Gators (26-6) recovered from another slow start to beat the Commodores (23-10) in the Southeastern Conference semifinals at Atlanta.
(15) Kentucky 72, Alabama 58: Brandon Knight scored 10 straight points to blow open a Southeastern Conference tournament game, and the Wildcats (24-8) looked like a young team peaking at just the right time with a semifinal victory over the Tide (21-11) at Atlanta.
Atlantic 10
Richmond 58, (24) Temple 54: Kevin Anderson scored 22 points and the Spiders (26-7) beat three-time defending champion Owls (25-7) in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament at Atlantic City, N.J.
Dayton 64, St. Joseph’s 61: Chris Wright had 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists and the Flyers (22-12) advanced to the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2004 with a victory over the surprising Hawks (11-22) at Atlantic City, N.J.
Conference USA
Memphis 67, UTEP 66: Joe Jackson made two free throws with 7 seconds left and the Tigers (25-9) rallied past the Miners (25-9) at El Paso, Texas, to win the Conference USA championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Mid-American
Akron 66, Kent St. 65 (OT): Steve McNees blocked Carlton Guyton’s last-second 3-point attempt, giving the Zips (23-12) a win over the Golden Flashes (23-11) in overtime in the Mid-American Conference championship at Cleveland and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Big West
UC Santa Barbara 64, Long Beach St. 56: Orlando Johnson scored 23 points to lead the Gauchos (18-13) to a win over the top-seeded 49ers (22-11) in the championship game of the Big West tournament at Anaheim, Calif.
America East
Boston University 56, Stony Brook 54: John Holland hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to cap a 27-point performance and lift the Terriers (21-13) into the NCAA tournament with a win over the Seawolves (15-17) in the America East championship at Boston.
Mid-Eastern
Hampton 60, Morgan St. 58: Brandon Tunnell scored 20 points, including four free throws in the final 35 seconds, and the Pirates (24-8) secured their first NCAA tournament berth in five years with a victory over the Bears (17-14) – after a missed 3-pointer at the buzzer – in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Southland
Texas-San Antonio 75, McNeese St. 72: Jeromie Hill scored 25 points to lead the Roadrunners (19-13) past the Cowboys (21-11) in the Southland Conference championship at Katy, Texas, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Southwestern Athletic
Alabama St. 65, Grambling 48: Tremayne Moorer scored 14 points, lifting the Hornets (17-17) to a victory over the Tigers (12-21) to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship at Garland, Texas, and a trip to the NCAA tournament.